How Thought Leaders Stay Relevant

How Thought Leaders Stay Relevant

Have I ever told you about the time I almost decked a guy in Paris?

In 2014, my wife and I achieved one of our top bucket list dreams when we moved into an apartment at the base of the hill below the Sacré-Cœur Basilica. My daughter CeCe and I would often play on the hill and climb the stone steps that led to the basilica at the top. The hill attracted throngs of tourists in the summer eager to enjoy the panoramic view at the top.

And where there were tourists, there were street vendors. You couldn’t walk two steps up the hill without an aggressive vendor stepping in your path. One after the other, dozens accosted tourists all of them selling the same worthless stuff. Because there was no differentiation between them and little value to their tchotchkes, they had to resort to obnoxious, manipulative tactics to get attention and make the sale.

One day one of these fine gentleman thought he would continue blocking my way until I bought something. Meanwhile, my three-year old daughter was quickly getting farther away from me putting crowds of tourists between us. Some sort of parental instinct kicked in I had a sudden desire to deck the guy. Thankfully I found enough sense to settle for a gentle-ish push on his shoulder so I could step around him. Eventually, I learned how to dodge and tune out the vendors. Read more

How Thought Leaders Focus Their Efforts to Have the Greatest Impact

How Thought Leaders Focus Their Efforts to Have the Greatest Impact

“I want to double my reach and revenue this year.”

I was sitting in my favorite hotel lobby chatting with a client about her goals for her business. “I’d love for you to show me how to think, make decisions and use my time in a way that will make that goal inevitable. Her answer delighted and surprised me!

It delighted me because she was focused on exactly the right things. It surprised me because so often the first thing clients want help with is something like:

  • Improving their messaging
  • Automating their sales with a funnel
  • Creating new offers
  • Growing their list
  • Launching a new content strategy
  • Optimizing their launch

These are all great, but it’s not where you start when planning and building the next level of business growth. This kind of continuous tactical and low-level strategic focus leads to a common problem I call “Frankenstein businesses” that struggle to break through growth ceilings. Read more

3 Things Thought Leaders Do Differently

3 Things Thought Leaders Do Differently

We need to talk about alchemy.

Yep, alchemy.

Here’s a quick story to explain why this is so important to your success. The day after my daughter was born, I remember hungrily rummaging through the kitchen for something to eat (groggy from a long night of waking up every 45 minutes to see if the baby was still breathing).

I opened the fridge…nothin’

Looked in the pantry…meh

Checked all the cupboards…yawn

Somehow we’d forgotten to stock up on groceries! That’s when my mom (who had flown in to help out) walked into the kitchen and told me she’d handle lunch. Thirty minutes later, she’d magically turned bits of leftover rotisserie chicken, a handful of vegetables, and a few things from the pantry into a delicious vegetable soup. My mom has always been a sort of alchemist with food.

In 8th century Europe, alchemists believed they could make a common metal, such as lead, more valuable by turning it into gold. Much like these alchemists, my mom could take common resources (food items that seemed uninteresting and useless to me) and turn them into something of elevated value — a yummy meal that solved our hunger. Read more

This is Your Greatest Asset for Growth, Mastery and Impact

“I realized I’ve been trying to work on my weaknesses too much and not leveraging my strengths enough.”

That was the message I got this morning from a new client. I’m elated because this single insight will have a huge transformational impact on every aspect of her business and body of work.

Your strengths and unique genius are your greatest asset, not only for reaching your most important goals but also for making the greatest impact on others and securing the greatest fulfillment for you.

When you align your pursuits with your strengths, it infuses everything with a sense of ease. The results of your efforts amplify exponentially.

This is why I always spend some time with my clients exploring their strengths and unique genius before we dive into their business strategy. Read more

The Real Reason Entrepreneurs Struggle to Find the Time to Do the Unique-Genius Work They Love

I hear business owners frequently say things like…

“My business never allows me the time I need to do the work I love most. There’s always a launch to do, decisions to make, and things to manage.”

or…

“If I could only hire the right team and automate my sales funnel, I’d finally be able to properly focus on the work that will have the biggest impact.”

I sympathize with these frustrations. I’ve felt them myself even recently.

However, these statements miss the real reason why they are struggling to do their unique-genius work and realize their vision of having bigger reach, influence, and impact as a thought leader at the top of their industry.

Evergreen Sales Funnels, Automated Systems, and a Bigger Team Are Not the Answer

In response to these frustrations, I often see business owners decide they need evergreen sales funnels, automated systems, a more effective team, and productivity hacks to free up their time and energy. Read more