Leveraging Thought Leadership
Peter Winick and Bill Sherman
Welcome to the Leveraging Thought Leadership podcast, a beacon illuminating the paths and possibilities of thought leadership. With your guides, Peter Winick and Bill Sherman, we will embark on a journey into a captivating world where ideas converge with strategy and insight.
Where will thought leadership take you?
In each episode, we engage with thought leaders from diverse backgrounds. Whether it's professional keynote speaking, writing your own thought leadership book, investigating the niche expertise of specialized consultants, or crossing mental swords with distinguished academics, our guests collectively paint a vivid mosaic of thought leadership's multifaceted potential.
Through nuanced perspectives and rich experience, our talented co-hosts aim to offer you views of the ways independent thought leaders navigate success, elevate talent, and change company culture – while simultaneously examining how organizations harness the power of thought leadership to catalyze innovation and nurture sustainable growth.
Peter Winick is your guide through the realm of independent thought leadership. For the past two decades, he has helped individuals and organizations build and grow revenue streams through designing and growing their thought leadership platforms as well as acting as a guide and advisor for increasing business to business sales of thought leadership products. Peter is the Founder and CEO of Thought Leadership Leverage. His clients come from a diverse set of backgrounds and specialties. They include New York Times bestselling business book authors, members of the Speakers' Hall of Fame, recipients of the Thinkers50 award, CEOs of public and privately held companies, and academics at prestigious institutions such as Yale, Wharton, Dartmouth, and London School of Business.
With a keen eye for detail, he delves into the intricacies of crafting personal brands, fostering genuine engagement with audiences, and expertly monetizing one's expertise. From the artistry of crafting keynote speeches that resonate with audiences to the strategic deployment of bestselling books as conduits for inspiration and insight, Peter's guests offer a treasure trove of strategies for creating value and impact and driving revenue through thought leadership.
Bill Sherman specializes in the exploration of organizational thought leadership. He examines how companies conceive, curate, and deploy thought leadership initiatives, and how those initiatives benefit the orgs and the people who work within them. Bill listens to the stories and advice of industry leaders and their triumphs within the competitive business landscape. Whether through the dissemination of white papers that shape industry discourse, webinars that educate and engage, or insightful executive blogs that offer thought leadership at the highest echelons of corporate governance, Bill's guests provide illuminating perspectives on the evolution of organizational thought leadership and its pivotal role in shaping industry paradigms and perceptions.
Bill concentrates on organizational consulting and business expertise, investigating organizational thought leadership and its effects, from instructional design and learning product development to marketing strategy and execution, to organizational development and transformational consulting. He enjoys working with business leaders, speakers, authors, academics, and other consultants, connecting their ideas organizational platforms and enterprise-ready product development.
As the series unfolds, Peter and Bill will lead us through a nuanced exploration of the latest trends and advancements in thought leadership. From the transformative impact of technology on communication and collaboration to the evolving preferences of consumers in an increasingly digital marketplace, they will dissect the shifting landscape with precision and insight. Moreover, they will shine a spotlight on emerging modalities that are reshaping the contours of thought leadership, from the ascendance of virtual events as a cornerstone of engagement to the growing influence of social media platforms as conduits for thought dissemination and audience interaction. Through their discerning analysis, they will reveal how thought leaders can adeptly harness these trends to amplify their reach, captivate new audiences, and maximize their influence in an ever-evolving business environment.
Whether you find yourself at the height of your career as a seasoned thought leader, or whether you stand at the threshold of possibility as an aspiring entrepreneur, the Leveraging Thought Leadership podcast offers an enriching voyage of discovery.
Join us as we unravel the enigmatic secrets to success in the vibrant realm of thought leadership, where ideas have the power to shape perceptions, drive change, and inspire action. Together, let us explore how you, too, can engineer value, evoke impact, and cultivate revenue through the sheer power of your ideas and expertise.
Welcome aboard.
Where will thought leadership take you?
In each episode, we engage with thought leaders from diverse backgrounds. Whether it's professional keynote speaking, writing your own thought leadership book, investigating the niche expertise of specialized consultants, or crossing mental swords with distinguished academics, our guests collectively paint a vivid mosaic of thought leadership's multifaceted potential.
