Under the pressure of hitting deadlines and meeting client expectations, it can be difficult to take a step back and really appreciate those who make some of the work possible. Here's a reminder to all the creative directors out there who work with freelancers:<ol><li class="ql-align-justify">They need context and clear direction.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Like you, they need breathing room and time for revisions. </li><li class="ql-align-justify">Review and support their work on digital platforms. </li><li class="ql-align-justify">Validate their strengths and support growth.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">If their work was bad, respectfully articulate why and never lie.</li></ol>Treat freelancers better, it's good for your brand. <a href="https://www.evolvbam.com/post/what-is-a-creative">Learn about creatives</a>

How to treat a creative freelancer.

Creatives want to tackle every problem that comes their way. Very rarely will you hear them say, "I can't do that." As creative leaders, we must understand the pride creatives hold and account for their ambition, and prevent their eventual burnout. If you don't bring up mental health as the leader, who will?Why do mental health and workload checkups matter?<ol><li>Provides a chance for your team to communicate difficulties in their life.</li><li>Cultivates a culture of asking for helping when work gets tough.</li><li>Shows that you care about people first. Then results. </li><li>Build loyalty and work-life balance for your team</li></ol>

Have mental health & workload conversations often.

In order to make great work, you need to surround yourself with great people. These are some reminders for the art directors, creative directors, and entrepreneurs who also believe that people come first, then their output. 

marketingandsales

Marketing & Sales

entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

Working with creatives.

Thought leadership is the expression of ideas that demonstrate you have expertise in a particular field, area, or topic. Many executives and business leaders strive to become a thought leader in their respective fields. It takes dedication, patience, strategy, and education. Most thought leaders not only have a command of their subject area, they are passionate about it and eager to share their knowledge with others to benefit a company, organization, or cause.

Aren’t All Business Leaders “Thought Leaders”?

Utilizing content marketing, social media, and other means to increase your authority and influence are key for successful thought leadership. But, the definition of thought leadership is innovative thinking full of insight, information and inspiration, which is why many thought leaders are invited to speak at conferences and graduations, why they have many social media followers, why they become LinkedIn experts, and why their content marketing is widely followed.

Aren’t Influencers Thought Leaders?

Expertise, insight, and a valuable perspective are elements that lead to thought leadership status. To be an effective thought leader is to possess a depth of knowledge no one else has. There are several key benefits to this. It:<ul><li>Qualifies you as a reliable source of insight and information that can successfully influence others</li><li>Boosts your industry presence and builds your brand</li><li>Establishes credibility in your field</li><li>Encourages you to focus on what you know best and look for opportunities to express it frequently</li><li>Offers unique guidance and inspires innovation</li><li>Encourages forward thanking</li></ul>

What Is The Value Of Thought Leadership?

Steve Jobs believed that “you always had to be a little different to buy an Apple computer.” This thought inspired Apple’s “Think Different” advertising campaign, featuring real “geniuses” whose “crazy” ideas had a profound impact on the world. Many CEOs like Jobs are known for thought leadership because of their authority in an area, their ability to define important terms for the future, and more.

An Example Of A Real Thought Leader

Fran Blanche fancies herself a “geek girl who makes stuff.” She had the foresight to combine her engineering background and “goofball” personality in weekly how-to videos (“Fran in the Lab”) that feature her fiddling with electronic components—something she knows like the back of her hand. Fran’s formula works. She’s amassed (to date) 242,000 subscribers to her YouTube channel. Co-founders and founders of organizations and groups often fit the definition of thought leadership because they are changing the area where they have experience.

An entry-level assistant for an online lifestyle publication expresses an interest in writing about fashion. His editor assigns him small pieces at first then much larger ones after the assistant’s writing skills and expertise blossom. He ultimately lands his own weekly fashion column, which helps boost readership by 30%, and gains him a huge following as a thought leader in the fashion industry.

Thought leaders are the informed opinion leaders in their field of expertise. But at what point can an individual or business consider themselves a thought leader and start producing thought leadership content? It takes time, skill, and tenacity to be able to be considered a recognized thought leader. For example, Steve Jobs didn't become a thought leader overnight. First he had an idea, and worked to hone it for years. He built a company that slowly over time, started to be successful. It was then that he was able to step into a thought leadership role and inspire people with his story.

Who Should Produce Thought Leadership Content?

