If you want to be seen as a leader, as a brand, and as an object of interest, stop joining conversations.
Lead them.
Your “self-talk” needs to be manifest as interactive communications, attempts to influence and persuade, defense of your positions, and so forth. You’re not going to stand out in a crowd if you’re simply singing the same song as the other 400,000 people in the choir.
If you intend to be a thought leader, an object of interest, a center of expertise or however else you may choose to attract people to your market position and brand, then consider these dynamics:
• Is there a uniqueness you can lend to the discussion, given the economy, technology, or society?
• Is there a contrarian or non-mainstream view that will give others pause to think?
• Can you anticipate a new application or window of opportunity approaching?
• What original elements can you lend to the discussion?
• What examples can you cite in contemporary business and/or society that reinforce or refute the position?
• What metaphors or analogies will make your approach memorable and attached to you?
• Can you cite examples of having personally used, proved, disproved, or otherwise engaged in the subject matter?
For example, I feel that planning and strategy are two different pursuits, usually incorrectly interchanged and artificially combined by organizations and professionals. So I point out to people that “strategic planning” is an oxymoron, and that planning usually kills strategy (because the former starts at the present and extrapolates, and the latter paints a picture of the future and works backwards). I can cite why two airlines have shown intelligent strategies and results while the others have mostly floundered, and I use a strategy/tactics grid to help leaders understand where they are, where they should be, and what they have to do to get there.
When people talk about “team building” I point out that most organizations have committees, not teams, and they are two entirely separate species.
You get the picture. Don’t join the crowd, lead it. You neither want the beat of their drummer nor a distant drummer.
You want to set your own beat.
© Alan Weiss 2010. All rights reserved.
Sometimes I honestly don’t know how I survived years in the trenches without you. I now refer to them as my B.A. years – Before Alan. My problem is that I get sucked into the middle of the Bell curve too often. Thanks for the timely post.
Avant moi, le déluge (taking liberty with Louis XV).
I tend to agree with that and have since I met you. = )