What does it take to bring 25 Episodes of Thought Leadership live on Linkedin, Consistently

How do you feel when you have touched the first big milestone in a long journey??Achievement, celebration, satisfaction...

Welcome to the special edition of the ClariTea Chat newsletter, a summary of the 25-week celebration Chat of the successful journey.??

This Chat brought an external perspective of our first guest and a regular audience, Vijay Sethi, Chairman Advisory Board and Chief Mentor, Mentor Kart, Ex-CIO Hero MotoCorp.

I brought the insider perspective of what it takes to run ClariTea Chat consistently and improve it continuously.

We answered questions by Divya Shlokam, Content marketer and social media Evangelist, and our host for this session.

Today, you will get to know the multi-dimensional perspectives of the ClariTea Chat journey. Before starting, here are 3 ideas worth sharing from the overall journey till now.??

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Divya asked the first question: 'As most of the CXOs are hesitant to share their knowledge or Global Thought Leadership, how did the Idea of ClariTea Chat come to my Mind?'

• Encouragement: - Identifying the inner Hanuman and overcoming it by sharing CIO's experience as text posts and videos on LinkedIn. The comments and likes on the posts built up the confidence to share more.?
• ?Bigger purpose: - Making IT a successful business function. The success rate of IT initiatives has moved only from 13 to 17 percent over the last 25 years - but is rarely discussed in IT Forums. ClariTea Chat is an initiative to improve the success rate of IT Initiatives by creating a common discussion agenda.?
• Creating influence: - Driving the initiative to improve impact and learning. Leveraging the collective wisdom of peers for widening the impact and influence on the community.??

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Moving forward, Divya asked Vijay, 'have we been successful in attaining the objective of bringing those CIOs from the world across to discuss the problems that IT is facing?'

Vijay Sethi gave four reasons behind the success of ClariTea Chat:

• Took the path less traveled: - And made a difference by telling another side of the same story.?
• Sustainability: - Sustained this show till the 25th week, which means people liked it. The show pushed the guests and the audience to come down.?(ClariTea Chat is in its 63rd week as of now)
• Flexibility: - Towards feedback. Adjusted the show's timing by considering the audience, by polling. Persistence is the key but be flexible.??
• Enriching Content: - For the audiences as well as the guests. As they get the exact responses to the core of their issues. And that requires experience.??

I shared how I fretted over it and what led to the successful running of the show.

• Clarity of purpose: - Substance and persistence comes from clarity of purpose. The guest and audience should be able to connect to it at a deeper level than just chit-chat.
• Learning approach: - To start something new and learn along the way.
• Continuous Improvement: - Open discussion to what went wrong or right. And then improvise it episode after episode.?

Discipline and continuity are significant contributors to success. Persistence is the key.??

One of the invigorating questions was asked by Divya to Vijay Sethi. ‘What has to be the objective?’ Revealing the ClariTea Chat's unique approach has added value to audiences' life. The 5 most relevant aspects of its success are:?

• Objective: - Clarity of the purpose. So that the audience can rightly increase the value or do the value addition.?
• Create a mental map: - of the schedule, participants, dos and don'ts, and outcomes.??
• Prepare ahead: - Make a guest repository. Have in place a contingency plan to assure continuity and sustainability.??
• Act on feedback: - Critically analyze what could be improved further.??
• Evolve: - Perfect or not perfect, evolve and mature it over some time.???

Perfection is the enemy of progress - keep evolving by starting imperfectly.

Listen to the feedback from one of our guests, Dr. Boris Piwinger, in the 4th edition of ClariTea Chat.??

One of our regular audiences, Seshu, asked about the long-term strategy of the ClariTea Chat. I shared three ways of expanding the scope of ClariTea chat.??

• Bridging the knowledge and geographical gap: - Welcoming CIOs worldwide as guests on the show.?They can learn some of the best management practices and bridge the gap.?
• Starting theme-based programs: - Right now, it’s personality-driven, based on guests' personal experiences. But in the future, panel discussions based on themes can solve more user problems.??
• Enhancing based on the audience’s feedback. And adding value-generating variants.???

Proceeding forward, Divya asked Vijay - ‘which was the most engaging ClariTea chat - as a guest or as an audience?’ And ‘what keeps the audience?hooked over the one-hour duration?’?

Vijay found it difficult to answer as it’s like asking ‘which kid of yours is better?’ He gave his two-point reason for the increase in audience engagement:???

• Being candid: - When the audience feels the response is unexpected, honest. The engagement level automatically increases.?
• Empathize with the audience’s issues: - When the show is more focused on audience centricity, rather than delivering Gyan from a pedestal.???

Divya asked one question to Vijay, which I feel each of us faces and overcomes: ‘Were there any low moments for me on the ClariTea Chat show?’??

• Things beyond our control: - Mainly technology issues like poor connectivity, and other disturbances. And always ready with a contingency plan.??

I shared my lowest moment - losing my brother-in-law to cancer - one of my regular audience and critic . And we continued with the show a few days later, in a sad state of the mind, but remembering him.

Responding to a positive comment, 'how I connect the learning experiences of guests with the insightful questions of the audience, I and Vijay supplemented the answer.??

• Taking detailed notes: - Systems approach to connect to the agenda for the show.?
• Identifying dominant theme: - Ask the question that brings out the particular theme?in a particular context.
• Hands-on exposure: - Understanding nuances of technology and business.??

There is no dumb question. The simplest questions are the most powerful.

So, are you also thinking of?coming out of your comfort zone and starting something new? Please watch this episode and share with us how ClariTea Chat added insights to you.?

?Here's the video of this special edition of ClariTea Chat:

Here's the link to the complete ClariTea Chat episode.

We are converting the ClariTea Chats into podcasts. You would surely like to hear invigorating conversations during your walks or drives, click below to subscribe to the ClariTea Chat podcasts.

Click your preferred platform link?Spotify ,?Amazon Music ,?Google Podcasts ,?A-Casts ,?Jio Saavn ,?Stitcher ,?Hubhopper ,?Gaana ,?or?Listen to Notes .

?Click here to get complete access to the ClariTea chat podcast.?

?Do you want to become a thought leader like all our ClariTea Chat guests??

Then, you know what you need to do.?Join ClariTea Chats!

ClariTea Chats are live on LinkedIn and YouTube every Saturday at 5 PM, IST. Click below to join the next one.?

Watch the ClariTea Chat show on YouTube and LinkedIn last Saturday. This episode was with Prosenjit Sengupta, CDO of Thermax.

That's it for today. Stay tuned for the next week's newsletter.

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Watch all our ClariTea Chat episodes here or in the Featured Section of my LinkedIn profile.

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