Through nuanced perspectives and rich experience, our talented co-hosts aim to offer you views of the ways independent thought leaders navigate success, elevate talent, and change company culture – while simultaneously examining how organizations harness the power of thought leadership to catalyze innovation and nurture sustainable growth.
Peter Winick is your guide through the realm of independent thought leadership. For the past two decades, he has helped individuals and organizations build and grow revenue streams through designing and growing their thought leadership platforms as well as acting as a guide and advisor for increasing business to business sales of thought leadership products. Peter is the Founder and CEO of Thought Leadership Leverage. His clients come from a diverse set of backgrounds and specialties. They include New York Times bestselling business book authors, members of the Speakers' Hall of Fame, recipients of the Thinkers50 award, CEOs of public and privately held companies, and academics at prestigious institutions such as Yale, Wharton, Dartmouth, and London School of Business.
With a keen eye for detail, he delves into the intricacies of crafting personal brands, fostering genuine engagement with audiences, and expertly monetizing one's expertise. From the artistry of crafting keynote speeches that resonate with audiences to the strategic deployment of bestselling books as conduits for inspiration and insight, Peter's guests offer a treasure trove of strategies for creating value and impact and driving revenue through thought leadership.
Bill Sherman specializes in the exploration of organizational thought leadership. He examines how companies conceive, curate, and deploy thought leadership initiatives, and how those initiatives benefit the orgs and the people who work within them. Bill listens to the stories and advice of industry leaders and their triumphs within the competitive business landscape. Whether through the dissemination of white papers that shape industry discourse, webinars that educate and engage, or insightful executive blogs that offer thought leadership at the highest echelons of corporate governance, Bill's guests provide illuminating perspectives on the evolution of organizational thought leadership and its pivotal role in shaping industry paradigms and perceptions.
Bill concentrates on organizational consulting and business expertise, investigating organizational thought leadership and its effects, from instructional design and learning product development to marketing strategy and execution, to organizational development and transformational consulting. He enjoys working with business leaders, speakers, authors, academics, and other consultants, connecting their ideas organizational platforms and enterprise-ready product development.
As the series unfolds, Peter and Bill will lead us through a nuanced exploration of the latest trends and advancements in thought leadership. From the transformative impact of technology on communication and collaboration to the evolving preferences of consumers in an increasingly digital marketplace, they will dissect the shifting landscape with precision and insight. Moreover, they will shine a spotlight on emerging modalities that are reshaping the contours of thought leadership, from the ascendance of virtual events as a cornerstone of engagement to the growing influence of social media platforms as conduits for thought dissemination and audience interaction. Through their discerning analysis, they will reveal how thought leaders can adeptly harness these trends to amplify their reach, captivate new audiences, and maximize their influence in an ever-evolving business environment.
Whether you find yourself at the height of your career as a seasoned thought leader, or whether you stand at the threshold of possibility as an aspiring entrepreneur, the Leveraging Thought Leadership podcast offers an enriching voyage of discovery.
Join us as we unravel the enigmatic secrets to success in the vibrant realm of thought leadership, where ideas have the power to shape perceptions, drive change, and inspire action. Together, let us explore how you, too, can engineer value, evoke impact, and cultivate revenue through the sheer power of your ideas and expertise.
Welcome aboard.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Aug 1, 2021 • 36min
Evangelist Programs for Thought Leadership | Dan Sanchez | 330
Welcome to the Leveraging Thought Leadership podcast! Our guest in this episode is Dan Sanchez. Dan is the Director of Audience Growth for Sweet Fish Media, a full service podcast agency focused on B2B brands. Dan is also the co-host of the go-to podcast for marketers seeking to grow: B2B Growth. Many businesses have thought leaders producing content and drawing attention to the company, but how many take the next step and create a program that evangelizes thought leadership within the org? That's the way to create a body of thought leaders, so that everyone in the company takes part in elevating and sharing those insights. Today, Dan talks about the way he started such an evangelist program, kicking off elevated leadership and organically taking Dan's Linkedin connections from 1000 to 10,000 in just 5 months! Dan describes how everyone at his organization was offered a chance to invest in and create thought leadership, so long as they committed themselves to the work for a period of time. Join us as Dan talks about his insights and elevates the conversation, sharing his experiences around developing methods of engaging employees to develop the organization's brand. If you want everyone to join in, you need to find the topics they identify with, and help them share their passion for their organization's insights and good work - though thought leadership! If you want to jumpstart your Linkedin brand, be sure to sign up for the 3-part Sweet Fish video series - it's free! Three Key Takeaways: When creating an interactive group of Thought Leaders, your first step is to engage your employees. Give them reasons to be excited, and they will start acting like thought leaders, too! Learning a pyramid. There may be people above you, but remember, a lot more are looking up at you and could benefit from your thought leadership. Preach! The best way to engage B2B accounts and gain a larger following is by creating and maintaining a thought leadership podcast.
