Thought Leadership

Thought Leadership is more important than ever with the customer taking charge of the sales process. Thought Leadership attracts customers and opens the door to many opportunities. In each podcast, co-hosts Mitchell Levy and Michael Procopio will interview a thought leader or someone involved in thought leadership to tease out how to become an effective thought leader and best practices.

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Thought Leadership with Mitchell Levy and Michael Procopio, Episode 35: August 14, 2014

Thought Leadership with Mitchell and Michael

In this episode, Mitchell and Michael hang out with #ThoughtLeader Janet Fouts. Author of four books and a recognized expert in social media engagement, Janet talks about the rights tools and attitude for a successful engagement on social media platforms and shares interesting insights about mindful social business, thoughtful conversations and more. She is excited to be on #TLL because she considers it a channel for real conversations. The show is not an interview with a script but is something that has real one-on-one conversations which Janet says is important if you want to achieve your goals in using social media.

Janet FoutsJanet defines a #ThoughtLeader as someone who people actually listen to and someone who cares about the people who follow them and engages with them. The #ThoughtLeadershipFunnel (http://www.thoughtleaderlife.com/thoughtleadershipfunnel) is a useful concept that should be followed by people who want to understand #ThoughtLeadership and become a #ThoughtLeader. Janet says companies should understand that social media engagement is not something you can buy in a box, unpack it and then automate your way out of it. People who engage on social media must do so in a thoughtful way and engage back, rather than just spew out sales talk. Automation can be acceptable if it is thoughtful automation. For busy CEOs, Mitchell suggests the AhaAmplifier (http://app.thinkaha.com) as a great tool for easy, two-minute engagement. Creating relationships and nurturing them is possible on social media, and businesses should be able to understand this. Janet considers social selling a really important skill that a sales person should have, including knowing how to find out about people. It’s true that social actually makes life so much easier and that starting mindful conversations on social can be beneficial for everybody.

To learn more about Thought Leadership and how it can help you be successful, subscribe to the channel: http://youtube.com/user/thoughtleaderlife.

Here are a couple of aha moments from the episode. See more in the “Aha Moments from Thought Leader Life” books available in the THiNKaha App: http://AhaAmplifier.com/.
• Social media engagement is not something you can buy in a box, unpack it & then automate your way out of it. @jfouts
• Social media is all about building affinity. @jfouts
• Being generous is one of the qualities of a #ThoughtLeader. @happyabout
• People want to hit the easy button, so make it easy for them & give the best info upfront. @jfouts


Join us 11 am PT / 2 pm ET / 7 pm GMT on Saturday every week. The show blog is Thought Leader Life.

Any comments or suggestions for the show please send them. Thank you for listening and if you like what you hear, please leave a review on iTunes! 

This episode was sponsored, in part, by THiNKaha.com, helping experts become thought leaders.

You can connect with Mitchell at MitchellLevy.com, @HappyAbout on Twitter, or join his Thought Leadership Best Practices Group on LinkedIn; and with Michael at MProcopio.com, on Twitter:@MichaelProcopio; or LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/in/MichaelProcopio.

Get this podcast:

FIR Community on Google+Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at fircomments@gmail.com. If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

To receive all podcasts in the FIR Podcast Network, subscribe to the “everything” RSS feed. To stay informed about occasional FIR events (eg, FIR Live), sign up for FIR Update email news.

FIR presents Thought Leadership with Mitchell and Michael is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Posted by Michael Procopio on 08/14 at 09:04 AM
Thought Leadership • (0) Comments • Permalink

Friday, August 08, 2014

Thought Leadership with Mitchell Levy and Michael Procopio, Episode 34: August 8, 2014

Thought Leadership with Mitchell and Michael


In this episode, Mitchell and Michael hang out with #ThoughtLeader Stuart Tracte (@stwo). Stuart hosts the digipolitichat show Beer Diplomacy and is constantly involved in forward-thinking, cutting-edge social media stories. He’s with the group that takes care of digital strategy and communication for Social@ogilvy, an award-winning company specializing in social business solutions.

