Welcome to Hope + Possibilties: A Love Letter to the Future of Work!
Oct. 8, 2026

Thought Leadership: Sponsorship, Celebrity and Influence in Canada

Thought Leadership: Sponsorship, Celebrity and Influence in Canada
Thought Leadership: Sponsorship, Celebrity and Influence in Canada
Hope + Possibilities: A Love Letter to the Future of Work
Thought Leadership: Sponsorship, Celebrity and Influence in Canada
I've talked about thought leadership on the podcast before, most recently in my conversation with Amanda Cupido. Amanda launched her podcast, Let's Talk Thought Leadership, right here in Keswick, so it turns out Keswick is something of a hotbed for thought leadership in Canada.
In this solo episode I look at what shapes thought leadership: money, power, influence, and whether the person sharing ideas ever listens back.
In this episode:
Why the podcast is self-funded. I don't take sponsorship. I'm wary of how money and influence can shape views in ways I might not intend or understand at the time. I won't accept deals from AI companies, especially American ones, because I don't know their relationships with government, and I'm not convinced the current US administration is acting in Canada's best interest.
The OpenAI influencer trip. OpenAI hosted about 30 creators at Wildflower Farms, a luxury resort in New York's Hudson Valley, for what it called "OpenAI Summer Camp," with farm-to-table dinners and beekeeping. OpenAI says the trip was education-led, a way to teach creators its new tools, and that it welcomes healthy debate about AI. But the posts were all honey and bees, while the environmental impact of AI and data centres went unmentioned. The backlash landed mostly on the individual creators, while the company that funded the trip got less of it. Creator Grace McCarrick pointed out that most of the people taking that heat were women. I don't agree with everything about how she handled it, but she had a good point.
Academics as creators. Institutional ties bring their own hierarchy and politics. I use Adam Grant as an example. With his new book Vibe on the way, I look back at how he partnered with celebrities like Jennifer Garner on podcast conversations and promotion for his last book. I don't know whether Jennifer Garner was paid. I'd assume so, and she should be, but that's never disclosed.
Broadcast vs. community. I've followed Adam's work for about eight years and learned a lot from it. In all that time I couldn't get a real conversation going with him, until a comment this week about his book tour skipping Canada finally got a reply. He said he loves Canada and hopes to come next year, and I appreciated that. But it shouldn't take eight years. How do you call it a community if you're the only one talking?
Celebrities as interviewers. Actors are hosting more and more podcasts, and I'm seeing fewer trained journalists doing interviews. What happens to ideas when the questions are softballs?
Where my work lands on the charts. I found out I rank on a Goodpods chart for investigative journalism, and on a writing chart too. Charts aren't the point. What matters to me is that the questions I ask are being read at that level, even by an algorithm, when futurism doesn't fit into any one box.
Thought leadership and AI. My transcripts get scraped and used to train AI. I can't control that, so I focus on putting out the best human thinking I can and hope the real people who come across it notice and credit it.
George Michael as a fixed point. His arc is complete. I know what he stood for, and that won't change. Living partnerships between public figures keep changing, and that makes me wonder: is this a cultural divide between American and Canadian podcasting?
The big idea: Thought leadership is about influencing the future. The people who take in your ideas go on to make decisions about how they behave, how they run their companies and which social norms they support. What you consume shapes who you are, and that includes the thought leaders you follow.
One small ask: I rarely hear from listeners, and I'll never stop asking. If a review or a question feels like too much, just subscribe on whatever app you use. Subscriptions can move the charts. Sharing, saving and downloading all help too.
Mentioned in this episode:
Let's Talk Thought Leadership and Podcasting in Canada with Amanda Cupido (Hope + Possibilities)
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lets-talk-thought-leadership-and-podcasting-in-canada/id1602822494?i=1000734558579
Let's Talk Thought Leadership, hosted by Amanda Cupido
https://www.letstalkthoughtleadership.com/
Vibe by Adam Grant
https://adamgrant.net/book/vibe/
Grace McCarrick on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/grace_mccarrick/
Backlash to OpenAI luxury retreat highlights influencers' uncertain relationship with AI (CBC News)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/openai-influencers-summer-camp-controversy-9.7296991
The Creators at OpenAI's Wildflower Farms Retreat, and the Backlash That Followed (Observer)
https://observer.com/2026/08/openai-wildflower-farms-influencer-retreat/
Influencers draw backlash for attending OpenAI's first luxury trip (TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/03/influencers-draw-backlash-for-attending-openais-first-luxury-trip/
Hope + Possibilities: Trust, Leadership + Strategic Foresight. A self-funded Canadian podcast.
 
