230. What Matters Right Now: Leaders as Thought Leaders - Jonathan McCoy, CFRE, Becky Endicott, CFRE and Tania Bhattacharyya

Tania Bhattacharyya, Thought Leadership, We Are For Good Podcast

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2022 Nonprofit Trends That Matter
This episode is part of our 2022 Nonprofit Trends That Matter Series. Explore the entire series here.

Overview

Tune in to this week's 8️⃣ Trends That Matter in 2022 as we dive intoThought Leadership is Now with Tania Bhattacharyya, our queen of thought leadership branding. She's talking about why you should be abundantly sharing your lived experience, passion, and expertise to build trust with the right audience on the right topic.

💡LEARN
👆Opportunities that exist right now for those wanting to embrace thought leadership this year🚀
👆How can leaders stand out as they stand up for their mission
👆Advice for how listeners can “niche down their expertise”
👆Addressing the self-limiting beliefs leaders often struggle with

“Imposter syndrome phenomenon plagues the nonprofit sector in a really interesting and unique way. So many of us are having to navigate these spaces of huge wealth, privilege and cultural norms we didn’t necessarily grow up in, and I think it’s magnified for people of color because of a multitude of intersectional systems.”

— Tania Bhattacharyya, Founder, Lumos Marketing, Host, The Campfire Circle Podcast

Episode Transcript

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Episode Overview

Tone setting - Leaders as Thought Leaders (1:25)
Leaders are found at every level (3:00)
Self awareness and thought leadership (7:00)
The power of thought leadership today (10:00)
An example of where Tania has seen this play out (18:00)
How to use thought leadership to build community for your mission (21:00)
Thought leadership vs. subject matter expertise (23:00)
Combatting imposter syndrome (26:00)
Tania’s One Good Thing: Thought leadership is an emergent practice. (33:00)

Powerful quotes

“We believe in this day and age, everybody has the potential to be a thought leader and lean into their why.” -Becky

“If you’re feeling intimidated by thought leadership, know that we feel the same way. Thought leadership gives you a chance to embrace your values and expand your mission.” -Jon

“Moving people and connecting people with the ideas may be one of the most powerful parts of chasing your mission this year.” -Jon

“We can all become better at sharing and perpetuating our vision and values.” -Jon

“Thought leadership is the most authentic form of a human brand. It is going to push to all of the things that are important to you.” -Becky

“This is an incredible opportunity to pour into the things that matter to you.” -Becky

“I firmly believe that each of us has our own sphere of influence. We each have an opportunity to lead those around us.” -Jon

“For nonprofits, I think this is important especially because they're able to really build a platform where they can really stand out as they stand up for their mission as a disrupter, as an innovator to educate people about their cause. And not just a cause, but the unique solution that they are providing specifically, and it's a little bit about getting in the limelight.” -Tania

“We're building relationships or writing grants. We're balancing budgets, we're speaking on panels. But the difference if you bring in third stonecutter energy is that you're consistently relating it back to a bigger vision or Northstar and not just bringing it back to that but really embodying and holding a larger narrative that inspires and transforms everyone you come across.” -Tania

“The difference between a thought leader and a subject matter expert, they're not the same. A thought leader is an action taker. They take that subject matter expertise, and consistently take action on it, take it outwards, into their communities, shaping the future for good.” -Tania

“Your organization has a board, it has a staff, we're all connected to their own sphere of influence.” -Tania

“Oftentimes, we stay so in our silo and stuck in our bubble and keep our organization moving. You don't just work for your organization, you work for your larger vision, and that's going to take partnering with so many different people and bringing together which is really a thought leadership activity, bringing people along so that your best thinking can come together and move that change forward.” -Tania

“We can have the best strategy in the world, we can set aside time in our schedule to do it. But if we still have this persistent belief in our lack of intellectual skills, competence, individual ability to make a change, it's gonna be really hard to lead into thought leadership.” -Tania

“Imposter syndrome phenomenon plagues the nonprofit sector in a really interesting and unique way. So many of us are having to navigate these spaces of huge wealth, privilege and cultural norms we didn't necessarily grow up in, and I think it's magnified for people of color because of a multitude of intersectional systems.” -Tania

“Your voice is your currency, we all have that gift in whichever method you want to show up.” -Jon

“I have a little bit of a problem with the with the word or the phrase “voiceless people”. So often we say we're giving a voice to the voiceless, nobody's voiceless. It's just that some people like some systems and individuals have chosen not to listen to those voices.” -Tania

“How can we partner together to make a greater impact? And how can we instinctively band together because we are feeling the vibrations of predation coming towards us. And for us, you know, that comes in the form of funding cuts, or a political crisis, or a workforce crisis related to this continued pandemic. But predation is coming for us too. And so it's about action-oriented communication with the other people in your flock, the other birds in your flock and following the patterns that emerge and that builds trust.” -Tania

Questions To Ask Yourself:

What is your legacy?
What injustices are happening that break your heart?
If you had a magic wand and you could make one big, audacious dream for the world, what would it be?