In this episode of Thought Leader Life, Michael and I run a very interesting interview with guest thought leader Mike Bosworth (@MikeBLeadership). Recognized as the father of solution selling, Mike has dedicated his life to helping people learn how to use the power story and connective listening to build trust and influence change in others. In the interview, Mike tells how, in 2008, he had his big “‘aha’ moment” that made him break away from the traditional sales process flow and to embark on a mission to teach the bottom 80 percent of the sales force how to emotionally connect to people by telling them a power story. Since then, he has been a progenitor of such revolutionary concepts as human-to-human (H2H) selling, vulnerability, and emotional reciprocity.

The discussion becomes more interesting when I ask Mike to elaborate on the “turbo-charging challenger” concept and how to help the bottom 80 percent connect emotionally and create constructive tension with a story. Mike explains why a person would rather buy from Clark Kent than from Superman: sales experts tend to be too much like Superman, who knows all and does all, but what the buyer wants is someone who connects with them, tries to understand their problem, and earns their trust. If you are going to push a buyer into a new insight, it takes a high degree of trust for the buyer to allow a salesperson to take them there.

For Mike, a thought leader is someone who has a fun lifetime habit of thinking of other ways to look at things. The top thought leaders bring the rest of the world up to speed with “Gee, I never looked at it like that!” kind of thinking. Thought leaders bring aha moments to other people. And, Michael adds, thought leaders can do this by telling a story. The real purpose of telling a story is to get another person to tell you their story, and by doing so, they become your advocates.

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Here are a few aha moments from the episode. See more in the upcoming book, soon to be a part of the THiNKaha app-only book series and watch the interview below!

Thought leaders don’t have a higher IQ, but they enjoy thinking outside of the box. @MikeBLeadership

Social selling is not just about being a great salesperson, it’s about being honest, making other people like and trust you. @THiNKaha

The number one bad habit salespeople have is premature elaboration. @MikeBLeadership

Speaking, or doing keynotes, is definitely a good approach to promote yourself as a thought leader. @MichaelProcopio

Follow Mike on Twitter at @MikeBLeadership. Tune into Thought Leader Life every Saturday for more thought-leader goodness!