Don’t Overthink It
One of the most common misconceptions about thought leadership is that the ideas have to be big, bold, and immaculately produced. People stay in the shadows and keep their heads down because they’re too busy doing the work to cook up some big, fancy thought leadership campaign. Imposter syndrome takes over, and most people avoid […]
Abortion Rights: It’s Time to Stand Up and Start Talking
Does this script ever play in your head? Don’t get political. Don’t say anything you’ll regret. The internet lives forever. These are the old rules of the “professional workplace.” I talk to a lot of people who worry about what they’re allowed to say, what feathers they’ll ruffle, and the people who won’t agree with […]
Lessons from Thought Leadership Therapy
Have you ever called a therapist to help you sort through a tough problem? I don’t mean the usual kind of therapist — I’m talking about a thought leadership therapist. I get emails that read something like: “Help! We have an important launch/rebrand/campaign, but we can’t get the words right. We all agree on the […]
Spin It Away from You
ME ME ME ME ME ME. Oh, sorry. Just warming up my vocal cords before I step up on my soapbox. How often do we start by talking about ourselves? Especially when we’re communicating our big goals and most important ideas — the ideas we’re really proud of and excited about — we think ME […]
The Thought Leadership Dilemma of Our Times
I’m calling it. Here it is – I have identified the Big Problem of our times. It’s a thought leadership problem, but it’s also a core problem that affects how we talk about our work and get people on board. It weakens our impact and influence. In 2022, enlightened business people everywhere (including most of […]
Bypass the Buzzwords
I have a bone to pick with everyone who works for any business. Hello, yes, you too. It’s about “jargon.” I know what you’re thinking. You’re above the corporate jargon that everyone makes fun of. You would never dare use meaningless phrases like “leverage” or “circle back” or, God forbid, “growth hacking.” Fine. We’ve agreed, […]
Moving Through the Messy Middle: How I’m Working Through a Big Creative Project
How do you handle a big creative project? How do you break down what feels like a mammoth undertaking into manageable steps? In other words: How do you write a book? As I shared recently, I have been working on a ghostwritten book for several months, and it has culminated in a big month of […]
How I Approach Ghostwriting Books
This month, I’m focused on one big project. My March is all about ghostwriting a book with a long-time client. It’s a big job. We have spent months (and years before that) gathering research and interviews for the book. We have more than enough material to work with. But now, my task is to gather, […]
Ask These 3 Questions to Clarify Your Big Idea
“I don’t need a process. I just come up with ideas.” “No need to waste time on strategy. Let’s dive in and we’ll figure it out as we go.” “I don’t want to be pinned down to one idea. It will change over time.” After working in thought leadership for ~10 years and talking to […]
The Antidote to Spaghetti Brian
Do you have spaghetti brain? “Spaghetti brain” is a term that came to me from a client (hi, Chris). When we were first introduced, he told me he needed help “twirling the spaghetti” of his company’s marketing and communication challenges. He attached this picture to his email: Amazing, right? You see why I said yes […]