Jul 29, 2021 • 18min
Following Instinct in Thought Leadership and Consulting | Maura Barclay | 329
Today's guest is Maura Barclay, a transformational leadership consultant. In addition to being the author of Unbreakable Women, her previous occupations range from firefighter to fitness trainer to military consultant! In this conversation, she shares the ways that her wide variety of previous experiences make her an incredible consultant and coach. Maura has always been interested in building and relying on proven methodologies that can be repeated for reliable outcomes. Learning is only the beginning; a great leader needs to continue to upgrade and iterate their knowledge into stronger, even more functional methods. In her work, she often utilizes check-lists, setting goals and building methods to achieve more Creating a solid list will anchor the methods in your brain, teaching the instinctive left-brain to perform tasks automatically - and guiding you to greater success. Maura uses her powerful and proven neurofacilitation system to help people build new mindset pathways. Armed with this tool, a leader can trust their well-trained instincts, and recognize good intuition, thus breaking bad habits and learning productive ones! If you are tired of second guessing yourself, and want to train your mind to fire all cylinders toward success, this episode has the best tips for you! Three Key Takeaways: Thought Leadership should use a methodology that is reliable, duplicable, and effective. Intuition often comes from past experience. Thought leaders can build intuition by creating habits that recognize good instinct, and build on it. If you want to sharpen your thought leadership content, spend time ruling out the things on which you don't focus. What's left will be your passion!
Jul 25, 2021 • 33min
Thought Leadership Advocacy for Non-Profits | Stu Manewith | 328
Welcome to Leveraging Thought Leadership! Today's guest is Stu Manewith, Director of Advocacy and Thought Leadership at Omatic Software. Omatic Software deals in data integration for non-profits, helping them maintain and grow donors and donations. His thought leadership changes lives! Before joining the team at Omatic Software, Stu worked as a fundraising director for non-profits for 16 years. His deep experience gives him an exceptional view of the sector, and taught him to understand the needs of both software vendors and fundraisers. By marrying those two interests, Stu was able to create incredible insights. His work became a turning point, helping non-profits achieve even greater mission impact though using cleaner, more integrated data and finding effective pressure points. Stu talks about the epiphany that made him realize that non-profits could better serve their customers by studying past stories, tracking data points, and comparing the outcomes. Utilizing this process, he's been able to better deploy software into non-profits, helping them create case-studies, assess previous assumptions, and create new, stronger methods of fundraising. In turn, those case studies have shaped informational blogs, webinars, and internal training documents to raise awareness both inside and outside non-profit fields. Thought leadership practitioners often debate the advantages and challenges of top-down versus bottom-up approaches to organizational education. Stu chimes in with his thoughts on why bottom-up has worked better for him and his clients. He uses that approach to learn about customers and their problems, taking those issues to heart. In this manner, he helps non-profits place the customer's needs first, allowing the organization's success to grow naturally from that good work. If you deal often with non-profits, or if you seek to understand the importance of data integration to thought leadership, this conversation offers clarity and inspiration. Stu offers a ton of valuable insights, so you might want to listen to this one twice! Three Key Takeaways: If you want people to listen to your thought leadership insights, be sure to present yourself as a trusted subject matter and domain expert. Never undervalue the importance of listening! Through understanding a client or customer's needs, you gain an intimate knowledge of their problems, making it easier to create custom solutions. Get out those case studies! Study them, challenge the outcomes, and turn that content into blogs, webinars, and other great learning tools.