Stuart TracteFor Stuart, a #ThoughtLeader is not necessarily somebody who has advanced thoughts but somebody who makes people think of things other than what is considered the norm. To push #ThoughtLeadership within brands, companies, especially the large ones, must look at different platforms and use different styles to get the message out to their target audience. Oftentimes, #ThoughtLeadership is not necessarily about your product but about building trust with your customer. People don’t like it if you’re always selling. Instead, use a personal brand to test the ground. Be active on social, use different platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Inspire people to think. To emphasize this point, Mitchell places the question: When was the last time you posted something on Facebook that had 100 responses? 

In the interview, Stuart talks about how communication channels has evolved in which, for example, you can simply put a # somewhere and consumers will know and understand what that means. People understand that there is depth in dynamic communication channels which create unique experiences for the customer that standard advertising cannot do. Different communities online are now starting to specialize, hence there is also a need to tailor the message and use a platform that really matches their need. People get it. But it is also important to develop relevant content on the right platform and offer new ways to communicate. Stuart also gives his commentary about truth in advertising, pointing out the practice of some publishers to ‘seed in’ branded content. He notes that the lines have become really blurry between advertising and editorial. He argues that there must be some form of regulation when it comes to publishing news feeds that are actually pushing a certain brand. Journalists should not be made to write an ad copy.

To learn more about Thought Leadership and how it can help you be successful, subscribe to the channel: http://youtube.com/user/thoughtleaderlife.

Here are a couple of aha moments from the episode. See more in the “Aha Moments from Thought Leader Life” books available in the THiNKaha App: http://AhaAmplifier.com/.
• The best way to educate yourself about something new is to get in there & get your hands dirty. @stwo
• Today, the lines have become very blurry between what is advertising and what is editorial content. @stwo
• Social media is not intended to be a shotgun blast. @michaelprocopio
• Guess what? Even as marketers, we are also consumers. @stwo

Join us 11 am PT / 2 pm ET / 7 pm GMT on Saturday every week. The show blog is Thought Leader Life.

Any comments or suggestions for the show please send them. Thank you for listening and if you like what you hear, please leave a review on iTunes! 

This episode was sponsored, in part, by THiNKaha.com, helping experts become thought leaders.

You can connect with Mitchell at MitchellLevy.com, @HappyAbout on Twitter, or join his Thought Leadership Best Practices Group on LinkedIn; and with Michael at MProcopio.com, on Twitter:@MichaelProcopio; or LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/in/MichaelProcopio.

Get this podcast:

FIR Community on Google+Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at fircomments@gmail.com. If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

To receive all podcasts in the FIR Podcast Network, subscribe to the “everything” RSS feed. To stay informed about occasional FIR events (eg, FIR Live), sign up for FIR Update email news.

FIR presents Thought Leadership with Mitchell and Michael is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Posted by Michael Procopio on 08/08 at 07:03 PM
Thought Leadership • (0) Comments • Permalink

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Thought Leadership with Mitchell Levy and Michael Procopio, Episode 33: July 30, 2014

Thought Leadership with Mitchell and Michael

Dorie Clark (@dorieclark) is a marketing strategy consultant, professional speaker, and frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review and Forbes. Recognized as a “branding expert” by the Associated Press and Fortune, she is the author of Reinventing You: Define Your Brand, Imagine Your Future (Harvard Business Review Press, 2013), which is being translated into Russian, Chinese, French, Polish, and Thai.

Clark consults and speaks for a diverse range of clients, including Google, the World Bank, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, the Ford Foundation, Yale University, the Mount Sinai Medical Center, and the National Park Service.

Dorie ClarkClark, a former presidential campaign spokeswoman, is an adjunct professor of business administration at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. She has taught marketing and communications at Tufts University, Suffolk University, Emerson College, HEC-Paris, Babson College, the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler School of Business, and Smith College Executive Education. She has been named to the Huffington Post’s “100 Must Follow on Twitter” list for 2013 and 2014, and to the #Nifty50 list of top women on Twitter.

She has also guest lectured at universities including Harvard Business School, the Harvard Kennedy School, Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, the University of California-Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, Georgetown, NYU, the MIT Sloan School of Management, and the University of Michigan. Her work has been published in the Harvard Business Review Guide to Getting the Right Job and the Harvard Business Review Guide to Networking, and she is quoted frequently in the worldwide media, including NPR, the BBC, and MSNBC.

