Episode 20: Wes Kao - Influencing And Persuading For Scrappy Changemakers
Whatever flavour of Maverick you are, whether change maker, leader or entrepreneur, sooner or later you are going to have to sell people on your ideas and bring them on a journey with you.
And this is what marketeer Wes Kao is a master of. She understands that selling isn’t a dirty word, but rather about deep empathy, walking a mile in another person’s shoes and really helping the other person to feel seen and heard.
She helps organisations launch products, leaders run change programmes and entrepreneurs to really understand their audience.
Wes has also learned from the best having worked closely with Seth Godin as the Executive Director of his AltMBA programme.
In this episode, we do talk about tools and techniques of persuasion, but we go rather deeper into how to really hone your empathy, building your confidence and how to bring your loved ones along on with your on your Maverick journey.
In this conversation, you'll learn:
The life advice that Seth Godin gave Wes
"It was like a knife being sharpened" - the experience of working with Seth Godin
Whether you are a change maker, leader or entrepreneur, you need to be selling your ideas every day
The role of the WIIFT (what's in it for them?)
How to build your empathy (clue: it's not all about you!)
The need to position your ideas in the context of what is important to the person you are trying to bring along with you...not what is important to you
If it is hard to get ourselves to change, why do we wonder why it is difficult to get other people to change?
How to use social proof, FOMO and storytelling to bring people along with us
The role of tribal behaviour in getting people to take action
How to use these techniques to bring your loved ones on your journey
DO NOT try to problem solve with people until they feel seen and heard
Ultimately this is all about establishing and building TRUST
How using sprints and building momentum is so important in building your confidence
Trojan-horsing your idea to get past the "immune system" of your organisation or family
And much much more!
Links
Wes Kao - Marketeer, Influencer, Persuader
Wes helps good people and products get the recognition they deserve.
As a marketing consultant, she brings 10+ years of in-house experience at Fortune 500 brands and venture-funded startups. Most recently, Wes was the founding Executive Director of Seth Godin's altMBA. Under her leadership, the altMBA grew from zero to 550 cities in 45 countries in three years of high-growth. She designed the altMBA's beloved coaching system, launched the global digital community, oversaw acquisition/retention channels, and built a team of 40 people to support rapid scaling.
Prior to this, Wes led digital marketing and brand management at Flite (acquired by Snapchat), Bare Escentuals, L’Oreal, and Gap Inc.
In 2017, Wes was selected for the Singularity University Global Solutions Program fellowship, held at NASA Ames and sponsored by Google.
She serves as a mentor for Backstage Capital and WeWork Labs. Wes received her B.S. in Business Administration from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.