How do you avoid echo chambers and groupthink when engaging with thought leaders and influencers?

The more diverse your network, the more diverse ideas you will be exposed to, which will in turn diversify your own thoughts, insights, and experiences. It's a win-win-win scenario.

My network and perspective (and subsequently expertise on my role as a Talent Manager) really started to build and grow when I sought out people that are having different but relevant conversations to what I'm having. There's a few different players in Influencer Marketing for example - Talent Managers like myself, Agency Reps, Brand Reps & the Influencers. I make sure to connect here with all the different people I work with on brand ambassador projects. This helps ensure I'm out of my echo chamber of solely Talent Managers. I don't have to join in - even listening, following and paying attention to their posts and commentary is HUGELY beneficial to me.

To actively consume a thought leader's content, highlight any statements that capture your attention and use them as launching pads for further discussion. For each statement, write a response that starts with "yes, and," "yes, but," or "no because." These simple prompts help you dig into the nuances of the content in a way that adds to the conversation and provides real value.

I'm a big fan of asking questions, really good open ended questions that aren't judgmental or critical but more to foster the conversation and share an additional perspective. I love truly actively listening to what people are saying, processing and absorbing and then asking questions that reflect I'm hearing them.

To quote Ted Lasso, "Be curious, not judgmental." When working with influencers, you're most often working to engage their community (followers). Ask the influencers about their audience, beyond the demographic information in each platform. Find out if there is a Sarah from Savannah that is most often engaged in the comments or a Lisa from Lansing that regularly asks questions via DM. You can learn more about the influencer's audience by asking direct questions vs asking for screenshots of follower demographics.

Agree, but also encourage people to be aware that great decisions aren’t made if you arrive at them by sacrificing a point that you’re passionate about. A truly great decision brings in diverse viewpoints and creates an outcome that all participants believes is elevated from where they would have landed on their own. If you start to explore an idea and everyone in the room agrees, then you must ask yourself a) if everyone needs to be in the room, b) who might be missing, and c) if someone is holding back. We’re all individuals and we all process things differently a room full of people should not all come at things the same way.