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When I wrote my book, Beyond Burnout there were two people who were invaluable sherpas on that journey – Wally Bock and Christina Wedgwood. Four years down the track, it’s Christina who’s written and published a superbly researched and thought-provoking book herself.
Better – a more authentic path for the reluctant thought leader challenges our thinking around who has the power to influence us towards change and creates more space for contribution. It’s an invitation for all the non-alpha among us to lead from where they are, with no personality transplants required!
I sat down with the very talented and very lovely Christina to talk about the book and why you should read it.
In a nutshell, what’s this book about?
Better is an attempt to help everyone who has great ideas, or who’s doing great work, to have the impact that they want to in the world. I think for too long, we’ve had a far-too-small box for who should be talking, and a narrow definition of what it looks like to lead or influence others. There are so many paths to that which are not only valid, but valuable. So, this book is intended to encourage more people who have a spark but might be diminishing it because they don’t feel they fit the mould.
Let’s start with a definition about thought leadership. In some ways, it’s a fuzzy concept with lots of myths and unhelpful mental models. What is your definition of thought leadership and why is it important?
Thought leadership is honestly what it says on the tin – it’s thought + leadership. It requires that we care about something enough to think deeply about it, and that we develop new ideas and insights. The leadership comes when we then use those ideas and that thinking to contribute, to help others.
Thought leadership encompasses both the ideas that have the potential to change the world for the better, and the action needed to turn that potential into reality. Many of us are leading with our ideas in the course of our work every day and in the businesses we start, the movements we champion and the services we deliver – but we don’t identify that with thought leadership. I want to change that.
What prompted you to write this book?
I see so many clever people who are doing amazing things, but they’re holding back – only helping their small network of people, or those they work with day-to-day, when so many others could benefit from what they have to offer.
Too many reluctant thought leaders are put off. It’s easy to look at those currently succeeding in this space and think ‘that’s not me’, or ‘I don’t want to do all of that’. But I want everyone to understand that you don’t need to show up in those ways to be effective.
I firmly believe that not only do we need to be able to think well to solve the issues facing us, but we need all those who are doing great thinking to share the valuable, progress-fuelling thoughts that they have. Thought leadership is an important vehicle for doing this – but only if we can broaden the space. That’s what the book is aiming to do.
What are some myths you come across when it comes to thought leadership?
That thought leaders are necessarily confident, commanding and performative, with fully-formed and highly polished ideas ready to dazzle us with. This is actually a near-unattainable standard to reach.
Just like there’s not some magical concoction of confidence, competence and connections that paves the way for those who succeed, there’s also no absence of fear, doubt and reluctance among those who do great things. Every single person who pushes to the edges of their comfort zone hears from their inner critic. The difference is that those who change the world act anyway. They move forward even though they are scared, doubting themselves and second-guessing.
One of my favourite phrases in the book is “how to influence without the ick”. Tell us more about that concept?
There’s much about the dominant archetype of thought leadership that’s putting people off. That’s why I think we’re long overdue a broader, better definition – one that celebrates authenticity and welcomes different types of thinking and more varied ways of leading with it. So many of the previously under-valued traits are actually superpowers! We don’t need to be something that we’re not, but can instead align the impact that we want to have with our own personality and style, and be effective in doing so. This concept is about getting past the pernicious idea that thought leadership is a narrow set of activities or that it’s the domain of a certain type of person.
What are these so-called superpowers? What do the quiet and considered bring that can be better?
For me, there are four qualities for ‘better’. They are the more natural style of those quieter and more reluctant thought leaders, and they bring about better thinking and better conversations, which ultimately leads to better outcomes or solutions. These are:
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Inviting and embracing complexity - appreciating nuance, and what we can learn from the grey areas, all while continuing to treat complex issues as actually complex (not simplifying them down to something meaningless!)
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Acknowledging uncertainty, including being OK to admit where the edges of what we can know for sure are
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Sharing what we know in a way that invites collaboration and encourages inclusion because we’re not professing to already ‘know it all’
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And continuing to learn and evolve our thinking, while taking others along on that journey too.
We all know that diversity is important for better thinking and outcomes. But often we think of diversity around inbuilt traits like age, ethnicity and gender. What does diversity encompass when it comes to thought leadership?
Beyond the inbuilt traits, other differences are equally important – like diversity in personality, temperament, and thinking/processing styles. We’re better off if we bring together people with varied strengths, experiences, industry backgrounds, and areas of study or specialty. Research has shown that diverse groups are better than homogenous groups at finding solutions to specific challenges and when we draw on diversity, we don’t just build a more complete picture of an issue, we create a more accurate one.
The risk when all the airtime is taken up by those who are used to talking, is that it leaves very little room for others to find their voices. If we widen the possibilities for thought leadership, and welcome new thinking and thinkers into the space, we have a better chance of arriving at more inclusive solutions that work for the most people.
Businesses are waking up to the fact that they need to make sure all people are heard and there’s much more conscious focus and proactive effort – by good leaders, at least – to ensure inclusion and gather diverse thoughts. But this isn’t only important in the boardroom, it’s important in the world. We would all be better off with more creative, innovative, inclusive and beneficial ideas out there.
What was the hardest part about writing a book (from someone who has ghost written and helped so many others write theirs, including mine!) and what did you learn from this process?
I thought I knew what I was in for in writing a book – I had written, edited or contributed to 18 books by the time I wrote Better. Yet this book saw me challenged at almost every turn. Wanting an idea to be true doesn’t necessarily make it so. Instead, my ideas needed to be stress-tested, backed into a corner and have their strength proven. This process is hard work with clients, but a special kind of existential threat when it was my own ideas being tested and when I was acting as my own editor! I couldn’t have done it without my team, and I truly don’t think anyone should have to go the book-writing journey alone.
Who should buy this book and why? (and how can they get their hands on it?)
Everyone! But especially the quiet and considered – the careful questioners and the reflective thinkers. The book is for anyone who wants to contribute based on what they know and what they do. It gives the tools and encouragement needed for anyone to share their considered viewpoints, varied perspectives, and rich experiences. I think we all want some aspect to be improved by the fact that we were here. We want the fact that we took some chances, figured stuff out and tried to matter. The book is for those who are reluctant to put themselves out there but care about changing the world for the better.
Better can be found in many independent bookstores throughout the country or bought online here in hard copy, or on Amazon for the ebook.