The Power of Three

Our story is divided into threes – we live in the past, present, and future. We order small, medium, or large. Our stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end. We are here, there, and everywhere, and we separate ourselves into you, me, and them. At the Olympics, there is first, second, and third – after that, no one cares. It’s as if our brains can only be bothered holding onto three concepts at a time. If we have too many things to think about, our brains can get confused.

As thought leaders, we have three jobs – Thinking, Selling, & Delivering.

Here are three focuses for each:

Thinking

1. Make time. Make time to play, draw, and stretch your thinking.
2. Be curious. The magic you are looking for is in the work that you are avoiding.
3. Don’t judge. You are not qualified to judge your own thinking!

Selling

1. Be generous. Be generous with your energy and yourself.
2. Be brave. Be brave – call someone!
3. Be easy. Be easy to find, easy to understand, and easy to buy.

Delivering

1. Practise. Practise your delivery. What you will say, how you will stand. Practise your whiteboard handwriting!
2. Polish. Be constantly refining. Improve how you turn up. Make yourself better.
3. Play. Play for free. Speak for free so you can practise for a “fee”. Find new places to play – let people experience you.

The three threats to any Thought leader’s survival:

1. Lack of belief. Believe that the world needs you.
2. Lack of energy. Being responsible for your quantity & quality of energy.
3. Lack of support. Getting the help that you need to be the best you can be.

Get good. Get going. Get known.

Then, there are the three Ps:

• Positioning
  • Be a brand.
  • Be professional.
  • Be known

  Lift your standards. Positioning is how Thought Leaders do marketing. It’s a long game. Word association,
  Story Telling – Gabrielle Dolan
  Leadership – Matt Church
  Change Making – Digby Scott
  Productivity – Dermot Scott

• Productivity
  • Get help.
  • Get better.
  • Get serious

  You are not stuck. You have choices. You can change.
  You can learn new things. You can think of new thoughts.
  You can create new habits. You can move – you are not a tree!

• Projects
  • Know what’s next – what is on your want list?
  • Know why – why does this project matter?
  • Know when-plan your practice projects quarterly and annually.