You'll need to have more than a LinkedIn profile to become a thought leader. You'll need to have proven your experience and understanding in a field in tangible ways to show to others that you are a voice to listen to.You don't have to be Steve Jobs to become a thought leader. You can start researching and developing yourself in your current field. You can start writing articles and sharing them with others to get opinions, build a following on social media, and slowly begin proving yourself as an expert in your field.

You Better Work, Thought Leader

To establish yourself as a trusted figure in any field takes a lot of dedication, hard work, and time. Thought leaders are continually building their experience and credibility. Consider the <a href="https://www.wgu.edu/blog/11-principles-leadership2006.html">principles of leadership </a>and the following best practices of today’s successful thought leaders as you build your own leadership career.

Thought Leadership Strategy

Clearly defining your niche or specific area of expertise can help you build your brand, establish credibility in your field, and raise your profile. For example, a garden author focuses her work entirely on what she knows best—succulents—and, as a result of the clout she’s built within the industry, is often invited to speak at major home and garden shows and write for popular publications.

Enunciate Your Area Of Expertise

It’s perfectly fine to share your opinion on a wide variety of subjects to show you are a present, well-rounded professional. But the beauty about thought leadership is that success can come from streamlining your focus to a single specialty. Practicality and common sense can attest to the fact that covering too many topics can be much harder to manage and risks creating an impression of being scatterbrained or unfocused. Who wants a leader whose thoughts are “all over the place”?

Go Deep On A Few Topics vs. Many

The best thought leaders continually stay current on what’s happening in their fields, which is especially crucial in faster-evolving industries like technology. This gives them the opportunity to recognize and analyze patterns and trends in the market, which can inspire strategies for achieving business solutions. Keeping up with the latest industry news can also spur unique insight that the business leader can use to the company’s advantage.

Keep Up With The Latest

Unafraid to admit what they don’t know, true thought leaders make a conscious effort to understand and listen to what others have to say. This is a tried-and-true way to stay connected with peers in your field and expand your knowledge on a topic. The more people a leader listens to increases the probability of more ideas being shared, which is usually a good thing. In addition to harnessing the power of “listening to,” effective leaders also recognize the value of inviting others to “listen in.”

Listen To And Listen In

A CEO for a Fortune 500 company invites rank-and-file employees to join her and listen in on meetings where senior management give her business updates. Her thinking behind this? It encourages employees to share their opinions, increases the chances of a good idea being expressed, and creates a greater culture of inclusion and transparency that makes employees feel they are valued.

An Example Of Listening In

While it’s true that a thought leader’s success can be attributed to a razor-sharp focus in a particular area, it’s important to draw from multiple sources within this area to increase the chances of a good idea springing up. According to Simon Sinek, best-known for his “Three Golden Circles” TED Talk, “leaders who can connect information from a number of sources are generally well positioned to create ideas that are informed by the needs of the marketplace. Credibility combines that expertise with a measure of humility, honesty, and an appreciation for the human aspect of leading people.”

Draw Inspiration From Multiple Sources

Clients, prospects, the business, and the media are your audiences, so use them as a barometer of how effective your thought leadership content is. If they’re not convinced, it’s time to revisit your approach to idea generation.<ul><li>Clients. Make your content more about them than what you’re offering.</li><li>Prospects. Be the first to find emerging themes and bring insights to the table that nobody else has.</li><li>The business. Align your content with the expertise you offer.</li><li>The media. Try your ideas out with a journalist while you’re in the development phase. </li></ul>

Consider The Audience Test

Like all approaches to leadership, thought leadership has drawbacks. One potential pitfall may be a limited perspective. For instance, if business leaders are overly rigid or too focused on their areas of expertise, they risk missing out on ideas that could help support their endeavors. Also, since thought leaders tend to put themselves out there and often introduce a less popular way of thinking, they are bound to have detractors. A challenge? Certainly, because they need to be prepared to argue and defend their ideas.

The Challenges Of Thought Leadership

It’s an honorable goal for someone to aspire to be a thought leader.<a href="https://www.wgu.edu/online-degree-programs.html">Online classes and degree programs </a>provide an excellent way for business leaders and marketers, for instance, to expand their knowledge and perhaps specialize in a new related discipline. After all, being recognized as a go-to authority—a trusted source for one’s ability to inspire others with their ideas and bring those ideas to life—is empowering on its own and even more empowering when it motivates thought leaders to try and replicate their successes.

Thought Leadership Empowers Both The Leaders And The Led

Genuine thought leaders are influencers somewhere, but not necessarily on social media or an online platform. They use social media; they are not born of them. They can be quite a popular breed of leader because they are driven to stretch people’s minds, encouraging and even daring them to think deeply, differently, and in one direction: Forward.If, like them, you dare to think deeply, differently, and forward, thought leadership is definitely the way to have an incredible, potentially game-changing career.