Jul 18, 2021 • 43min
Bringing Humanity to Science: Through Thought Leadership | Jayshree Seth | 327
Today's guest on our podcast is Jayshree Seth, Chief Science Advocate at 3M. Jayshree works to raise awareness and appreciation of science and how it aids us in our everyday life. Her first book, The Heart of Science: Engineering Footprints, Fingerprints, & Imprints furthers conversation around science advocacy, thought leadership, and inclusive progress. In one of our most fascinating conversations to date, Jayshree shares the process she uses in the lab, and talks about the similarities between that process and the ones great thought leaders use. Through analytical thinking and empathy, she determines what people think about science, where the gaps and barriers are, and ultimately, how to overcome them. One challenge of working in a scientific field is overcoming the stereotype that scientists are elitists; unrelatable and hard to understand. Changing people's perspectives on science is a huge task, and one that Jayshree is tackling on multiple fronts. Today, she talks about how her podcast series, Science Champions, speaks to educators and young students about science - in terms everyone can understand. She was also featured with other scientists in the documentary Not the Science Type, shattering stereotypes and inspiring young women and minorities to get involved in STEM. Jayshree fights "science apathy" by focusing on science's relevance to everyday life. By giving her work a human context, she is able to inspire, inform, and influence those around her to action. Today's chat is a great one, and we hope all of you are inspired to listen in! Three Key Takeaways: Thought Leadership needs to identify people's problems, find the gaps, and develop methods to solve those issues. If you are going to advocate with thought leadership, you need to be passionate as well as informed. Mentoring is an important part of thought leadership. Our experience and hindsight can help others avoid or overcome essential challenges.
Jul 15, 2021 • 18min
Thought Leadership to Become Unbusy | Garland Vance | 326
Is there a difference between activity and productivity? Both make you busy, but only one makes you fulfilled!. Our guest on today's episode is Garland Vance, the co-founder of Advance Leadership, a firm that helps leaders accomplish more and stress less. Garland is also the author of Getting' (un)Busy, a book that takes you through the 5 steps to overcome "busyness" and live with purpose, productivity, and peace. The conversation is an insightful and active one, with Garland sharing how his own "busyness" caused him significant health problems. This sparked his initial research, hoping to discover ways that he (and others) could accomplish more while doing less. He discovered ways to identify and focus on important tasks, and how a positive "ripple effect" could elevate everything else. Garland's business mode, delivering content through coaching and keynote speaking, was upended over the last year by COVID-19. Like many others, he needed to retool his content to reach a virtual audience. Always an innovator, Garland doesn't simply talk for an hour and then disappear; he has found ways to make a 500-person Zoom call feel like a personal learning event, and he knows how to make each guest feel like the center of attention. Garland also talks about the fact that "busyness" doesn't qualify speed or skill. He assesses the 20 best practices of highly productive people, and why they aren't overwhelmed with "busyness" - because they practice habits that make real differences! Combined with the 5 steps in his book, Gettin' (un)Busy, he shares insights and ways you, too, can deconstruct bad habits and design the life you want to live! Three Key Takeaways: Thought Leaders are easily overwhelmed with "busyness," which can affect personal life and even health. Focus on the tasks that matter, and accept that you can't do everything all at once. Productivity and activity are not the same thing. Garland's thought leadership helps focus on productivity, and ways to fulfill life's greater purposes. Taking a Thought Leadership keynote into a virtual presentation requires additional work, and there are simple ways to make the experience personal and create genuine connection with your audience.
Jul 8, 2021 • 22min
Finding Clarity for Effective Thought Leadership Marketing |Dolores Hirschmann | 325
Today's guest on our podcast is Dolores Hirschmann. Dolores is well known for organizing TEDx conferences, and is also the author of Clarity First, a recently published book that helps people find the clarity they need to grow their business. She has deep experience in marketing, and has blended coaching into her unique approach for helping businesses scale. We are so excited to spend some time talking to her! Dolores uses her time as a TEDx organizer to delve into the way many brilliant minds lack the succinctness needed to deliver their message. Too often, great leaders get tangled in the details, and can't connect in a way that gets others to lean forward and buy-in. By applying her knowledge of coaching skills to marketing tactics, she has enabled countless leaders to read between the lines of conversation - and strike upon the best ways to share the parts of their leadership that really matter most. However, clarity isn't the only struggle. Even leaders who instinctively grasp clarity often still struggle to make an impact. Some fight the fear of failure, and others find themselves facing fear of success and "what-happens-next?" Dolores discusses the way these fears are two sides of the same coin, and how to overcome them. In today's conversation, we explore self-worth, self-doubt, and how to change your mindset. You can create a new way forward, build your confidence and assuredness, and give yourself the permission to succeed. If you have ever had the nagging fear that you weren't enough, or that you were just muddling through when you could be winning, this episode can help you realize and accept your full potential. You can do it, and Dolores Hirschmann's Clarity First can get you there! Three Key Takeaways: If your Thought Leadership lacks clarity, the greatest potential of your insights will be hidden behind a messy message. Once you find clarity in your Thought Leadership, you need to take action to create impact. Even things you consider failures can drive success! Take a moment to study challenges, learn from them, and use those lessons to shape a better way forward.
