Last week a few hundred thought leaders gathered online for our quarterly Thought Leaders Business School Conference. We call this event our Immersions. Immersion is how you learn a new language (or any subject really) you bury yourself in the world, shut off distractions and do what Professor Cal Newport might call 'Deep Work'. This interview on Professor Newport's book on digital detoxing discusses the power of a thought leader's ability to develop insights as a competitive advantage in the world of social media, fake news, Twitter outrage sound-bytes.
The focus for this early 2021 Immersion was Create Your World and it speaks to the idea of agency, personal responsibility and activity. A mantra we advise thought leaders to adopt is 'create don't wait', it's about being proactive around putting ideas out into the world that can make a difference to the human condition, either personally or professionally. At the heart of our curriculum is the idea that you launch commercial experiments every quarter and work to make them viable and satisfying.
Following the swear word that is 2020 and the impact Covid-19 has had on the commercial world we have been suggesting thought leaders to:
- Lean in. Lots of people are bailing out right now, hibernating and sea changing. And that's cool, but you will be known for who you were in this time. Who did you stand with, what did you stand for, how did you respond in these times. Your reputation capital may be the one good thing to come out of the times we are in.
- Show up. Be seen, be visible, be present. Show up with ideas, thoughts and help. Be a first responder in the space of assistance. Don't push old stuff or your stuff, legitimately empathise and be of service to others. Selfish sales stand out as something ugly right now.
- Be active. Create your tomorrow world by the actions you take today. Connect, create, collaborate and serve your market.
In other words don't watch the world, whinge and complain about the world, instead lean in, show up and be active as you create your world.
If you want to learn more about Thought Leaders Business School, join us at our next discovery session.
If you've thought about attending one of our discovery sessions but haven't managed to make it yet, you can watch the replay of our last session here.
Matt Church
Founder
