The Authority Advantage: Building Thought Leadership Focused on Impact Not Ego

by Adam Witty, Rusty Shelton

Overview

As a thought leader, industry expert or business professional, you are driven to make the biggest possible impact in your field.

But before you can reach an audience, you must earn their trust.

Unfortunately, far too many leaders rely on their corporate brand to connect with their target audience, an outdated approach that no longer works with trust in institutions at an all-time low.

The good news for leaders who understand this new reality is that although your target audience may hesitate to connect with your corporate brand, they are actively looking to connect with YOU - if you can create an Authority Advantage by positioning yourself as a mission-driven thought leader with something to teach, rather than a professional with something to sell.

Are you positioned for this new leadership landscape?

The Authority Advantage gives you the step-by-step blueprint to build thought leadership focused on impact, not ego to accelerate trust within an increasingly skeptical market.

Within these pages, you’ll discover the proven tactics for establishing a strong leadership brand before you meet a potential team member or prospect; how to create leverage via “Authority by Association” to accelerate trust; learn how to create compelling content in all formats; how to use books, speaking engagements and publicity as tools for impact, prestige and profitability; and most importantly, how to create your own MAP (Master Authority Plan) to put all these elements into a top-to-bottom strategy that builds authentic connections. You’ll also hear from recognized thought leaders who reveal what methodologies helped them write their own success stories.

The Authority Advantage breaks through outdated concepts and superficial personal branding tips to provide an actionable blueprint for real leaders who want to build meaningful thought leadership in today’s landscape. In short, it’s a book you can’t afford not to read.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781955884860
Publisher:	Advantage Media Group, Inc.
Publication date:	05/16/2023
Pages:	245
Sales rank:	679,002
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

ADAM WITTY is the founder and CEO of Forbes Books, the book publishing brand of Forbes Media, publisher of Forbes Magazine. Adam is the author of five books and has appeared in USA Today, Investor’s Business Daily, the Wall Street Journal, and on ABC and FOX. Adam is an Eagle Scout, member of EO and YPO, and a commercial pilot with instrument and seaplane ratings.

RUSTY SHELTON is a bestselling author, dynamic keynote speaker, and successful entrepreneur. He has focused his career on helping leaders build thought leadership, writing three acclaimed books and speaking around the world to a variety of audiences, from YPO to Forbes. He is the founder and chairman of Zilker Media, the senior marketing strategist at Forbes Books, and a proud member of EO.

Table of Contents

FOREWORD INTRODUCTION:
WHY MAKE THIS JOURNEY? What Is the Authority Advantage? The Big Shifts The Authority Matrix
BUILDING YOUR MASTER AUTHORITY PLAN (MAP) The Urgency of Building Your Authority Brand Defining Your Brand Building Your Brand Showcasing Your Brand The Three Categories of Content to Create an Authority Advantage
THE NEW MEDIA LANDSCAPE The Key to Understanding Media Today Rented Media Earned Media Owned Media CONCLUSION: Happiness and Authority
RESOURCES: ABOUT THE AUTHORS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"To serve is to live. The Authority Advantage provides a simple and effective framework for modern day leaders to follow when communicating and sharing their message with others. This book is a must read for CEOs that believe in servant leadership." - Alan Mulallyretired CEO of Ford Motor Company and Boeing Commercial Airplanes

"I was honored to write the foreword for Adam and Rusty’s previous book, Authority Marketing. They’ve done it again with The Authority Advantage. This book is required reading for any leader who wants to make a lasting mark in his or her field.” - Steve ForbesEditor-in-Chief, Forbes

"Having an important message means nothing, if nobody notices or cares. It’s not enough to be the best, if no one trusts your authority. Yet once you achieve authority, you win. You win bigger budgets, better relationships, and greater admiration. You build stronger loyalty, broader networks, higher prices, and (ding! ding! ding!) you earn TRUST. For over a decade, Adam Witty and Rusty Shelton have been my trusted advisors in creating authoritative messages that change the world." ~ Sally Hogsheadbestselling author of Different is Better than Better

"I’ve always told CEOs they must ‘own the ink’ in their industry. Being THE thought leader and expert that your clients and prospects turn to is essential. The Authority Advantage provides a modern-day blueprint CEOs must follow to build mind-share and market-share for their business.” - Verne HarnishFounder of Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) and bestselling author of Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0)

"Employees, customers, and communities look to CEOs and leaders for guidance. Trust me, I know! The Authority Advantage is a refreshing new book that will inspire executives to leverage their leadership position to create more good for all stakeholders.” - Greg Brennemanformer CEO of Burger King and Quizno’s Subs, former President & COO of Continental Airlines, author of Right Away & All At Once

"As the author of 100 books, you can imagine I get lots of inquiries from leaders asking how they too can share their stories, passion, and knowledge with the world. My first piece of advice is always “Call Adam Witty and Rusty Shelton.” My second piece of advice will now be “read The Authority Advantage! ” - Pat WilliamsNBA Hall-of-Famer, Co-Founder of Orlando Magic, author of Who Coached the Coaches

