Are you considering going to Think 2018? If you haven’t decided to go yet, I’m going to share why you should consider going this year. In the spirit of full disclosure, I’m going to the event as a guest of IBM.
Now you should understand I get many invitations to attend difference conferences throughout the year from many different technology partners. I go to several events a year along with attending annual shareholder meetings for clients when the opportunity presents itself.
Sometimes I go as a speaker and presenter, at other times as a facilitator in breakout sessions with executive stakeholders on leading edge business topics. I chose to attend this event because what I’ve gained far outweighs what I lose in consulting income for the week.
I’m working with Dan Burrus, author of The Anticipatory Organization, the number 1 new release business best seller for Amazon in 2017. We share an innovation framework that helps our clients take advantage of new trends to turn disruption and change into opportunity and advantage. This innovation framework also helps put why you should attend Think 2018 in context.
Attending Think events provides my clients with a significant anticipatory advantage. But who cares. What can attending do for you? Why should you get on a plane and get together with me in Las Vegas in March? Dan and I have a four-step process that, if you choose to use it, can make you a more anticipatory leader in 2018. Let’s see if I can apply this innovation framework to attending the Think 2018 event.
The first step of being an anticipatory leader is you must know what’s next. If you can’t clearly see the future by the time you leave the conference, call me and I’ll share what I’ve learned that can help transform your business and career very quickly.
Think 2018 has an incredible group of leaders sharing their vision of the future. These leaders point out hard and soft trends that can help you make better decisions faster. Understanding soft trends are the foundation of building a better business. If you’re looking, you can uncover many soft trends that you can use for a competitive advantage.
The second step of being an anticipatory leader is you must be able to develop opportunities. Think 2018 gives you a chance to find many great people and technologies that help you become more innovative in how you approach your role in the organization. The future belongs to people who not only see great opportunities but are prepared to seize them.
I make many great connections at these events. I begin nurturing them the moment I first meet them. My clients expect me to know the best people at what they do. I think they’re spoiled but I can tell I’ve been able to accelerate conversations with many clients on my return because of something I learned in a presentation. As a bonus, I can use the Think 2018 speaker’s presentation to help make my point when working with the CXO who is not wanting to hear another high-priced strategy consultant. It’s hard for the CEO to argue with another CEO or CMO’s information.
The third step of being an anticipatory leader is knowing how to shape the conversation. Think 2018 speakers and breakout session leaders speak the language of business leadership. I’ve found sharing information from these event is very easy. Maybe too easy.
When I get push back on a new technology decision I’m helping to make, I can provide an expert who has already been through the process. Not another consultant, but an individual who is in a similar role to my client in another organization. I network with as many of the leaders of these sessions as I can, and you should to. I can share how I do it on a future blog, but it’s almost unstoppable when used effectively.
Last year, I added over 30 CXO level leaders to my professional network in single week. This year I’m going for 50. If you use my approach, you can create an incredible amount of good will with your new partners. Peer to peer relationships can impact culture must faster than being just another talking head in a suit.
Now all the this is great and meaningful, but what do I really want out of attending Think 2018? The final step of being an anticipatory leader is you must accelerate success. The way Dan Burrus might say it is, “We want to transform results of the people we work with.”
Now that’s high bar to try to achieve in a single week on the road. You might have to go with a little less sleep than you’d like when attending Think 2018. The good news is there always something great to attend at an event like this. The energy at Think 2018 is going to be amazing. You choose what’s going to help get you get the results you want, the way you want.
Now that I’ve got you thinking about attending Think 2018, are you ready to take the next step? You can learn more about it here. If you decide to go and want to jump start your networking, send me an invite on LinkedIn. We can strategize on how to build a better network from the event. I’ll be sharing these strategies over the next several weeks, as well. See you at Think 2018.