Diving Into the World of Thought Leadership | Kon Apostolopoulos | 533

The journey of a thought leader often involves moving from being a subject matter expert inside the house, going from room to room sharpening various skills, to eventually leaving the house and applying all of those skills to the greater neighborhood you've always lived in. Kon Apostolopoulos is the Founder and CEO of Fresh Biz Solutions. He's been helping businesses achieve strategic goals for more than 20 years by preparing people for the right leadership roles. In addition, Kon is the co-author of 7 Keys to Navigating a Crisis: A Practical Guide to Emotionally Dealing with Pandemics & Other Disasters, a guide to help readers through crisis both personal and global. Kon takes us through a series of milestones, including publishing his first book, having to take that material to scale, and finding success that had his audience asking new questions — forcing him to continually expand his thinking and problem-solving. We explore the way thought leadership needs to move the audience further along than they are.  Kon explains how this often means having to speak in simplified terms that allow you to break through both ego and preconceived notions.  We learn how this can only be accomplished by understanding your audience, where they are, and where they need you to take them. Three Key Takeaways: ·         There are two parts to thought leadership.  The idea and thought part.  And the action and external part.  They are symbiotic and necessary to each other to create content that is actionable. ·         Thought leadership needs to move the audience further along than they are.  The conversation doesn't have to go from 1 - 100, but you have to move the audience at least from 1 to 2 and beyond. ·         Sometimes the best way to break through adult egos and preconceived notions is to present complex ideas in simple ways.