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
Jun 17, 2021 • 21min
Collaborating to Join Research with the Applied in Thought Leadership | Jim Kouzes | 320
Today's guest is Jim Kouzes the coauthor with Barry Posner of the award-winning and best-selling book, The Leadership Challenge. He's also the Dean's Executive Fellow of Leadership, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University. Jim tells us about his first meeting with Barry and how they quickly became best friends. That friendship and their complementary skills and interests led to writing The Leadership Challenge which has sold more than two million copies worldwide! Jim's focus on the applied and Barry's emphasis on research has allowed them to develop the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) a standard 360 leadership assessment. Jim explains the process of creating LPI and how real-life examples play heavily into the ability of clients to grasp the concepts. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way many people work and think. Jim discusses the changes in leaders and what employees look for in leadership due to the pandemic and whether we can expect these changes to subside as we move forward or if some of them will become the new norm. If you want a deep understanding of how evidence-based research can become applied skills you can use in daily life this is a great episode for you! Three Key Takeaways: When collaborating on Thought Leadership try to work with those who have complementary skills and not competing interests. Your Thought Leadership should not include anything you cannot factually demonstrate. Real-life stories of how your Thought Leadership has worked can help others understand the principles of your content.
Jun 10, 2021 • 21min
Hosting versus Being a Guest on Thought Leadership Podcasts | Tom Schwab | 319
Tom Schwab is the Chief Evangelist Officer and Founder of Interview Valet, which helps hosts find great guests for their podcast. He is also the author of PODCAST GUEST PROFIT which gives step-by-step systems from taking your podcast from obscure to acclaimed! With more than 2.1 million podcasts out there you are probably curious as to how to get yours heard. Tom gives us strategies for getting the most out of your podcast, how to hit the right audience, and why big numbers don't need to be a priority. In addition, we discuss the pros of being a guest on the bevy of podcasts that exist. Tom explains why you should try being a guest 20 or 30 times before starting your own. Then he breaks down why being a guest might be better for some than putting in the time and money to become a host of their own show. If you chose to be a guest you'll want to hear the advice Tom has for ensuring you maximize the potential of your appearance. Tom compares being a podcast guest to being invited to the host's home for dinner. If you have a podcast this episode will help you reach new heights. If you want to be a guest it will make sure you don't arrive empty-handed. Three Key Takeaways: When producing a thought leadership podcast hitting the right audience is more important than hitting a large audience. If you are going to be a guest on a thought leadership podcast ensure you research the host and their audiences before you sign on. The greatest benefit of being a host or guest of a thought leadership podcast is the relationship you can build.
Jun 6, 2021 • 40min
Thought Leadership for Building New Leaders | Tom Kolditz | 318
Our guest is Tom Kolditz, the author of Leadership Reckoning and Director of The Doerr Institute for New Leaders at Rice University. The Institute's two-fold mission is to create a powerful and widely available leader development experience and improve the quality of leader development in higher education everywhere. Tom shares how many universities include the development of leaders in their mission statement. However, he explains that few have any focused programs to bring about that mission. Many focus on what Tom calls "leadertainment" which has no lasting benefit. We discuss Tom's book Leadership Reckoning, which outlines the failure of higher education. In addition Tom defines leadertainment and reveals how to measure outcomes and design programs to improve leadership development. Tom informs us about the upcoming classification system from The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching that is compelling Universities to listen to the problems being presented. Afterwards, he gives insight into how it will aid them in moving towards better programs for leadership development. If you want to understand how Universities can develop better leaders and why they are currently struggling to achieve that, you'll want to listen to this episode! Three Key Takeaways: Thought leadership needs to include methods of measuring outcomes. In addition, you should be tracking goals in order to truly understand its effectiveness. Thought Leaders often have big ideas, but you have to cultivate the right conditions for the ideas to take root and grow. Your thought leadership should include a system of checks to ensure that a client is progressing. These checks should also account for movement backward.