A Career In Thought Leadership

"A thought leader is recognized by peers, customers and industry experts as someone who deeply understands the business they are in, the needs of their customers and the broader marketplace in which they operate. They have distinctively original ideas, unique points of view and new insights."

For those looking to be thought leaders and for those looking to find thought leaders, here is what a thought leader is, before this term too gets usurped and defamed. Spoiler alert: thought leader is something others call you; if you call yourself a thought leader, you almost certainly aren’t one.

Thought leadership is innovative thinking full of insight, information, and inspiration. To be a thought leader is to demonstrate you have an expertise in a particular area within your field. 

career

Career

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

communication

Communication

business

Business

What Is Thought Leadership?

The researchers devised a spectrum of hypothetical near misses based on real-life practice. Employees were asked to rank the likelihood that they would report the following near-miss scenarios, which become progressively more threatening to the patient:
<ul>
<li>Could have happened. The pacemaker status of a patient was not checked at the initial consultation. </li>
<li>Fortuitous catch. The pacemaker status was not checked. </li>
<li>Almost happened. The pacemaker status was not checked.</li>
</ul>

The Research

By framing near misses as important learning opportunities, as well as by fostering psychological safety, business leaders can increase the chances that employees will discuss close calls, potentially helping to avoid costly errors immediately and in the future.It may be up to managers to communicate a clear and compelling purpose, and to make sure that employees feel like their contributions are valued. When employees feel free to express their ideas and concerns, the whole group benefits, particularly when it comes to close calls.

Avoided Catastrophes

A brush with disaster can lead to important innovations, but only if employees have the psychological safety to reflect on these close calls, says research by Amy C. Edmondson, Olivia Jung, and colleagues.

productivity

Productivity

problemsolving

Problem Solving

How to Learn from the Big Mistake You Almost Make

Mentoring and coaching activities look similar, but the impetus is different. In mentoring relationships, usually the mentee sets the agenda. In a coaching relationship, usually the coach sets the agenda. Coaching also tends to be more formal and more transactional. (People hire coaches, not mentors.)Sponsorship is very different. A sponsor uses their authority and influence to create opportunities and recognition to advance someone’s career.

Mentoring, coaching, or sponsoring?  

One way to think about the distinction is whether there are direct consequences to following or ignoring advice. Mentors advise; coaches assess. This is one reason why people often seek mentors outside the management chain. It’s hard to trust a manager to separate these two roles. Senior individual contributors – while they may also coach – are often better positioned to provide consequence-free advice.Code review is a pervasive example of coaching being confused with mentoring. Code review is part of the job. Every time I review someone’s code, I might find opportunities for teachable moments

Concrete Examples

I’ve found that these conversations fall into three broad categories, ranging from the strategic to the tactical:<ul><li>Goals - figuring out what they really want</li><li>Situations - handling the unfamiliar or difficult</li><li>Skills - getting promoted</li></ul>In all three areas, I think that <a href="https://www.radicalcandor.com/our-approach/">radical candor </a>– caring personally while challenging directly – is essential to effective mentoring. You have to have someone’s best interest in mind and you have to be willing to help them see uncomfortable truths. If that’s not in your personality or you don’t feel that way towards a prospective mentee, then please send them elsewhere

3 Levels Of Mentor Conversations

To help someone understand their goals, ask questions that help them reflect on their current situation, consider potential futures, and chart a course from one to another.In the simplest form, it’s the “where do you see yourself in five years?" question, but that’s a big leap for most people. Instead, probe for how well they understand their current situation . What’s going well? What’s not going well? What about your role do you enjoy the most? What’s most frustrating? If you could change one thing, what would it be and why?

To mentor goals, ask questions

Faced with the question “what should I do?" , tell a personal story instead.First, sharing a related experience reassures a mentee that they’re not alone. Second, they engage the listener’s brain, helping them focus more completely on what they’re being told rather than their own problems. Third, they let a mentee consider a situation through an abstraction – to enable them to see more objectively and consider different perspectives. A story is a teaching tool but you leave the decisions up to them.

To mentor situations, tell stories

Let them take the lead without being prescriptive. You can still be sounding board for their ideas and help them wargame an approach to what they’re dealing with. Even without a story to guide them, having someone in their corner is valuable support.

