Place more quotes with this thought leadership principle

Saturday I was walking down a street in Mexico and stumbled on a shocking example of a powerful thought leadership principle.

My wife and I were visiting San Jose del Cabo (totally safe and unaffected by the cartel activity), a coastal town known for art galleries that cater to tourists. To me, they all blur together – I don’t remember one from the next.

We also wanted to see the “real” part of town, and we found it. We walked past humble storefronts mixed in with cinder-block homes and . . . an art gallery?

I stopped in my tracks and backed up to what looked like a garage. Paintings lined the walls, but there were three cars parked inside…

It turns out this may be the world’s only art gallery that doubles as a car wash.

I love the hustle so much. If you’re an aspiring artist without resources or a brand, how do you compete with all the fancy galleries across town? You don’t – you go in a totally different direction.

And when wealthy expats intrigued by the novelty bring their cars to YOU for a wash, you chat them up and maybe sell them a painting too.

Here’s how this translates to your thought leadership work.

When you’re pitching, let’s say, yet another fund manager with investing insights to CNBC or Bloomberg, yours sounds like every other one.

But when you’re pitching the only “fund manager who is also a CPA” to talk about tax loss harvesting investing strategies, suddenly you stand out like a car wash art gallery.

“That’s great, Michael, if I had someone like that, I’d already be doing it.”

Here’s where your hustle comes in: Get out of the figurative tourist zone and cast a wider net for distinctive SMEs at your org or clients. Before you ask for their takes on issues, dig into their backgrounds and expertise. Find the one SME with a double layer of expertise. Not just an artist – an artist who washes cars.

More examples:

• You work at a hospital chain and can pitch infinity doctors. Find the one MD who was a nurse before med school.
• National interior design firm? Find the one who only does senior living/memory care.
• Any white-collar expert gets more interesting if they used to deliver pizzas or drive rideshare to give more of an “everyman” take.

In summary, as you look over your pool of potential experts, who all figuratively look like the same art galleries, get out of your comfort zone and go find the one who also runs a car wash 😊.

P.S. Mexico is our favorite place to visit, and we’re heartbroken that innocent people who rely on the tourism economy will suffer because of the recent headline-grabbing cartel activity. Don’t rule out the entire country as a potential destination – there are lots of places that were unaffected by the disruptions.

P.P.S. I also want to acknowledge the peril our PR friends in the Middle East find themselves facing. Praying for peace urgently.