Understanding Strategic Influence and Unseen Client Limitations
Understanding Strategic Influence and Unseen Client Limitations
Thought leadership is all about sharing ideas that have the potential to make a significant impact on your business.
Unfortunately, a lot of thought leadership initiatives fail to make an impact because they neglect to connect with tangible business outcomes. You've likely come across the type – fluffy articles, generic reports, or flashy presentations that leave audiences nodding in agreement but unmotivated to take action.
The missing piece? Understanding your client's blind spots.
Blind spots refer to gaps in understanding – challenges, assumptions, or opportunities that your client is not fully aware of. When you address these blind spots directly and clearly, you're not merely offering insights. Instead, you're providing something of real value – the key to solving their most pressing problems or unlocking new growth opportunities.
Recently, I was preparing a proposal for a brand messaging workshop, and I was reminded of the importance of blind spots.
Why Blind Spots Matter
Blind spots are powerful because they represent what your client doesn't know they need.
Identifying blind spots makes your thought leadership more relevant, actionable, and differentiated. However, they also serve a more profound purpose – they connect your ideas to the business.
When you manage to identify a blind spot – it could be a flawed assumption, an overlooked opportunity, or a hidden risk – you offer your clients something concrete they can use. You're not merely providing a new perspective but providing a roadmap to action, which is crucial for driving business outcomes.
The Importance of Blind Spots in Thought Leadership
I took a closer look at my proposal and recalled my thought process.
I'll call the chief executive person in charge Kate. It was a proposal for the company's messaging strategy. Kate's sales team and design team were on a collision course. The sales team focused on selling to clients, whereas the design team communicated in technical jargon that baffled their target audience. The rift was hampering their ability to attract new business.
At first, Kate suspected this issue was a team-building problem. However, as we delved deeper into the discussion, I realized the issue was more fundamental – a messaging blind spot. The teams weren't aligned on what the clients needed to hear, and that disconnect hindered their progress.
This insight served as the foundation for the messaging workshop I proposed. Instead of focusing on team-building, we would concentrate on crafting messaging that leveraged the strengths of both teams while appealing to their audience. Our objective was twofold: to drive better business results by ensuring everyone in the company was on the same page.
Discovering and Utilizing Blind Spots
Here's how I went about unearthing the blind spot in Kate's case – and how you can do the same for your clients.
- Pay Close Attention:In my discussion with Kate, I didn't merely concentrate on what she said but also listened for what she didn't mention. She pointed out friction between her teams, but she also kept returning to what resonated with their clients or failed to resonate. This was a clue.
Sometimes the blind spot isn't in the obvious issue – it could be a concern that your client isn't explicitly acknowledging.
- Scrutinize Assumptions:Kate assumed that her problem was cultural – her teams didn't get along. But upon closer scrutiny, the real issue was structural – the teams weren't aligned on messaging. By examining how each team viewed the client, I managed to identify the blind spot.
The sales team perceived the client required a high-level pitch. The design team presumed the client required deep technical detail. Neither perspective was entirely accurate. The blind spot was the misalignment, and it was causing the company to miss out on opportunities.
- Transform Blind Spots into Actionable Ideas:Once the blind spot was clear, the subsequent step was to make it actionable. The messaging workshop I proposed wasn't just about resolving internal alignment issues. It was about driving external results – helping the company communicate more effectively so they could attract more clients.
Thought leadership must always link back to results. If your insights don't reveal how to solve a problem or seize an opportunity, they won't stick.
Blind Spots Drive Business Results
Kate's experience showcases why blind spots are crucial in thought leadership. Without acknowledging her teams' messaging misalignment, the workshop I recommended wouldn't have achieved its intended objectives.
But this goes beyond Kate. Every client has blind spots. And as a thought leader, your responsibility is to bring them to light, articulate them, and connect them to tangible business outcomes.
The formula is straightforward:
- Find the blind spot.
- Reframe it into an insight that your client can act upon.
- Show how addressing it leads to quantifiable results.
This is the link between thought leadership and business. It's not enough to share ideologies – you have to demonstrate how those ideologies drive action and generate value. And the best way to accomplish that is by helping your clients recognize what they hadn't previously seen.
This is what moves the needle. This is what makes thought leadership valuable. And this is how you turn insights into impact.
In relation to the proposed brand messaging workshop, recognizing the teams' misalignment in messaging served as a crucial blind spot, transforming the workshop's focus from team-building to crafting resonant messaging that leveraged both teams' strengths. Additionally, to effectively utilize blind spots in thought leadership, it's essential to pay close attention to what clients don't explicitly mention, scrutinize assumptions to reveal underlying issues, and transform these insights into actionable recommendations linked to tangible business outcomes.