While much of the world mourns the (official) loss of a pop star’s innocence, allow us to turn your attention to some of this week’s most profound examples of brilliant thought leadership. Today’s lineup includes generosity, combining thought with practicality, and an infographic that nicely sums up what it takes to be a better thought leader.
Be A Leader In Your Industry: Help Others
From Forbes:
“It’s [the] potential to help that contributes to a leader’s authority and credibility, and it results in something else: Helping others can allow you to differentiate yourself and naturally attract people to your brand in a meaningful way…By simply sharing your knowledge and resources, you stand to gain three benefits — benefits that will position you as an industry leader while also ensuring the longevity of your business.
When you make the effort to help someone, you are given the opportunity to form a meaningful relationship, rather than a purely transactional one.”
Our take: The idea that giving is more gratifying than receiving is not a new one, but it remains a struggle for many people — not to mention organizations trying to make money. But the important thing to remember is that helping others is already at the core of most business strategies, even if you call it ‘a software solution’ or ‘customer service’, so it shouldn’t be too far a leap to make.
Fashola as a Global Thought Leader
From The Guardian:
“Governor Fashola was named alongside such global icons as Pope Francis who is recognised for restoring the glory of the Catholic Church as a formidable global power and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for steering his country’s economy in a totally different direction. Fashola is honoured for making Lagos the hub of innovation in Africa and for setting up the Innovation Advisory Council, in collaboration with the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Fashola is an excellent example of a few persons across the world who combine thought with praxis. French philosophers would call such a person l’homme engage, or a practical man of ideas. Ghanaians remember Professor Kofia Busia as a brilliant social scientist at Oxford but a failed political leader when he became prime minister. Nicephore Soglo was a top economist and lawyer at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but when he was elected the president of Benin Republic in the early 1990s, he failed woefully, forcing the citizens to bring back to office former President Mathieu Kerekou, an army general with a modest formal education whose so-called Marxist policy helped to ruin the economy in the 1970s and 80s.”
Our take: Whether or not you have a personal affiliation or interest in politics, it’s refreshing to see world leaders spark positive change in their respective economies, industries, and communities. There’s always an applicable lesson to be learned from people in power who use their position to drive renewal, growth, and prosperity.
The 10-Point Infographic
This infographic from Potion PR & Marketing demonstrates how to implement a thought leadership program in your organization that’s engaging and innovative, and that maintains the company message.
Our take: Not a bad checklist for thought leadership novices or those trying to hone their TL skills. And, it’s always critical to keep new programs from disrupting existing messages (unless, of course, that’s what you want).
The post Thursday Thought Leadership Roundup: Helping Others, Global Thinkers, and the 10-Point Infographic appeared first on Conspire: Innovation | Collaboration | Mindjet.