Jun 3, 2021 • 20min
Thought Leadership for development and training | Melissa Davies | 317
Today's guest is Melissa Davies, Founder, and CEO of Wieseways Consulting, author of How Not to Act Like a BLEEP at Work, and founding member of the Global Institute for Thought Leadership. Melissa is a Dynamic Facilitator, Educator & Executive Coach with a global perspective. Melissa walks us through the path she took to become a thought leader having first had a career as an educator in Canada and The Middle East before landing in the States to use her global insights to understand people, gain their trust, and provide a unique perspective to complex problems. When seeking to improve leadership or teams we often seek to introduce change. Melissa talks about being intentional with those changes, using performance management, and being mindful of the culture you are intending to introduce and the possible negative implications of those changes. Our conversation concludes with a look at how COVID-19 has affected training. We will no doubt return to in-person training on some level, the virtual method is here to stay. Melissa shares how the structure of presentations should change to keep the attention of an at-home audience. Three Key Takeaways: When seeking to introduce thought leadership, find what your audience has in common at their core and understand why they do things the way they do. When using thought leadership to build new processes analyze the positives but also what negative impacts these changes might have. When delivering thought leadership online keep your presentations to 20 – 25 minutes before moving to discussion and activities.
May 30, 2021 • 42min
Thought Leadership for Startups | Jim Adler | 316
Today's guest is Jim Adler Founder and Managing Director of Toyota AI Ventures, a standalone early-stage venture capital fund that invests in startups working on A.I., robotics, mobility, and more. We start the conversation with Jim describing what Toyota AI Ventures does and what its mission is. From we get into how they help startups take their idea to scale when to introduce processes and how to find a balance that allows creativity and growth. Jim shares how Toyota AI Ventures bridges the gap between global enterprise and startup, which is an important step. If an investor is too involved it can stifle innovation that happens early, but if they are not involved enough the startup could end up lacking the ability to recruit, build company culture, or find clients that see the value in their idea. Next Jim shares the success story of Joby Aviation, his first meeting in a canyon to see their air taxi in flight, going to bat for them, and their goal of saving one billion people an hour each day! We wrap up discussing the qualities Jim looks for in a startup, separating signal from noise, and how to take advantage of the hype cycle! If you have a startup and are seeking knowledge on how to attract investors this is a must-listen episode for you! Three Key Takeaways: It is important to build thought leadership processes around the areas you are weak in, not just your strengths. When working with a startup your thought leadership should add value to the areas they need help with but not overshadow their creative energy. All leaders should be thought leaders. Thought Leadership is a team sport.
May 23, 2021 • 35min
Leveraging Thought Leadership | Jody Grunden | 315
Today's guest is Jody Grunden, a visionary accountant with over 20 years of experience that has helped pioneer innovative changes to his industry. Jody is the co-founder and CEO of Summit CPA Group, author of Digital Dollars and Cents. Jody takes us back to 2013 when he arrived at a conference to speak only to have a series of events go wrong that ended with him giving his presentation off the cuff while wearing a Hawaiian shirt and becoming a huge success! Since that fateful event the Summit CPA Group has undergone a lot of changes. We discuss why they've moved to focusing on creative agencies and how thought leadership has become their only form of marketing, and how they are teaching other firms their methods. Getting your thought leadership off the ground is often time consuming and expensive. Jody shares his experience getting things off the ground, what it took to find success, and how he got his business partner on board with his ideas. If you are looking to develop your own thought leadership or are struggling to find your audience this is a wonderful episode filled with excellent advice! Three Key Takeaways: When delivering thought leadership don't use jargon the audience might not understand. Speak in the vernacular of your audience. Even if your thought leadership might be useful to a wide audience, find a space to become a specialist in. Become a resource to that market so clients come to you for advice. No one will ever care more about your thought leadership than you. You have to have passion and conviction in your delivery to get clients to see you.
May 20, 2021 • 20min
Leveraging Thought Leadership | Sandra Smith | 314
Today's guest is Sandra Smith, Founder, and President of Smith Publicity a marketing company that focuses on authors and expert promotions. Many things have changed in the last ten years and publicity is no different. Sandra walks us through some of the big changes authors should be conscious of and why their social media presence and what they share are more imperative now than ever before. When it comes to success for an author, selling books seems like the logical focus. We discuss why selling books is great but getting the attention of your industry is even better. Sandra explains why authors don't need to be overly concerned with metrics and how the shelf life of business books is much longer than it used to be. Sandra goes on to explain why authors should start a conversation with a publicist before they start writing. Getting a firm grasp on why you want a narrow audience, how your release date isn't that important and the benefits of hiring a publicist outside of your publisher can save time and money down the road. If you are thinking about writing a business book and want to ensure success this episode is a great place to start! Three Key Takeaways: You need to be sharing your thought leadership content and cultivate your social media presence all the time not just when you have a book coming out. Authors often get fixated with the metrics around the publication date of their book but thought leadership books often do better in their second year than their first. Getting media attention for your thought leadership is good but you have to make sure you have content and systems in place to monetize the spotlight.
