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This is the third in a five-part video series about how to develop thought leadership insights. With this video, consider how taking a contrarian point of view can help you develop your thought leadership.

Video Transcription

Hi, I’m Lee Frederiksen. Welcome to our five-part series on how to develop thought leadership insights. What are the kinds of things you can do to help you be that insightful person who is recognized as a thought leader?

In previous ones, we talked about narrowing the focus and doing your research. We want to talk about the third strategy today and that’s take a contrarian perspective.

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In other words, if everyone says ‘this is the right way to do something,’ consider the opposite. In other words, if everyone says you should give great customer service and really do a lot, consider what would happen if you tried to offer your services as more of a self-service alternative. If everyone says you should do some things well in advance, consider what’s the advantage of doing them close to the deadline. In other words, take the opposite view.

Now, that doesn’t mean that you are quarrelsome and you’re always contradicting everything. It means that you let your mind think differently about things. Think about the opposite of conventional wisdom and see if that leads you to a new insight.

Combining that with your narrow focus and your research from the other strategies can sometimes lead to great insights.

Watch Earlier Posts in This Series:

1: Narrow Your Focus

2: Do Original Research

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