Jul 4, 2021 • 26min
Thought Leadership Marketing for B2B Manufacturers | Joe Sullivan | 324
If one voice can reach a wide audience, what about a hundred voices in unison? Think that would get some attention? You'd be right! Our guest on today's episode is Joe Sullivan, the co-founder of Gorilla 76: a firm that specializes in helping mid-sized B2B manufacturers modernize their marketing programs. Joe is also is also the host of The Manufacturing Executive Podcast, celebrating a year's worth of content helping manufacturing leaders find the right growth strategy for their organizations.. In our conversation, Joe shares how Gorilla 76 helps their clients find the right audience. He discusses having a focus on clients that can be helped efficiently, profitably, and with expertise in their challenges. By developing a deep understanding of the decisions involved in purchasing, manufacturers can create and capitalize on the strongest opportunities for growth. Amazingly, Joe isn't the only thought leader at Gorilla 76. Along with his partner, Jon Franko, Gorilla 76 is striking out in a new direction - encouraging and supporting thought leadership created by everyone in the company! Joe details how the skills and experience of many like-minded voices help them create content that proves the company has varied, deep expertise in many subjects - and they're eager to share that knowledge in order to help others! Measuring the success of thought leadership in marketing and sales is a difficult task, even with great analytical tools. Joe helps leaders avoid getting caught up in the routine of "counting likes and shares" without stopping to fully understand what the data is saying. It's easy to be overwhelmed by statistics, and great leaders need to focus on the most important information, and weed out the rest. Thought Leadership is a long game that feeds your sales pipeline, but first, a leader needs to build trust and become established as an expert in their domain. If you want to add thought leadership to your B2B company, or grow innovation across your entire organization, this episode is full of great advice for you. Three Key Takeaways:· Be sure that your thought leadership is tailored to your audience, and addresses their specific challenges and needs. Don't allow metrics and stats to rule your actions. Thought Leadership that connects with a narrow, but well-researched focus will have a higher return than broadcasting to a wide, but uninterested, audience. Podcasts and blogs are a perfect way to give your thought leadership a voice and build community. Just remember, these methods require focus, time, and commitment. They are not a magic wand to bring short-term sales.
Jul 1, 2021 • 22min
Improving Thought Leadership Through Pragmatism and Serving Others | Doug Conant | 323
Our guest today is internationally renowned business leader, Doug Conant. Doug is the best-selling author of The Blueprint, an eminently smart and practical guide to leadership that contains 6 content-rich steps to creating a richer, fuller, more elevated professional life. With more than 40 years of leadership experience at first-class companies like Campbell Soup and Nabisco, Doug now focuses on Thought Leadership as the Founder and CEO of Conant Leadership. In today's episode, Doug shares his passion about his life's work in Thought Leadership, and how he implemented positive, meaningful change at Campbell Soup Company. Years after he began, he chose to leave the corporate world and move into Thought Leadership full-time, using his experience and expertise to help leaders world-wide. Doug tells us about his legacy of contribution, and the ways in which he is inspired to transcend the ordinary and elevate new, innovative ideas. Doug talks to us about his book, The Blueprint, and how following a few simple steps can help leaders "up their game" by focusing on ways to constantly elevate their interactions. Doug and Peter discuss the need to take time for reflection and study; how to know what matters most; and how to change small things to get big impact. Great leaders are pragmatic about where they spend their time, focusing on the things that matter the most in order to see the biggest - and best - return for their efforts! If you've been looking for ways to increase your focus and bring innovative ideas about leadership into your life, this is the episode for you! Three Key Takeaways: Leadership is "sacred ground," where you affect people's lives and livelihoods, and great Thought Leadership should improve the quality of leaders in order to change a myriad of lives. Thought Leaders need to be meditative about their time and their goals, focusing on the things that matter the most! When seeking to improve as a Thought Leader, seek out role models, pay attention to those who had a profound positive impact on you, and actively follow the leadership they've shown - as you develop your own path!