Join us 11 am PT / 2 pm ET / 7 pm GMT on Saturday every week. The show blog is Thought Leader Life.

Any comments or suggestions for the show please send them. Thank you for listening and if you like what you hear, please leave a review on iTunes! 

This episode was sponsored, in part, by THiNKaha.com, helping experts become thought leaders.

You can connect with Mitchell at MitchellLevy.com, @HappyAbout on Twitter, or join his Thought Leadership Best Practices Group on LinkedIn; and with Michael at MProcopio.com, on Twitter:@MichaelProcopio; or LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/in/MichaelProcopio.

Get this podcast:

FIR Community on Google+Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at fircomments@gmail.com. If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

To receive all podcasts in the FIR Podcast Network, subscribe to the “everything” RSS feed. To stay informed about occasional FIR events (eg, FIR Live), sign up for FIR Update email news.

FIR presents Thought Leadership with Mitchell and Michael is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Posted by Michael Procopio on 07/30 at 08:13 AM
Thought Leadership • (2) Comments • Permalink

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Thought Leadership with Mitchell Levy and Michael Procopio, Episode 32: July 26, 2014

Thought Leadership with Mitchell and Michael


In this episode, Mitchell and Michael hang out with #ThoughtLeader Alexandra Watkins, recognized expert on business names and owner and CEO of the company Eat My Words (http://www.eatmywords.com) which Mitchell “absolutely adores”. Mitchell also describes her as someone who really knows what marketing is and who is not ashamed or shy in sharing her opinion. Alexandra defines a #ThoughtLeader as someone who is an authority in their area, not just an authority in their minds. Her or she has to be not only an authority in their area but has to be really well-respected and followed not just by their customers or advocates, but by competitors and peers. For Alexandra, a #ThoughtLeader has to have an original thought which he or she expresses without fear even if it is contrary to popular opinion.

Alexandra WatkinsIn the interview, Alexandra defines a good brand name by expounding on her company’s tagline: “A name should make you smile, instead of scratch your head.” People like names that they understand and easily get because it makes them feel smart. A good name is something that does not baffle or confuse or challenge people enough to make them feel stupid. Alexandra explains the S.M.I.L.E. and S.C.R.A.T.C.H test that is available on her company’s website and which is a simple evaluation test to determine if you have a good brand name. Alexandra describes the test to be anything but complicated; it is not a scientific process but just basic common sense. SMILE is an acronym for the 5 qualities of a good brand name, namely – Suggestive, Meaningful, Imagery, Legs and Emotional connection. On the other hand, SCRATCH is an acronym that stands for the qualities of a brand name that is going to cause problems, and Alexandra says when your company name has even just one of these qualities, you must already consider changing it. She also points out that in today’s world; it is no longer too hard to change names because you can use social media and the Internet to spread the information about your name change. Alexandra’s best advice is that when you are already struggling with the current name you have, begin considering changing your name.

For #ThoughtLeaders, Alexandra’s advice is not to use your own names for your brand because that kind of brand name will not say anything about you and you don’t want to dilute your brand because you have namesakes. One example is Happy About (http://www.happyabout.com) which is a lot easier to remember than mitchelllevy.com.     

To learn more about Thought Leadership and how it can help you be successful, subscribe to the channel: http://youtube.com/user/thoughtleaderlife.

Here are a couple of aha moments from the episode. See more in the “Aha Moments from Thought Leader Life” books available in the THiNKaha App: http://AhaAmplifier.com/.
• #ThoughtLeaders think their way is not always the only way and shares great thoughts of others, not just their own. @Eatmywords
• Annoying names are the ones that frustrate the customer. @Eatmywords
• Why should you make your name challenging for people? Just because it’s creative doesn’t always mean it’s good! @Eatmywords
• Using a personal name for your brand name is not necessarily a good choice. @michaelprocopio


Join us 11 am PT / 2 pm ET / 7 pm GMT on Saturday every week. The show blog is Thought Leader Life.

Any comments or suggestions for the show please send them. Thank you for listening and if you like what you hear, please leave a review on iTunes! 

