Making a difference with thought leadership
The early part of January and the Christmas holidays are often quite busy for us at Leidar, since we help many leaders and organisations getting ready for the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos.
This year the event planning is even a bit more frantic, since the gathering is a few days closer to the holidays than previous years. Thousands of the world’s foremost thought leaders will gather in Davos from the 17-20 of January 2017 under the theme of “Responsive and Responsible Leadership”.
The WEF Annual Meeting is a great platform for putting thought leadership to work. As we discuss in this short broadcast interview about thought leadership , practicing thought leadership is about both making a difference and differentiating yourself and your organisation.
It is perfectly viable to go to Davos to listen and get inspiration. But if you are a true leader you go there with an agenda and you seek to shape the global dialogue on important matters.
Since WEF became an official International Governmental Organisation (IGO), they have gotten their act together on many parallel work streams and offer ample opportunity to companies and organisations to be part of “improving the state of the world”. WEFs so-called System Initiatives offer a structured approach to dealing with many global challenges.
They also offer a wealth of information and important perspectives that can inform global action and politics. We might be near the point now when what happens between Davos is as important as what happens at Davos.
So how do we assist the people going to Davos?
- Defining the call-to-action: what is the single proposition that you can credibly take and advocate in media as well as across the various meetings and gatherings in Davos?
- Developing the messages: what are the key messages supporting your call-to-action? Do you have sufficient proof, are you unique?
- Finding the right platforms and initiatives: WEF gives good advice on how to get the most of the Annual Meeting, but it is helpful to develop a strategy and get an extra pair of eyes help you find out how to make the most of the meeting.
- Providing briefing materials and content: Great thought leaders know what is in the public domain and what is truly shaping content and point of views. We assist in putting together the documents that make you confident in pursuing your point of view.
- Training: make sure the story sits – and that you are able to tell the story convincingly as well as dealing with the difficult questions
- Getting you in front of media: More than 200 journalists go to the Annual Meeting, if you are well prepared, Davos can be a great place to meet media and to differentiate yourself and your organisation
The getting-ready-for-Davos process should begin in September / October – so it is soon time for beginning to think about Davos 2018.
In the meantime, have a great thoughtful 2017!
Rolf Olsen
CEO, based in Geneva
Rolf Olsen launched Leidar in 2010 and continues to lead the company as CEO. He advises clients on strategy and narrative development; crisis management; and complex reputational issues on a global scale.