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Culture Making (aka Thought Leadership) Means Speaking *Their* Language Culture Makers and Thought Leaders have a Language Dilemma and it is getting in the way of our work in the world. Here`s the invisible barrier in our IP & thought leadership: We are practitioners. We are in mastery. We are in love with our subject matter. And so we speak Expert. We speak Nerd. We forget how to speak People. And if there`s not a bridge between those two languages, our people won`t be able to hear us, find us or understand that we`ve got things that will help. Because we`re speaking a different language. And so we need to understand what the person --who we want to influence or who wants to learn from us-- wants, in their own words. We need to understand what THEY think the problem is (especially if we`ve come to a different conclusion). We need to understand what it is they`re trying to learn. We need to know what`s going on in their life. We need to know the words that fall out of their mouth and then start using them, ourselves. We need to know intimately and forensically the person we`re trying to influence or who wants to be influenced by our systems of thought. And when we`re over here in love with our subject matter, we don`t speak that language anymore. We speak Expert. We have to remember how to speak People. #BridgeTheLanguageGap #ThoughtLeadership #ThoughtLeader #SpeakTheirLanguage #IP #IntellectualProperty #MeaningfulWork #BodyOfWork #WeAreTheCultureMakers #CultureMakersLanguageDilemma #Externalize #GetYourIdeasOutOfYourHeadAndIntoTheWorld #PutTheThoughtsBackInThoughtLeadership
Most of the people doing the *real* thought leadership work - the ones in the mix with us, developing new practices, processes, ideas, solutions and challenging industry norms -- would cringe at the idea of calling themselves a thought leader. Because the dominant narrative around `thought leadership` is about positioning, posturing and clout-chasing. But that, IMHO, is fake thought leadership. That`s about manufacturing authority rather than earning it with a robust, methodologized, coherent body of work. (No wonder we cringe.) True thought leadership -- culture making! -- is about so much more than just standing on a stage or topping Google searches. True thought leadership is about externalizing your ideas into a meaningful, systematic body of work. Let`s get our ideas out of heads and into the world -- And let`s put the thoughts back in thought leadership. #ThoughtLeadership #Externalize #MeaningfulWork #BuildYourBodyOfWork #WeAreTheCultureMakers #FakeThoughtLeader