Coming up: I'm taking the Canada question further in a follow-up conversation with Jan Ditchfield, founder of The Show, a Canadian podcast business mastermind for women entrepreneurs. (Full disclosure: I'm a member.) Subscribe so you don't miss it.
Mentioned in this episode:
Let's Talk Thought Leadership and Podcasting in Canada with Amanda Cupido (Hope + Possibilities)
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lets-talk-thought-leadership-and-podcasting-in-canada/id1602822494?i=1000734558579
Let's Talk Thought Leadership, hosted by Amanda Cupido
https://www.letstalkthoughtleadership.com/
The Show, Jan Ditchfield's podcast business mastermind for women entrepreneurs
https://www.skool.com/theshow/about
Vibe by Adam Grant
https://adamgrant.net/book/vibe/
Grace McCarrick on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/grace_mccarrick/
Backlash to OpenAI luxury retreat highlights influencers' uncertain relationship with AI (CBC News)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/openai-influencers-summer-camp-controversy-9.7296991
The Creators at OpenAI's Wildflower Farms Retreat, and the Backlash That Followed (Observer)
https://observer.com/2026/08/openai-wildflower-farms-influencer-retreat/
Influencers draw backlash for attending OpenAI's first luxury trip (TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/03/influencers-draw-backlash-for-attending-openais-first-luxury-trip/
Hope + Possibilities: Trust, Leadership + Strategic Foresight. A self-funded Canadian podcast.Meta:
 
 
Canadian futurist Nola Simon on thought leadership, sponsorship, celebrity podcasts and AI: who pays, who answers, and what it means for whose ideas we trust.
 
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Hi, I'm Nola Simon, and I'm the host
of the Hope and BossAbilities podcast.

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And I'd like to revisit a topic
I've mentioned before, which

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is about thought leadership.

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I actually, One of my guests
actually launched her podcast about

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thought leadership in Keswick.

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So unexpectedly, Keswick is
actually a hotbed when it comes

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to thought leadership in Canada.

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So I am on record as being self-funded.

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I don't accept sponsorship for
the podcast, and quite honestly,

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it's always been because

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I'm concerned about how money, power,
and influence are supporting views

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and influencing people in ways that I
might not intend and might not fully

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understand at the time that it happens.

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So I'll give you an example of
that from a wider perspective.

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Recently, OpenAI funded a, an influencer
trip, and they invited all these really

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top influencers who had huge followings
on TikTok and Instagram, and they hosted

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this at this farm, and the whole thing
went down like a lead balloon because when

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all of these influencers started talking
about AI, there was massive pushback on,

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how AI impacts the environment, the irony
of hosting it at a farm talking about,

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the, the honey and the bees that are at
the farm and really not talking about

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the environmental impact possibility or
likelihood related to AI and data centers.

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And there was a massive amount of
global pushback, mostly against the

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individual creators, which really the
source of the issue is actually the

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company, not the individual creators.

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But individual creators
are an easier target.

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And one woman in particular, actually,
I didn't necessarily agree how she

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handled it, but she did have a really
good point, which was the majority

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of people who got the, the pushback
were women, in- especially her.

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And it's fascinating to watch the
language around how the money, the

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power, and the influence surrounds
AI and how that changes perceptions.

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And so personally, I would never accept
any kind of deal with any kind of AI,

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but particularly American AI companies
because I don't exactly know what their

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relationships are with the government,
and the administration hasn't necessarily

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demonstrated that the way it's behaving
is in the best interest of Canada.

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So for me, I have concerns about
accepting any kind of sponsorship

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that's related to American companies
or technologies that I don't fully yet

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understand the long-term impact of.

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My policy on sponsorship really directly
influences my thought leadership because

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I don't want to be restricted and tied
to what I'm allowed to say, what I'm

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allowed to investigate, what questions
I'm allowed to ask, and that really

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c- brings us back to academia, right?

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Academics, when they write, they
are associated with a university,

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and so there is a hierarchy and a
political influence that exists.

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Yes, you're writing books, you're
publishing it under your own name,

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but if you are working for an
institution and that institution is

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associated with your name, there is

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power and influence that
goes along with that.

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And so I find it very interesting
the way that academics are actually

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navigating their institutional ties
and also the creator aspects of it.

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An example that I was talking to
somebody about today is Adam Grant.

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He works for Wharton, but in his most
recent book, he-- it's called Vibe.

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It's coming out sometime soon.

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I don't know what it, what is coming out.

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But he did this with his last book
where he hired or made a deal with

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celebrities like Jennifer Garner
to really come and talk to him, and

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they would publish it as a podcast.

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But she also attended events
and helped him sell that book.

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I don't know if she was paid.

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You would assume that she would be.

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She would negotiate that sh- there's a
cost to her fees because she is a working

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mom, and, she deserves to be paid just
as much as Adam Grant gets to be paid

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for his book and, the, the academic
work that he does for his university.

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But that's never disclosed.

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That's never disclosed.