May 16, 2021 • 31min
Leveraging Thought Leadership | Christopher Brace | 313
Today's guest is Christopher Brace, a global executive successful at building highly effective integrated marketing teams across complex organizations to drive awareness and product sales. We start our conversation off by discussing how you can emotionally bond customers to a brand of consumer product and how these same techniques can be used to create an emotional connection to an idea. Christopher shares how he gets his customers to tell the stories that connect them to a brand, how he is able to fast track focus groups to get to the emotional core, and how that information can be used to tell a story that can inspire and ultimately alter behavior. It takes more than simply getting people emotional to create loyalty, you first have to dislodge customers from old ideas before they'll accept the new ones. Christopher walks us through that process and why you have to be careful to not attempt to change too many behaviors at one time or you risk people digging in and not budging at all. This episode is a fascinating look at how emotion can rule our choices over rational thinking and how thought leaders can use that for a positive change! Three Key Takeaways: Thought leadership that connects on an emotional level allows you to engage people in your brand's story and inspire them to action. Research into what clients like or dislike about your thought leadership content has to move beyond rational thinking and into the emotional realm in which we often make choices. The average person is only capable of changing three behaviors at a time. To avoid clients resisting change ensure your thought leadership does not attempt to change many habits too quickly.
May 13, 2021 • 22min
Leveraging Thought Leadership | Scott Shute | 312
Today's guest is Scott Shute, the Head of Mindfulness and Compassion Programs at Linkedin and the author of the new release book The Full Body Yes. Compassion is the #1 thing you can do to be successful in business and life. That philosophy is something Scott shared with the CEO of Linkedin which allowed him to use his history in customer service combined with his passion for wellness to create a position to introduce mainstream mindfulness and operationalized compassion to the company. Scott explains how internal compassion involves a change from me to we thinking and how if employers care about their employees they need to have the tools and system in place to care for the mental well-being of their employees in the same manner, a gym helps to maintain and grow physical well-being. We discuss with Scott how his recent book The Full Body Yes benefits not only himself but the company he works for and the other employees there. If you have a passion for compassion, Scott suggests you find a way to introduce and practice that at your company, and should your organization not be receptive perhaps you need to find somewhere else that will embrace that passion. If you care for your employees this episode is a trove of information on how to add a gym of compassion and wellness to your company. Three Key Takeaways: Having a real human element of compassion to your thought leadership can help you connect with clients in a deep and meaningful way. Thought leadership bringing compassion to an organization needs to define how to care for employees while still meeting the demands of the job. If you care about your employees find ways to introduce thought leadership to care for the mental well-being of your employees.
May 6, 2021 • 23min
Leveraging Thought Leadership | Michael F. Schein | 311
Today's guest is Michael F. Schein, the author of The Hype Handbook, founder and CEO of MicroFame Media a company that turns consultants into celebrities. Very few people ever become worldwide famous, but is that really what you need to be a known entity in your field? Michael shares why micro fame is a better goal to seek when you are selling ideas. Michael and Peter discuss how hype is can be more effective than traditional marketing by relying on centuries-old psychological principles you can create a highly emotional reaction that will allow you to move people and create a sense of loyalty to your brand or idea. Last we wrap up by talking about Michael's recently launched book The Hype Handbook, how the book connects to the business, the effects it has had, and even what Charles Mason and Warren Buffet have in common! If you've been struggling to conquer your little corner of the universe this episode has some great advice for hyping your content! Three Key Takeaways: Thought Leaders seeking to be known by everyone need to refocus on only being known by those who would be interested in your ideas. Using hype to work your followers into a frenzy can be a more effective tactic than traditional thought leadership marketing. If you thought leadership agrees with everyone else in your field, you need to rethink what you are bringing to the conversation.
