An introductory presentation made to a group of SMEs about the concept of Working Out Loud (WOL) as a possible method to inculcate thought leadership.

1. Promoting Thought Leadership by Working Out Loud
Sajita Thomas
Business HR
13 Nov 2014

2. Promoting Thought Leadership, Step-by-step
What is it?
Platform for Amplifying Expertise
How?
Using the concept of Working Out Loud Circles

3. Coverage
Background
Working Out Loud
Benefits
WOL Circles
Next Steps
1
2
3
4
5

4. Business Objective
•Inculcating thought leadership was a prime need and a directive given to Business HR
–Organization view: Visibility of capabilities, accomplishments
–Individual view: Visibility of interests, opportunities
•A vital need in the era of social business

5. Working Out Loud – Bryce Williams
Working Out Loud = Observable Work + Narrating Your Work

6. Working Out Loud – Bryce Williams
Working Out Loud = Observable Work + Narrating Your Work

7. Myth
•Networking => exchanging cards at events, shaking hands with many people, shallow “friends”
•I am not interested in self branding; I am a shy person; I wish to be a quiet kind of thought leader
•Personal branding involves artificial self-promotion, managing appearance
Understanding Networking, Branding

8. Myth
•Networking => exchanging cards at events, shaking hands with many people, shallow “friends”
•I am not interested in self branding; I am a shy person; I wish to be a quiet kind of thought leader
•Personal branding involves artificial self-promotion, managing appearance
Reality
•Networking is about building meaningful relationships, one person at a time (Keith Ferrazzi)
•I already have a brand. It is what people say about me when I leave the room (it’s my identity)
•Personal branding = thoughtful approach to express our authentic self
Understanding Networking, Branding

9. Mail received this morning…!

10. College rank? Faculty? Course content? It’s all…

11. Working Out Loud – John Stepper
Working out loud is working in an open, generous, connected way so you can build a purposeful network, become more effective, and access more opportunities.
-John Stepper

12. Stories That Inspired WOL
Salman Khan Khan Academy
Jordi Munoz
DIYdrones.com

13. Working Out Loud – John Stepper
W
O
L
Open Generous Connected
Purposeful network Effective Access opportunities

14. Elements of WOL
1.Making work visible
2.Making work better
3.Leading with generosity
4.Building a social network
5.Making it all purposeful
Outcomes of WOL
Visibility of ability to peers and seniors
Collaboration
Sharing of knowledge and expertise
Personal branding
Building confidence , honing writing & speaking skills
Working Out Loud

15. Working Out Loud – Simon Terry
Working Out Loud is one of the most crucial practices for value creation in an enterprise social network. For many, it is also the least comfortable. We need to work at this new practice to deliver value.

16. Program Output by Participants
1.Blog posts
2.Articles
3.Whitepapers
4.Presentations
5.Virtual class sessions
6.Comments on blogs
7.Event speakers, Guest lectures

17. Avenues: Internal and External
•Enterprise Social Network (ESN)
•Articles published in specialist magazines or banking websites like Finextra
•Company web site
•Conference papers

18. WOL Circle
•How
–A group of 5-10, preferably co-located
–Interested in getting started with WOL
–One hour each week for 12 weeks
–Guidebook with suggested weekly actions
•Why it helps
–Building a new habit
–Peer group support: sharing, ideas
–Commitment

19. Frequently Asked Questions (so far)
•Are the WOL Circle working out loud among themselves, or, they are a support group to help each other work out loud?
–WOL Circle is a temporary mechanism to help individuals (circle members) to embark on working out loud
•Is it better for people with similar domain interests to form circles?
–Not necessarily. Perhaps it is better to be part of a circle with diverse interest areas and with people at different levels of networking ability. Most of us already have a network of people with same interests, or we anyway work with people of similar profile. The circle is an enabler to consciously widen and deepen our network
•Is it necessary to form circles in the same location?
–It is preferred because the primary purpose of forming the good habit of working out loud will be better achieved with the convenience of closer and face-to-face interaction among members

20. What You Have to Do Now
•Ask, clarify key questions
•Volunteer right away or within 24 hours to:
–Be part of the first pilot circle(s)
–Be a facilitator of a circle
•Need  WOL  Pilot initiative now

21. To explore further
•A short 3-minute video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRYQRj-ZGg4
•Start here and explore some of the other interesting articles on the same site such as Working out loud & the rise of introverts
•InformationWeek magazine article contextualizing WOL within KM, social business, collaboration, innovation and business agility, with a short snippet image here
•Shell has been using WOL for its knowledge management since 2011 as written here, their presentation was scheduled at the recent KMWorld Conference

22. Thank You
Q&A
Also: See 3-minute video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRYQRj-ZGg4

23. Dennis Pearce

24. Harold Jarche