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So the interesting thing about
Adam is on social media, he

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publishes a lot, but very
rarely ever responds.

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So I think I've been following
his work for about eight years

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now, and a lot of it I like.

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Honestly I've learned a lot from
watching how he operates, and

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I'll give him his credits there.

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But what I've noticed is over the years
is he broadcasts, he doesn't respond.

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And so it's interesting that,
he started a community with

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Threads and Instagram, I think.

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But as I said to somebody,
how do you have a community?

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How do you call it a community
if you're the only one talking?

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And presumably members can talk to
each other, but it's not like he's

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facilitating conversation where
he's individually hearing people.

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And I can tell you for a fact
I've tried for eight years to

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have conversations with him.

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I've tried to really reach out and ask
him to reconsider things because, there

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was particular topics that I thought his

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short style really lost the nuance on.

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And I tried to email him.

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I tried to DM him on social media
and I couldn't get anywhere in terms

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of having that discussion with him.

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So it was interesting this week because
in the summer I had commented on one

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of his posts about whether his book
tour was actually gonna come to Canada,

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and this week I commented and I said,
"He still hasn't responded. I guess

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he just doesn't vibe with Canada."
And he actually responded and said he

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loves Canada, but couldn't fit it in
this tour, hopes to come next year.

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So we thanked him.

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But

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It shouldn't take eight years
to have some kind of productive

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conversation with somebody who actually
values what other people think.

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So that's where it's when it comes to
thought leadership, my personal view is,

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obviously there's a parasocial aspect
of what it's like to actually operate on

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social media, but also to publish a book.

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You publish a book, you don't
know who's reading that.

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They get it from the library.

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You have no insight
into who that person is.

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So you're writing it with the
idea of a reader in mind, but you

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don't actually know who that is.

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That reader knows a lot more about you
than you ever know about them, and so

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that's been the deal from the beginning.

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Where social media changed it is people
were able to speak up and have comment

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and have conversations in ways that

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Previously academics didn't open
them up, up- themselves up to.

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And it's almost a version of fame
that is happening right now where

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because he's courting celebrity and
movie stars, and he's had a whole

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bunch of famous people on his podcast,
how does that change the audience?

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How does that change your perception
of his academic reputation?

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And does that impact the quality of
his research and how that's conveyed?

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Because he's courting popularity,
so is he… What is he sacrificing

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in the name of acceptance?

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And essentially what he's doing is
he's trying to leverage the audience

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of the celebrity, and the celebrity
is trying to leverage his audience

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to broaden their network as well too.

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So again, everybody's getting a
trade-off in terms of like money, in

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terms of influence, in terms of power,
and that comes at a price and a cost

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with visibility and that parasocial
relationship with an audience, right?

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When it comes to me
personally as a podcaster-

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I actually don't know who
listens to the podcast.

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Most of the time when I've received a
review on my podcast, it's somebody who's

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been a guest on my podcast, somebody who
I know, who I used to work with, who I've

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had ongoing conversations with online.

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I very rarely have received any kind
of feedback from a general listener.

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It's like pulling teeth to get input from
somebody who's listened to the podcast.

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And that's okay.

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It's just you have to decide
how that proceeds, right?

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Do you stop asking for reviews?

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Do you… I always wanna get
questions because I don't

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know what people are thinking.

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If my thinking is resonating,
what lands, what doesn't land.

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It's like designing in the dark
and talking to a void because

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you don't have that interaction

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This is where I'm really curious
about how thought leadership is

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actually going to develop in the age
of AI because, like when I publish

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a podcast, I'm publishing the audio,
but I'm also publishing transcripts.

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The transcripts then get, get
scraped by AI, which means that

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this is feeding and training AI.

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Now, am I gonna stop because
I don't wanna train AI?

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Maybe one time.

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I don't know how it's
really gonna shake out.

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I don't really know

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How do you control that?

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I don't know that you can control that.

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So the only thing that you can do is
really put out the best quality thought

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that you can and hope that the people who
are actually interacting with it at the

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end of the line the actual people, not the
bots that are interpreting it, recognize

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the quality human thought behind it and,
attribute that a- appropriately, and

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it helps eventually build relationships
and introduce me to networks I wouldn't

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necessarily have access to otherwise.

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That's the best case
scenario I can think of.

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I can think of probably all kinds of
other negatives, but I don't wanna

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spend a lot of time on the negatives
because I can't control that.

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The only thing I can control is what
I can influence myself and the actions

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that I take personally, and that really
comes down to the day-to-day of what I

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give my attention to, what I allow to
influence me, and then how I synthesize

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that and how I make my thoughts public,
whether that's writing, whether that's

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doing the podcast, whether that's,
bringing it into a consulting engagement

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with a client who wants to understand
how will this influence the future.

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And this is where thought leadership
is about influencing the future.

