The Anti-Intellectual Cult of Writing Advice
Too much writing advice is just good old-fashioned tent-revival anti-intellectual crap. Writing experts intone their points with the cynical piety of anyone who broadcasts truisms—cynical because it positions those experts as having the solution to redeem people from their doomed attempts at thinking. I’m old enough to remember when dogma dictated we should write for […]
Eleven Years Ago, I Made a Move That Changed My Life
Eleven years ago today, a tow truck took my car and movers emptied my house in New Jersey as it poured down rain. It looked like another sad story of the brutal financial crisis. But, no. I was getting on a plane headed to Los Angeles, on my way to a new house I had […]
Lead With Why: How to Position Yourself as a Thought Leader in Your Industry
Founders, innovators, product managers: When you’re building something new, it’s easy to start ignoring the why. It’s even more likely that you forget to be vocal about why. Then you finally have something ready for investors or the market—but you feel like you’re starting at zero again. Your idea of what is new and better […]
Authenticity in a World of Thought Leadership
Nothing is new. Nothing is true. This dictum may seem strange when advocating for thought leadership, but hear me out. Let’s take the Pythagorean theorem, for example. In one sense, what better “thought leadership” than having a fundamental principle named after you? But: Back to thought leadership, what does this all mean? If becoming a […]
The “Graceful” Approach to Thought Leadership
The “Graceful” Approach to Thought Leadership Thought leadership is a challenge. Both people and companies get lost when trying to find meaningful ideas, focus on making them relevant, and figure out how to share them in compelling ways. It becomes awkward and uncoordinated. To overcome the challenge, you can approach thought leadership with ease and […]
Cultivating Grace in Thought Leadership
What does it mean to talk about graceful thought leaders? What could thought leadership have to do with grace in the first place? And what would it look like to step away from spamming, pitching, shouting in crowded places? Your thinking and attention might just feel…better I’ll be writing about the why, what, and how […]
Unveiling Thought Leadership’s Survival Guide
I’m doing something genuinely new and exciting—launching a newsletter on the ins and outs of doing thought leadership well. Thought leadership is on the cusp of extinction due to overpopulation. I’m here to talk about what it takes to survive and thrive as a thought leader with ease and grace. Of course, there are other […]
A Ripple Effect of Easy Success
When done well, thought leadership begets more thought leadership. One of my favorite moments last week was working with a new team in a client’s business. They previously resisted doing thought leadership because coming up with a crisp point of view and compelling content seemed like it would take too much time and effort. But […]
The Power of Thought Leadership for High-Stakes Decisions
One thing B2B marketers often get wrong—they use generic, mass-market tactics for small-to-mid-sized businesses when their buyers are large enterprises. They put traffic ahead of trust. This mistake seems more common among smaller and newer providers, but it happens elsewhere, too. The thing is, the buying decision for a high-stakes, high-ticket purchase doesn’t work like […]
Breaking Free from the Commodity Box
So many thought leadership efforts get stuck in the commodity box. So how can they break out and keep out? First, focus on insight. Make sure you’re not just creating safe or informational content. It’s easy, but low value. Instead, help people rethink an issue. Next, make your POV personal. The best thought leadership shares […]