Jun 27, 2021 • 34min
Collaborating Across Companies on Thought Leadership | Jeanne de Cervens, Brian Forbes, Surya Kolluri | 322
When an issue is too important and too big for a single leader or team member to own? How can massive organizations tackle challenging issues in a manner that is beneficial to society? Our three guests in this episode are Surya Kolluri, Jeanne de Cervens, and Brian Forbes. They join us to discuss their critically important study: The Pandemic's Perfect Storm. This study examines COVID-19's impact on Gen Z and Millennials, and delivers some surprising results. Surya Kolluri is the Managing Director at Bank of America, where he structures and leads their Thought Leadership, with a focus on retirement, longevity and social impact. Jeanne de Cervens is a public policy strategist and advocate, with a deep understanding of complex legislation and regulations. In the past, she has worked at both Transamerica and Georgetown University. Brian Forbes is the current Director of Thought Leadership and Strategy at Transamerica. He oversees that organization's research and sales enablement programs, and focuses on healthcare costs, caregiving, and retirement. Our three guests recall how they crossed paths within various research groups and institutions before coming together to examine the impact of the pandemic. They discuss the population groups that are most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and give us their insights about ways to position thought leadership to better serve the people who are most affected. Our guests explain why large corporations are collaborating on these issues, and why society's interests outweigh the need for prestige or monetary gains. Previously established relationships between organizations allow for broader teamwork, and create more leverage for the message. We shed light on the ways Bank of America and Transamerica sponsored the work being done at Georgetown University. This study, and its success, would not have been possible if our guests had not previously established a relationship between themselves. Further, we discuss the importance of building relationships with individuals from other industries who share our passions. This can bring a myriad of viewpoints to the table, benefitting society as a whole. Collaboration can increase the credibility of a project, allowing it to reach a wider audience. If you want your organization to be more collaborative, this episode is for you! We chat about how to find solid, inter-corporational partners, ways to create mutually beneficial engagements, and how to make an impact on topics too big for one person to take on alone. Three Key Takeaways:· How Thought Leadership collaboration can create solutions that reach beyond a single organization. Successful Thought Leadership needs to include establishing and nurturing relationships outside your organization. Ways that thought leaders can go beyond research, and bring effective, meaningful results to your constituents.
Jun 20, 2021 • 26min
Thought Leadership in Private Equity and Intrapreneurship | Dr. Chitra Anand | 321
If you've ever felt creatively "stuck in a rut," and innovation seems out of reach, this is the episode to cure your woes! Our guest today is Dr. Chitra Anand, an award-winning Communications & Marketing executive with over 20 years in the technology industry. She's an extraordinary leader, and has spent time as the head of Communications for Microsoft Canada, Director of Marketing at TELUS Corporation, and Director of Operations at Open Tex. She is also the author of The Green House Approach, a book filled with insights about innovation, creating compelling storytelling in business, and fighting complacency in the workplace. The Green House Approach is a mindset shift; a change in the way we approach thinking, and gives strong advice about "breaking out" and challenging current structural norms. Bill and Chitra reminisce about her career in various tech companies, and discuss the way she implemented thought leadership to educate customers about new trends - long before "thought leadership" was a commonly used term! Plus, Chitra illuminates the many contrasts between content marketing and thought leadership, and how your organization needs both if you're going to thrive. Chitra is leading a new movement in the workplace: Intrapreneurship! Today, she tells us what the term means, and how Intrapreneurship can drive innovative thinking and build new, better ways of conducting business. Chitra gives thoughtful advice for those looking to include "Intrapreneurship" in their organization. This is a great episode, sure to change your mindset and leave you with great ideas. Give it a listen! Three Key Takeaways Thought leadership means building new ideas and concepts; content marketing means leveraging an existing product or service. Thought leadership that forces clients to question old, staid habits, and identify behavioral shifts that can move an organization forward. Good thought leadership creates trust, and trust builds business.