“When I first met Adam Witty in 2011 I was a successful professional speaker with more bookings than I could handle. Adam convinced me that Forbes Books would easily create and publish a Best Seller, which happened exactly with Hyper Sales Growth. The rest is history! Three more Best Sellers and innumerable referrals later, The Authority Advantage puts all I’ve learned from Adam and Rusty into an easy-to-read playbook all CEO’s and entrepreneurs should follow.” - Jack Dalybestselling author of Hyper Sales Growth

"Nothing is more significant for a leader than the ability to make an impact on others. In The Authority Advantage, Rusty and Adam will show you how to make an impact on others at scale and - special bonus - have a lot of fun along the way." - Claire ShipmanJournalist & New York Times Bestselling Author

Editorial Reviews

04/10/2023

“Your target audience may no longer trust your company,” Witty and Shelton write early in this of-the-moment guide, “ they are still willing to trust you.” Pointing to a crisis in public trust toward even the most established businesses and institutions, Witty and Shelton (authors of Authority Marketing, among other titles) argue that today’s thought and business leaders can no longer depend on a title or their organization’s brand “to inspire trust with stakeholders.” Instead, they must demonstrate their personal authenticity, effectiveness, and drive “out front” rather than behind the scenes. “Servant leadership,” they demonstrate, and growing their organizations, demands building an “Authority Advantage” both inside and outside those organizations—it’s no longer a virtue to shun the limelight.

The Authority Advantage lays out, with fresh insight and persuasive power, why it’s urgent to become a “visible, authentic, and transformational” leader possessed of singular personal authority. More pressingly, they offer actionable steps toward defining, building, and showcasing one’s brand, down to the types of content one can create to build an “Authority Advantage,” content the authors acknowledge readers might at first feel reluctant about generating. That understanding tone sets this book apart, as Witty and Shelton face the fact throughout that, for many readers, the public performance of authority might seem antithetical to the humble ethos of traditional servant leadership. They smartly draw on personal anecdotes and up-to-date case studies to address readers’ potential qualms about embracing public speaking or generating “personality-driven content.”

Witty and Shelton urge business leaders to recognize how the world has shifted and then how best to adjust to it. The result is highly practical—a thorough survey of the new media landscape is invaluable, as are tools like the Authority Matrix and a chapter about mapping out a Master Authority Plan—but also empathetic and encouraging, a report from writers about what they’ve discovered works, with on-point, highly flexible guidance about how you can make it work, too.

Takeaway: This encouraging, up-to-date guide urges leaders to demonstrate authenticity and authority.

Great for fans of: Debbie Millman’s Brand Thinking and Other Noble Pursuits, Cynthia Johnson’s Platform.

Production grades Cover: B+ Design and typography: A Illustrations: A Editing: A Marketing copy: A

BookLife Reviews

Written for company leaders, the coherent business book The Authority Advantage names strategies for effective and educational social media and web content development.” – Foreword Reviews

Foreword Reviews

The Authority Advantage provides actionable advice that is practical and will achieve immediate results. I would not hesitate to recommend The Authority Advantage for leaders, speakers, consultants, and professionals everywhere that have a lot to offer in their field but don’t quite know how to express it effectively.” – Readers’ Favorite

's Favorite

2023-04-07
Forbes Books CEO Witty and Zilker Media founder Sheltonoffer aresults-oriented method for becoming an authority figure.

It will come as no surprise to entrepreneurs and business leaders that they need to be viewed as a person in authority. But as the authors assert, building the right kind of authority is a methodical process, resulting in a “Master Authority Plan.” The straightforward book’s first part defines what they call the “Authority Advantage”; it covers some key shifts in the branding, media, and sales spheres and suggests that there are four basic types of leaders—the most desirable of which is “The Mission-Driven Thought Leader,” or, more simply, “the authority.” In Part 2, Witty and Shelton offer a thorough discussion of the various aspects of building a personal brand and then offer useful detail about content development. Citing several examples, the authors demonstrate how to become “more discoverable” in search engines and distinguish between the “preengagement” and “postengagement” phases of branding. They also share some fresh ideas regarding the concept of “authority by association” and referral marketing. The material about creating content will likely be valuable to corporate marketing and C-level executives; it addresses such contemporary concepts as “evergreen content,” “newsjacking,” and “relationship-driven content” and presents clear examples of each. Part 3 begins with an intriguing, informed conversation around “the new media landscape and virtual real estate,” with special emphasis on the LinkedIn social media network because of its business-related use. Other aspects of building authority, such as speaking engagements, authoring a book, and podcasting, are discussed as well. Witty and Shelton end by making a passionate case for the idea that becoming an authority may contribute to one’s overall happiness. They suggest at the end of the book that they’ve given readers “a MAP to build and market your authority,” but not all readers may agree; the content seems more like a loose collection of potential strategies than a clear, step-by-step plan. Still, many readers will find real value from its exploration of the essence of authority.

An enthusiastic and actionable, if somewhat loosely organized, leadership guide.

Kirkus Reviews