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Leveraging Thought Leadership

Leveraging Thought Leadership

Peter Winick and Bill Sherman 725 Episodes Jul 19, 2026

Hear from the people whose ideas shape the business world. Learn what their public stories leave out. Our beat: the business of thought leadership and the people who take ideas to scale. Fortune 500 CEOs. New York Times bestselling authors. Thinkers50 honorees. NSA Hall of Fame speakers. Top business school professors. First-time authors. Emerging keynote speakers. Their support: publishers, speaking coaches, PR experts. We ask thought leaders to share generously. And they don't hold back. How did they get here? What nearly stopped them? What did they learn? And what keeps them going? Your co-hosts, Peter Winick and Bill Sherman of Thought Leadership Leverage, bring two decades of experience working with thought leadership practitioners. We've woven stories from 700+ episodes, our frameworks, and the tools we use every day into The Thought Leadership Handbook. Learn how the experts take their big ideas to scale—and how you can too.

Episodes

Why Your Book Launch Is Just the Beginning | Sandy Smith | 726
Why Your Book Launch Is Just the Beginning | Sandy Smith | 726 Jul 19, 2026 26:41 You just spent two years writing a book. Now what? That's the question at the center of this conversation about book publicity, expectations, and the long game of building a body of work. Bill Sherman sits down with Sandy Smith, CEO of Smith Publicity, to unpack what a smart book launch actually looks like — and why most of the excitement (and anxiety) authors feel in the 60 days around publicati
The Marketing Dilemma Every Author Faces | Rand Selig | 725
The Marketing Dilemma Every Author Faces | Rand Selig | 725 Jul 16, 2026 19:15 What happens when the metrics you were taught to chase — title, bonus, prestige — stop adding up to a life that feels good? In this episode, Peter Winick sits down with Rand Selig, a Stanford MBA, former Wall Street investment banker, and founder of The Selig Capital Group, to trace his path from a jarring first job at Lehman Brothers to a self-defined version of success built on peace, gratitude
Why Your Expertise Is the Only Content That Converts | Ghazenfer Mansoor | 724
Why Your Expertise Is the Only Content That Converts | Ghazenfer Mansoor | 724 Jul 12, 2026 17:01 What happens when a software CEO stops thinking like a marketer and starts thinking like a thought leader? You get a content flywheel that ranks #1 on Google, ChatGPT, and Claude — without hiring an SEO firm. Ghazenfer Mansoor, Founder and CEO of Technology Rivers, didn't set out to become a thought leader. He set out to grow a business. But as referrals gave way to inbound and conference convers
From In-House Analyst to Independent Thought Leader | Charlene Li | 723
From In-House Analyst to Independent Thought Leader | Charlene Li | 723 Jul 9, 2026 20:45 This episode is a companion to the upcoming Thought Leadership Handbook — part of a series where Bill speaks with exemplars featured in the book about how they actually practice thought leadership. There are plenty of books explaining what AI is. This one is about the person who decided to write a book that tells you what to do about it instead — and who's spent 25 years turning disruption into f
Mental Health at Work Is Smart Business  | Melissa Doman | 722
Mental Health at Work Is Smart Business | Melissa Doman | 722 Jul 2, 2026 21:19 Most professionals who make the leap from clinical therapy to the corporate world stumble on the same obstacle: they speak the wrong language. They know the science cold. They understand what's happening beneath the surface in any dysfunctional team, toxic culture, or burned-out leadership group. But if they can't connect those insights to the metrics that actually keep executives up at night — re
From Attorney to Speaker: The Identity Shift That Changes Everything | Wani Iris Manly, Esq. | 721
From Attorney to Speaker: The Identity Shift That Changes Everything | Wani Iris Manly, Esq. | 721 Jun 28, 2026 30:07 What happens when you're wildly successful at a life you didn't consciously choose? Wani Iris Manly, Esq., grew up groomed for one thing: the law. She did the work, built the firm, drove the Porsche. And then, on New Year's Eve in 2010, she sat alone and took an honest look at the gap between the life she had and the life she actually wanted. What followed was one of the more audacious pivots you
Cracking the Greatness Code in Professional Services | Alan Guarino | 720
Cracking the Greatness Code in Professional Services | Alan Guarino | 720 Jun 25, 2026 21:57 What does it look like when someone making $10 million a year calls you and says, "Get me out of here"? For Alan Guarino, Vice Chairman of CEO and Board Services at Korn Ferry, it happens more than you'd think — and it's exactly what pushed him to write The Greatness Code: The Formula Behind Unstoppable Success. Alan has spent decades at the intersection of executive search, C-suite coaching, an
Why Authentic Stories Matter More Than Ever in an AI World | Gabrielle Dolan | 719
Why Authentic Stories Matter More Than Ever in an AI World | Gabrielle Dolan | 719 Jun 18, 2026 38:11 What do you do when you've found a powerful idea — but the market thinks it's silly? Gabrielle Dolan (known to almost everyone as "Ral") noticed something in the corridors of corporate Australia: the leaders who moved people, who made change land, who made ideas stick — they all told stories. The data nerds and slide-deck merchants were losing the room. The storytellers were winning it. So she d
The Opus Way: Fueling Ambition Without Burnout | Janine Mathó | 718
The Opus Way: Fueling Ambition Without Burnout | Janine Mathó | 718 Jun 14, 2026 19:58 What if ambition is not the problem—but the way we fuel it is? In this episode of Leveraging Thought Leadership, Peter Winick speaks with Janine Mathó, author of "Live Your Opus", about the Opus Way: a framework designed to help high achievers build healthy, meaningful careers without lowering their ambition. Janine challenges the old tradeoff between success and sustainability. Her message is c
How to Find Agency in Times of Instability | Suzan Song | 717
How to Find Agency in Times of Instability | Suzan Song | 717 Jun 11, 2026 37:01 What if suffering is not a detour from life, but one of the places where meaning begins? In this episode of Leveraging Thought Leadership, Bill Sherman speaks with Dr. Suzan Song, MD, PhD, about instability, agency, and the human search for groundedness when life breaks open. Her work spans clinical care, global systems, conflict zones, and executive leadership. Her core question is simple and ur
Founder Readiness: Measuring the Leadership Risk Investors Miss | Logan Yonavjak | 716
Founder Readiness: Measuring the Leadership Risk Investors Miss | Logan Yonavjak | 716 Jun 4, 2026 20:15 What if the biggest risk in a company is not the strategy, the product, or the market—but the leader's ability to grow fast enough to match the business? In this episode of Leveraging Thought Leadership, Peter Winick sits down with Logan Yonavjak, founder of the Founders Readiness Institute, to explore a bold idea: leadership capacity can be measured, developed, and used to reduce business risk.
The Economics of Getting What You Want | Judd Kessler | 715
The Economics of Getting What You Want | Judd Kessler | 715 May 31, 2026 19:11 What if luck is not random, but designed? In this episode of Leveraging Thought Leadership, Peter Winick sits down with Judd Kessler, Wharton professor and author of "Lucky by Design: The Hidden Economics You Need to Get More of What You Want." Judd's work brings market design out of the academic journal and into daily life. He studies the hidden systems that determine who gets access, who gets

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