If You Have No Stories

First, you have to observe the mentee’s activities or output. For coding skills, code review or pair programming would work. For communication skills, sit it on a meeting they expect to actively participate in or watch them practice a presentation. For technical writing, read what they’ve written.The most important thing you can do is provide actionable feedback . This means being specific about your observations of their work. It also means providing direction about what they could have done differently or what they need to learn or practice in order to improve.

To mentor skills, observe them in action

Sometimes, you see someone that you think has potential, but they’re not where they ought to be and they aren’t seeking advice. You could approach them – tell them you think they have potential and offer to mentor them. If your company has a formal mentoring program, you could sign up. If they don’t, you could invite people to come to you. That doesn’t have to be a formal declaration “hey, if anyone wants to work with me as a mentor, let me know ”. It could be as simple as announcing office hours for anyone who wants to talk and seeing what happens.

What if you want to mentor, but people don’t ask?

There’s one take away I’d like you to have: mentoring is about listening. Resist the temptation to offer unsolicited advice. Listen to what they’re asking about. Goals? Situations? Or skills? Then listen (or observe) before sharing your questions, stories, or feedback.If you’ve read this far, you may realize that nothing I’ve said is specific to software engineering. Mentoring is a general skill; your experience makes it industry-specific.

Start with listening.

teamwork

Teamwork

softwareengineering

Software Engineering

How to mentor software engineers

The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.

Theodore Roosevelt — ‘The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.’

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

“The most important single ingredient in the for...”

"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."

From women entrepreneurs and city hubs to quotes by Nelson Mandela and Marie Curie, witness the journeys and thought leadership in Indian entrepreneurship 

startup

Startups

“The greatest glory in living..

Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.

Vagg

Popular quotes from Goodreads members. Oscar Wilde: ‘Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.’, Marilyn Monroe: ‘I'm selfish, impatient and a little ...

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

Popular Quotes

This law states that we’re all one. We’re all interconnected, and everything we think, do, and believe, has an impact on others. At the end of the day, being spiritual means being one with life. It means being one with the neighbors, the trees, the clouds, the birds, the rivers. It means recognizing you’re part of a much larger whole — and you’re responsible for the energy you bring to that whole.

Law Of Divine Oneness 

Every action in the universe produces a reaction. Our thoughts, feelings, patterns, and actions create specific effects that manifest and create our life as we know it.Everything we’re currently experiencing in our lives is an effect — a result of something we’ve done before. This means that if we’re aware of what we’re doing (if we make the right decisions and take the right actions), success is not only achievable — it’s inevitable.There are no accidents. Success, peace, and happiness are not built up upon luck and are not determined outside of us. Everything’s created within us.

Law of Cause and Effect

Every particle in the universe is in constant movement, vibrating at its own frequency. This isn’t something you can see or touch — but it’s something you sense and react to .As a consequence, every thought, belief, and feeling has its own vibrational frequency — just like we all have our own personal frequency.

Law of Vibration

This law states that patterns repeat throughout the universe. There’s a direct correspondence between our outer world and our inner state of being. The patterns in your life are a reflection of the subconscious beliefs you’ve been carrying. The friends you have are a reflection of your thoughts about friendships. The relationship you’re in is a reflection of your feelings regarding love and intimacy. “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change” — Wayne Dyer

Law of Correspondence

According to the Law of Perpetual Transmutation of Energy, we absorb the energy of everything we’re exposed to. Authentic, supportive (high vibrational) people increase our vibration, just like narcissistic, uncompassionate individuals lower our frequency and make us feel depleted.This is why it’s crucial to choose your surroundings very carefully. It’s incredibly difficult to vibrate at a higher frequency (and therefore attract your desires) if the people in your life are constantly draining your energy.

Law of Perpetual Transmutation of Energy

The most talked about universal law needs no introduction. The main principle behind it is simple: “like attracts like”:“To attract what you want, you must work from the highest (the spiritual plane) to the lowest potential (the physical plane), which may be different than what you are doing now or have done in the past.

Law of Attraction

This Law tells us that we must actively pursue our goals. Manifestation involves not only the powers of the Universe but also our personal powers. The truth is, your desires won’t fall from the sky. You have to take action. You have to create a new reality for yourself, step by step.An inspired action is when you do something because you feel the strong inner urge to do it. It’s when you can suddenly sense your intuition saying “go for it. This is what you have to do.” This is the type of action that really counts. It doesn’t feel forced or unsustainable. It feels authentic. It feels aligned.