This episode was sponsored, in part, by THiNKaha.com, helping experts become thought leaders.

You can connect with Mitchell at MitchellLevy.com, @HappyAbout on Twitter, or join his Thought Leadership Best Practices Group on LinkedIn; and with Michael at MProcopio.com, on Twitter:@MichaelProcopio; or LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/in/MichaelProcopio.

Get this podcast:

FIR Community on Google+Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at fircomments@gmail.com. If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

To receive all podcasts in the FIR Podcast Network, subscribe to the “everything” RSS feed. To stay informed about occasional FIR events (eg, FIR Live), sign up for FIR Update email news.

FIR presents Thought Leadership with Mitchell and Michael is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Posted by Michael Procopio on 07/26 at 07:55 PM
Thought Leadership • (0) Comments • Permalink

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Thought Leadership with Mitchell Levy and Michael Procopio, Episode 31: July 20, 2014

Thought Leadership with Mitchell and Michael

In this episode, Mitchell and Michael share insights with #ThoughtLeader Glenn Gow who imparts valuable lessons and learnings from being the CEO of Crimson Marketing for over two decades now. Glenn thinks a #ThoughtLeader is someone who thinks it is possible to do things that people are not doing today, someone who doesn’t focus on the difficulties between where he is today and where he wants to be and gets people excited about what is possible.

Glenn GowGlenn puts great weight on the role of CMOs in promoting #ThoughtLeadership within any organization. He believes that CMOs should strive to take the “CEO perspective” in terms of taking a wider view and making use of big data across the organization and communicating more effectively to marketing down to the rest of the team. The beauty of this is that CMOs now have the capability they never had before to gain a much bigger seat at executive committee meetings through the availability of data and systems. Glenn points out that data has enough value in it today that organizations need to have systems to make sense of it, whether predictive analytics or website analytics. And the good thing is all of these are available to the CMO, although they first need to have skill shift. Organizations should also consider having a larger data-focused marketing team than a creative-focused marketing team. He stresses the need to raise data to a level of awareness, noting that that all questions can be answered if you bring data together in one place. 

The interview also discusses why there is a need for CMOs to think about post-funnel and why there should be an introduction, instead of a handout, of marketing to sales given that marketing needs to stay connected to the prospect until they complete.

To learn more about Thought Leadership and how it can help you be successful, subscribe to the channel: http://youtube.com/user/thoughtleaderlife.

Here are a couple of aha moments from the episode. See more in the “Aha Moments from Thought Leader Life” books available in the THiNKaha App: http://AhaAmplifier.com/.
• Data has enough value in it today that you need systems to make sense of it. @CrimsonCEO
• CMOs need to integrate all the functionality in big data. @CrimsonCEO
• Sometimes you fail because you can’t get over to the data that is available to you. @CrimsonCEO
• Companies need to change, or disappear. @happyabout

Guest Bio:

Glenn Gow (@CrimsonCEO) is the CEO of Crimson Marketing, founded the firm in 1991. Under his leadership, Crimson became one of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S., achieving “Inc. 500″ status in the process..Crimson’s clients are the biggest and best technology companies in the world including: Apple, Cisco, Dell, EMC, Google, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Seagate, and many others
Glenn is interviewed regularly by the business press, and has spoken at Harvard Business School, the MIT/Stanford Venture Lab, the Northern California Venture Capital Association, the Silicon Valley American Marketing Association, the Silicon Valley Association for Software Engineers, and the Software Development Forum, as well as on CNET radio and webcasts.
Glenn has a BS in Quantitative Management from the University of Florida and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Join us 11 am PT / 2 pm ET / 7 pm GMT on Saturday every week. The show blog is Thought Leader Life.

Any comments or suggestions for the show please send them. Thank you for listening and if you like what you hear, please leave a review on iTunes! 

This episode was sponsored, in part, by THiNKaha.com, helping experts become thought leaders.

You can connect with Mitchell at MitchellLevy.com, @HappyAbout on Twitter, or join his Thought Leadership Best Practices Group on LinkedIn; and with Michael at MProcopio.com, on Twitter:@MichaelProcopio; or LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/in/MichaelProcopio.

