Courage: The secret sauce of thought leadership

posted on March 7, 2012 at 4:52 PM under Marketing, Thought Leadership


The only question I couldn’t answer after my Columbia thought leadership seminar a few weeks ago was: Do they teach this in school?  Can I get a degree in Thought Leadership?

School is great.  You learn how to learn.  And a degree is a terrific validator for employers.  But the only way to get the knowledge and skills you need to identify and create thought leadership positions is through experience.  And the most important element in the thought leadership periodic table is this:  courage.

Here’s something that often happens when I complete a thought leadership assignment for a company:  1)  I tell them they need to capitalize on a significant strength.   2) That strength doesn’t conform with who they think they are and want to be.  3)  I am warned not to go there.

What would I do if I was on staff and my children’s education depended on that job?  Probably capitulate.  But because I’m a consultant with many clients, I can take a risk.  I can maintain the courage of my conviction.

In response to the problem of telling clients what they might not want to know, I tell them that we should celebrate who they are now, and if that’s not who they want to be we will build them a ‘perception map’ that outlines a plan to get there.  That usually works.

This also speaks to the issue of authenticity.  It takes courage to be authentic.  As I ranted in a previous post, it’s almost impossible to be truly ‘authentic.’  What we’re really doing is developing ‘personas’ to represent who we want the world to think we are, and maybe one day we get there.  As my great friend Bill Heyman says “it takes years and years of experience to finally say ‘this is who I am.’ (Bill specializes in placing communications professionals www.heymanassociates.com).

The only real hope for authenticity is courage.  You have to go beyond your comfort zone if you want to expand your product line or customer base.

That’s what separates thought leadership from plain old marketing, and keeps consultants (and therapists) in business.

Got courage?

“Authenticity” is a Load of Crap

posted on March 3, 2012 at 10:47 PM under uncategorized

Throw Away Your Tired Old Illusions

 

If you’re new to the blogosphere and have read    everything ever written about how to produce “engaging content” then you certainly have run into your “authentic self.”

Authentic Self:  Authentic tone of voice (act like you’re talking to someone), authentic representation (full disclosure:  I’m a marketing rep for so-and-so), talk about what you know, blah blah blah.

There’s nothing “authentic” about trying to act like you’re authentic.  And I would challenge anyone who thinks that being authentic is even a possibility …in real life, much less online when you’re trying to get people to do things (buy things, like things, support things, etc.).

In psychology, there is something called a “persona.”   Personas are the faces we put on for others to get them to think of us the way we want them to.  I’d say personas are as close to authentic as we get because they represent who and what we want to be (given our ability to deny, avoid and otherwise not face the reality of who we are I think striving for more in public just might get us arrested).

So back to authenticity, whatever the hell that is.

I just started reaching out to get readers for my blog and I participated in a social media thing where I like your page if you like mine.  We don’t know each other, hell, we don’t even really “like” each other.  But we’re willing to do it for each other so we can build “friends” or “contacts” or “likes.”

We’re doing it so we can reach beyond our own borders and encroach on each other’s contact territory.  And that’s ok!  It’s real!  And it’s the way social media works.

So, hello and welcome my new superficial best friends!  I love you (upping the ante since I already Liked you).  Who cares whether it’s authentic or not?