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You're building out a body
of work, of course, and that

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does actually build legacy.

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But what you're really trying
to do is influence the future

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Because whoever listens to you, however
reads you, they can take that idea that

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you've expressed and then make decisions
from that, and it builds out how either

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they're going to behave, how they
expect the employees in their company

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to behave and how that then in turn
allows them to function as a business,

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and what social norms that influences.

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All of this is in the name of the future.

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And this is really what the
changes that I'm seeing in thought

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leadership are really interesting.

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That celebrity aspect and bringing
in celebrities, so celebrities are

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now dominating podcasts, and you
don't actually have journalists

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interviewing stars about their movies,
about authors about their books.

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You have celebrities, so actors
and actresses and people who

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aren't trained professional
interviewers asking the questions.

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How does that really

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Advance

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the ideas and the concepts and the
themes when the person interviewing

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Is Softball.

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They're not asking really
hard questions like a trained

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professional journalist would.

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So I was actually proud this week.

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I discovered… I didn't even know this
chart existed, but there's a Goodpods

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chart for investigative journalism,
and I apparently rank on that chart.

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Again, charts aren't the point.

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The point is the questions that I
ask are at the level being recognized

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as investigative journalism.

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That's important to me.

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Now, do I think this
chart influences much?

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No.

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But the fact that even the algorithm,
because it is likely an algorithm that's

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picking that up is associating me with
investigative journalism, and there was

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another chart that actually put me on
the writing chart that's interesting

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to me because that's a mirror of how
I'm showing up and being perceived.

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So I'm always on leadership charts.

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I'm always on careers charts.

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I'm always on management charts.

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And again, the individual charts
don't really matter, but it's

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more about where does my work
fit, especially as a futurist.

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Futurism is, like, all aspects of work
and life, so what box do you put that in?

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It's a really challenging one to answer
because, you're not a set industry.

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You're not a set preconceived box.

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You could be anywhere, right?

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And so that's where charts are
actually useful to me because it

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lets me know how the work is actually
being perceived and interpreted,

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even at an algorithmic level, right?

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And that, again, is important for knowing
the influence that it possibly has, right?

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And again, it comes down to who
likely is listening and how they're

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using the information presented,
and what changes with that, right?

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As a side I'm a big fan of George Michael.

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Now, I love George Michael.

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He is unfortunately dead.

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He's been dead for 10 years.

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One of the useful facts about
that unfortunate fact is that

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I know his story.

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I know what his values were.

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I know what he stood for.

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It's not a moving target.

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It's not like he wakes up one
day and changes his mind about,

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what his pol-politics are.

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That's done because unfortunately
he's deceased, and I miss him

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intensely, but I know who he was,
and that's not going to change.

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He's not going- Need to evolve
because his arc is done.

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Now, I don't know everything
obviously about George Michael's life.

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He had a whole section of private
life that isn't necessarily public.

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But what is public, I am comfortable with
what he stood for, and that's why I don't

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actually introduce other pop culture icons
because George Michael is safe to me.

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I know what he stands for.

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So I- that's a version
of thought leadership.

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I find this thing with Jennifer
Garner that Adam Grant has

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very interesting as well too.

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It's like a fan girl experience
that they're sharing with the world.

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She's a fan of him, he's a fan of hers.

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But it's an ongoing evolving
relationship, and how does that change

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as politics change, as values change?

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Is it going to be a constant
deepening relationship?

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Which possibly it totally can be,
and it could become its own viable

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thing, and that's a beautiful thing.

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It's the type of thing that makes
me anxious because you're tying

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your personal brands into something
you don't fully understand.

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00:18:11,835 --> 00:18:15,154
But I see Adam also doing that
with Brene Brown as well too.

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Now, all of these people are American.

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I don't see this sort of thing
happening on Canadian podcasts

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Is it a culture divide?

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These are all questions that I have,
and this is what I'm on an ongoing

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journey to, to look at and understand.

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And how does that tie into the world of
work and how we work and how we live?

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All of it is based in values, in trust,
and identity, in who we all really are

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and who we allow to influence how we make
decisions, how our judgment is reflected

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And really what we stand for.

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What you consume is who you are, right?

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And that includes thought leadership.

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Anyways, I am always as
interested in your thoughts.

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I'll never stop asking.

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I might fall off my chair in shock
if anybody actually responds.

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But I always will try to encourage it.

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And I am experimenting with
how this impacts on charts.

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So if there is one action, if you
don't feel comfortable doing a

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00:19:30,951 --> 00:19:34,315
review or sending a question or
anything like that, just subscribe.

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Whatever player you are on, just
subscribe, 'cause apparently

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that can drive charts as well.

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And, if you share it, if you save it,
if you download it, also subscribe.

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All of that would be appreciated.

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00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:48,963
Thank you so much.

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Hope it's helpful.