Get this podcast:

FIR Community on Google+Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at fircomments@gmail.com. If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

To receive all podcasts in the FIR Podcast Network, subscribe to the “everything” RSS feed. To stay informed about occasional FIR events (eg, FIR Live), sign up for FIR Update email news.

FIR presents Thought Leadership with Mitchell and Michael is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Posted by Michael Procopio on 07/20 at 10:38 AM
Thought Leadership • (0) Comments • Permalink

Friday, July 11, 2014

Thought Leadership with Mitchell Levy and Michael Procopio, Episode 30: July 11, 2014

Thought Leadership with Mitchell and Michael


In this episode, Mitchell and Michael hang out with #ThoughtLeader Kai Roer. Kai is an expert in security within organizations as well as user awareness. He defines a #ThoughtLeader as someone with thoughts or ideas that people choose to follow. The mindset of a #ThoughtLeader is to be creative, going outside of the box. The discussion focuses on security culture and gives a deep analysis on how it impacts the world today. In explaining what security culture is about, Kai first points out that culture in general is a constant feedback loop: on one hand, different groups of individuals have different cultures and they impact each other; on the other hand, the culture of the group impacts the personality of the individual. Relating this to security culture, Kai says the ideas or behavior in a particular group impacts their security – either positively or negatively. Security or the feeling of being safe is mainly cultural because it is a learned behavior. You feel safe when the behavior of people around you is familiar, familiarity is a safety mechanism, and when there is no threatening environment.

Kai RoerKai gives emphasis on the need for corporations to put security culture in place, meaning there should be an interplay of PTP or Policies, Technology and People. While these 3 elements are present in the Internet and technology today, the challenge is how to make them support each other. These are interconnected, and everything goes back to culture. There can be no culture without policies just as there can be no policies without people. And technology are the tools that tie them together. Michael surmises that changing a culture, specifically for very large corporation, can be an incredibly difficult thing to do. To this, Kai answers that, yes, it can be very difficult but it is not impossible. He cites a study made in the ‘60s at Standford University which proved that you can change the culture within a group if guided by policies and supported by tools.

In a light moment during the interview, Kai shows his favorite thinking “toy” which is a colorful filler box for toddlers. He makes a great analogy of the toy with mental models which is one way to interpret information. Kai also cites how Mitchell is doing a fantastic job by sharing and promoting #ThoughtLeadership which then supports intrinsic motivation. Before the end of the interview, Kai gives a final Aha: To change cultures, change environments. When you are out of your normal environment, you forget all the normal things that you do. So changing cultures take people out of the normal and challenges them so that it changes them, too.

To learn more about Thought Leadership and how it can help you be successful, subscribe to the channel: http://youtube.com/user/thoughtleaderlife.
Here are a couple of aha moments from the episode. See more in the “Aha Moments from Thought Leader Life” books available in the THiNKaha App: http://AhaAmplifier.com/.
• Security culture is so relevant to everyday culture both on the consumer & particularly on the B2B side. @happyabout
• Telling me what I could do, rather than what I should do, gives me inner motivation. That’s stronger than anything else you can do to me. @kairoer
• Social media has transformed the world, the lives of people & organizations in just a decade. @kairoer
• To change cultures, change environments. @kairoer


Join us 11 am PT / 2 pm ET / 7 pm GMT on Saturday every week. The show blog is Thought Leader Life.

Any comments or suggestions for the show please send them. Thank you for listening and if you like what you hear, please leave a review on iTunes! 

This episode was sponsored, in part, by THiNKaha.com, helping experts become thought leaders.

You can connect with Mitchell at MitchellLevy.com, @HappyAbout on Twitter, or join his Thought Leadership Best Practices Group on LinkedIn; and with Michael at MProcopio.com, on Twitter:@MichaelProcopio; or LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/in/MichaelProcopio.

Get this podcast:

FIR Community on Google+Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at fircomments@gmail.com. If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

To receive all podcasts in the FIR Podcast Network, subscribe to the “everything” RSS feed. To stay informed about occasional FIR events (eg, FIR Live), sign up for FIR Update email news.