Law of Inspired Action

Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his essay, “Compensation,” wrote that each person is compensated in like manner for that which he or she has contributed. In other words, you get what you give, you sow what you reap. What you do in life will dictate how you will get compensated. Give love, and you will get love in return. Spread your wealth and get more wealth in return. Go the extra mile, and you’ll soon be rewarded. On the other hand, if you don’t invest your time, effort, and energy, you can’t expect to receive your rewards.

Law of Compensation

This law reminds us to keep our perspective in check since everything’s relative and, in the grand scheme of things, our problems are rarely as bad as they seem. Every single soul on this planet will face challenges from time to time, and it’s our responsibility to make sure we use our challenges to learn some lessons. Everything’s divinely planned to make us stronger and help us evolve into the best versions of ourselves.

Law of Relativity

According to the Law of Polarity, everything is dual. So things that appear to be opposites are actually two inseparable parts of the same thing: “Think of hot and cold, for example; although they’re opposites, they’re actually on the same continuum and you cannot have one without the potential for the other. You can think of whatever you want to manifest in the same way. For example, abundance is inseparable from financial lack, love is inseparable from being alone, and success is inseparable from failure; each comes with the potential for its opposite.”

Law of Polarity

The Law of Rhythm reminds us that nature is seasonal and cyclical. Since we are innately a part of nature, we too have seasons and natural rhythms. We have to work only when we feel inspired to put in the work, and we have to rest when we feel inspired to rest. It’s not possible, sustainable, or even desirable to be happy and productive every single day of the year. Winter comes around every year to give us a break, to nurture our souls; and to rejuvenate our spirits. You have your own rhythm. Honor it.

Law of Rhythm

This Law states that everything has both a masculine and feminine energy. These two energies coexist within all of us, and we must find the balance between the two.The feminine energy is patient, kind, intuitive, creative and nurturing — while the masculine is persistent, focused, assertive and confident.Manifesting the life of our dreams means embodying both, and being aware of which energy we need to channel.

Law of Gender

Understanding the 12 Universal Laws is crucial if you want to live a fulfilled, authentic life that brings you joy. 

Most books on manifestation lead us to believe that to receive everything we want in life, all we must do is want it and visualize it. The problem is, the Law of Attraction is not the only universal…

movies

Movies & Shows

scienceandnature

Science & Nature

space

Space

The 12 Laws of the Universe and What They Mean

Ever wonder how people come up with the proverbial big idea ? They work at it!Leaders aren’t just dreamers - they are doers.Successful leaders are nothing if not persistent, committed individuals who understand potential is of little value if said potential fails to be realized.

Relentless Pursuit

Leaders who pursue game changer attitude have no patience for the status quo - they focus their efforts on shattering the status quo. The message here is a simple one - Don't copy create. Don't just play the game - change the game. The goal is to create, improve on, and innovate around best practices in order to find next practices.

Be Original 

Leaders possess a refined blend of intrinsic curiosity and extrinsic focus. Perhaps most of all, game changing leaders are in touch with a greater purpose - they understand the value of serving something beyond themselves. If you want to be a real game changer have a purpose that serves, improves, helps, and inspires.

Develop A Clear Purpose

The following 6 steps represents process for finding and implementing game changer attitude– SMARTSSimpleMeaningfulActionableRelationalTransformationalScalable

Steps To Achieve The Above

At one time or another all great leaders experience something so big and so impactful it literally changes the landscape - it’s what I call a “Game Changer.” A game changer is that ah-ha moment where you see something others don’t. It’s the transformational magic that takes organizations from ordinary to [...]

corporateculture

Corporate Culture

Steps for being a Game Changer

"If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward."

"I found the answers in my room1. Roof said : Aim High2. Fan said : Be Cool3. Clock said : Every Minute Is Precious4. Mirror said : Reflect Before You Act5. Window said : See The World6. Calender said : Be Up-To-Date7. Door said : Push Hard To Achieve Your Goals"

"All Birds find shelter during a rain.But Eagle avoids rain by flying abovethe Clouds.Problems are common, but attitudemakes the difference!!!"

"The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot"

"People tell you the world looks a certain way. Parents tell you how to think. Schools tell you how to think. TV. Religion. And then at a certain point, if you’re lucky, you realize you can make up your own mind. Nobody sets the rules but you. You can design your own life"

"Do not allow people to dim your shine because they are blinded. Tell them to put some sunglasses on."

"What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you"

"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars."

"You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great."

"People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily."

Inspirational Quotes :)

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