In this episode of INSIGHT: Scaling lessons from the street, the formidable Susan Diaz - chief content strategist at cp.digital – is throwing the hammer down and leading the charge!!

Today’s topic? Thought leadership! 

Susan and her co-hosts Andrea Henry from Henry Business Law; Megan O’Neill, meganoneill.ca; Shelagh Cummins, shelaghcummins.com; and Wendy Brookhouse from Black Star Wealth are going to dissect thought leadership for what it ISN’T (buzzwords) and what it IS (authentic trust-building).

You’ll learn:

💣 How small businesses can break through the digital noise and clutter and BE SEEN.

💣 Why determining your own unique value proposition is so important!

💣 And the importance of establishing your expertise by PUBLISHING the hell out of yourself.

Why should I care, you might be asking?

Because as a small business owner or entrepreneur, being able to say to the world “Hey, look, folks. Here’s what I know. Here’s what I believe in. Here’s what I think is broken. And here’s how I can fix it!” will raise your online trust-quotient and result in pumped-up  lead-generation.

But it takes work. A LOT of work. And a certain amount of vulnerability. So, click to listen to real stories of thought-leadership growth, and get yourself started on the path to becoming a thought leader in your vertical!

And for those of you who want a snapshot of what you’ll hear during this episode, read on!

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Eff the Trolls - You’ll be JUST Fine!

“I think the biggest barrier for women is what if what if somebody judges me what if somebody rejects what I'm saying? What if someone takes me to task? What if someone trolls me and leaves nasty comments and, you know, is my reputation going to be damaged? And I think that there comes a time where keeping yourself safe can be the enemy to your success, essentially. And that if you're going to step into this arena as a business leader, a business owner who has something to say, we have to be okay, knowing that people may jab at you, and people may not agree with you. And people may say nasty things, but at the end of the day, you're going to be okay, no matter what! Putting out these ideas and forcing ourselves to grab the microphone and teach because that is essentially how you're going to be creating a client base. It's the fastest way to build trust with someone is to teach them something. And if we sit there, fearful of the ‘what ifs’ we're actually doing a disservice to those who need us the most.”

Yes, Everything’s Been Done Before – But Not With Your Unique Spin On It!

“That's why it took me so long to even make baby steps into thought leadership. Yeah, there's very much a feeling of, ‘Oh, what am I like? There are so many lawyers and so many articles written about the law and business, what would I contribute that’s new?’ And also, I feel sometimes like even saying the things you feel - I'm just boring myself. Like, I’ve already said this or that! And I feel that everyone has heard it and why am I saying it again? But what I've noticed recently is no, it is actually making an impact and maybe other people have said it - but they haven't said it in the way that I’ve said it, right? They haven't used the same words, or they haven't had the same experience to bring to bear on whatever that concept is! If I can actually move people to action because of coming from a different perspective, then that's valuable and having confidence that it is valuable!”   

Shake Off Childhood Beliefs About Lady Leaders!

“I think the word leadership is loaded for a lot of women as well. You know, I've talked to a lot of women about, you know, in terms of what would be the blocks to scaling their business, and it often has to do with leadership. I'm always going back to our conditioning, but essentially, why I go back to conditioning is because that's when your big beliefs are formed, when you're a kid. I grew up in the 1970s. That's kind of when I became conscious as a human being and who were the women around me and I did not see a lot of, for example, women leading businesses and opening up businesses. I saw women in very traditional roles. And, of course, the leaders (were men). I think leadership, we still need to define that for ourselves. I think women need to take out our beliefs that we are emulating men, and that leadership as a female can be what we make it.”

Do What Works for Your Industry

“We've had chats around this, some establishments, certainly finance, legal and many others. You do need, in order to ‘enter the room’ a certain set of expertise, credentials, but once you actually get there YOU - you are the expert, nobody's questioning this, you're just as much of an expert in this room as everyone else in the field. But how you choose to deploy your expertise or the tone of voice, and the messaging is kind of where the opinion comes in. Right? Like you're not saying that you believe there's a different way to add up numbers or a different way to interpret the law. You're merely saying, ‘I can do it while having fun,’ you know, establishing that expertise, and then putting the tone voice and articulation on it or that opinion, so to speak, is going to resonate with the right people.” 

Most of All, Be an Inspiration for Others

“A lot of it has been motivated by the desire to be representative, right? Because it's important for everyone to be able to see themselves reflected in leadership roles. And whereas personally, sometimes I would much prefer to just sit in my office and do the work, I think it's important for people to see someone who looks like them and sounds like them and has had a similar experience to them. You know, stating their opinion and being bold and then making change in their industry or entering their world.”

Amen, sister. AMEN!! Click here for more on thought leadership, the good, the bad, and the ugly – but most importantly – to understand just what an incredible TOOL it is it to have in your business toolbox!