This month’s whitepaper, “Enterprising Thought Leadership”, is about raising the profile and hence the performance of key staff in your organisation. Its key premise is that if you identify the thought leaders in your organisation, engage them and allow them to express themselves, they will become key leaders in the organisation. You can download the whitepaper from the website of the creator of Thought Leaders Global, Matt Church, here.
The authors propose the three great modern challenges for organisations are productivity, engagement and differentiation. I can’t argue given the demands I see being placed on staff these days, the effect these demands often has on their attitude and the success and failure of organisations battling for supremacy in high profile markets such as the smartphone market.
The authors also propose some “mega-trends” modern businesses need to be tracking:
1. The changes occurring to “Traditional sales and marketing”.
2. The need to find the time to innovate when we are all expected to do more with less.
3. Constant change.
4. Outsourcing and automation.
5. The need for a “self-actualised” workforce.
Again, no argument from me from what I have seen in recent years.
They then provide some examples of “enterprising thought leadership” where individuals are allowed to shine. They provide an Australian Thought Leader example by way of Bernard Salt from KPMG (www.bernardsalt.com.au) whose brand sits beyond his organisation’s brand.
Why are KPMG and other companies okay with this branding? The authors contend it is because those same people are happy to stay with the organisation, they build new sales distribution mechanisms, they help the organisation stay in front of the curve and they help position the organisation as progressive, modern and of course, as a home of Thought Leaders.