FIR presents Thought Leadership with Mitchell and Michael is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Posted by Michael Procopio on 07/11 at 08:26 AM
Thought Leadership • (0) Comments • Permalink

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Thought Leadership with Mitchell Levy and Michael Procopio, Episode 27: June 19, 2014

Thought Leadership with Mitchell and Michael


In this episode, Michael and Mitchell share insights with #ThoughtLeader Kim Chandler McDonald (@KimmiCFlatWorld). Kim is known as an innovation advocate, adviser, and strategist who recently won recognition for her book, “Innovation: How Innovators Think, Act, and Change Our World” (http://www.amazon.com/Kim-Chandler-McDonald/e/B00BOGRVWO). She defines a #ThoughtLeader as someone who is as engaging as they are engaged on issues, which could be a service, product, or idea. Kim believes that #ThoughtLeaders are and should be pleasant people, quoting the old adage: “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.”

Kim Chandler McDonaldIn the interview, Kim discusses flat world navigation and why is it important in today’s global digital economy. In being the world’s first branded flat world navigator, she said she drew inspiration from Pulitzer-winning journalist Thomas Friedman, who wrote the book, “The World Is Flat.” In today’s world, traditional boundaries no longer matter, and globalization has leveled the playing field in business. The role of flat world navigators is to build bridges for businesses and be connectors and collaborators who use both traditional and innovative tools and technologies. Kim further explains that the effect of changing perspectives in terms of your professional and personal footprints in the global digital economy is that it brings about societal change. The younger generation is less likely to be going to war with someone who is their Facebook friend from across the world.

As the world’s first branded flat world navigator, Kim shares her secret on how she was able to establish relationships with more than a hundred hardcore innovators from around the world to make her book. Did she use a complex research methodology? Kim says the key to her achievement was that she was gracious in asking people to become involved in her project. She asked her interviewees nicely – and used her flat world navigation skills to make and maintain relationships.

Kim also shares why she believes it is no longer appropriate to call it I.T., or Information Technology; rather, it should called U.T., or User Technology. And the R.O.I should not just be considered a Return on Investment, but a Return on Involvement.

To learn more about Thought Leadership and how it can help you be successful, subscribe to the channel: http://youtube.com/user/thoughtleaderlife.

Here are a couple of aha moments from the episode. See more in the “Aha Moments from Thought Leader Life” books available in the THiNKaha App: http://AhaAmplifier.com/.
• Doing business in the global digital economy is less about sales execs and more about making and maintaining dynamic relationships. @KimmiCFlatWorld
• Business is changing, and you have to morph and learn to change yourself, the process, and the environment around you. @happyabout
• The key aspect to being a flat world navigator is being involved. You have to be authentically engaged with people. @KimmiCFlatWorld
• Flat world navigation can change the balance of corporate power. @ KimmiCFlatWorld

Join us 11 am PT / 2 pm ET / 7 pm GMT on Saturday every week. The show blog is Thought Leader Life.

Any comments or suggestions for the show please send them. Thank you for listening and if you like what you hear, please leave a review on iTunes! 

This episode was sponsored, in part, by THiNKaha.com, helping experts become thought leaders.

You can connect with Mitchell at MitchellLevy.com, @HappyAbout on Twitter, or join his Thought Leadership Best Practices Group on LinkedIn; and with Michael at MProcopio.com, on Twitter:@MichaelProcopio; or LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/in/MichaelProcopio.

Get this podcast:

FIR Community on Google+Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future podcasts, in the online FIR Podcast Community on Google+.

You can also send us instant voicemail via SpeakPipe, right from the FIR website. Or, call the Comment Line at +1 415 895 2971 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments. You can tweet us: @FIRpodcast. And you can email us at fircomments@gmail.com. If you wish, you can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

To receive all podcasts in the FIR Podcast Network, subscribe to the “everything” RSS feed. To stay informed about occasional FIR events (eg, FIR Live), sign up for FIR Update email news.

FIR presents Thought Leadership with Mitchell and Michael is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Posted by Michael Procopio on 06/19 at 04:53 PM
Thought Leadership • (0) Comments • Permalink

Page 5 of 9 pages ‹ First  < 3 4 5 6 7 >  Last ›