The video discusses the concept of corporate influencers and the significant role they can play in a business environment. In today's digital age, businesses must leverage the power of human connection through their own employees, who can act as authentic brand ambassadors. Corporate influencers can effectively communicate the company's vision, share insights and experiences, and drive engagement by incorporating personal values and showing vulnerability. Businesses often overlook internal employees' potential to be influencers, mistakenly thinking influence is limited to external figures.

Corporate influencers are highlighted as valuable assets because they are relatable, credible, and trustworthy figures within a company. They are argued to have a greater impact than external paid influencers because they authentically represent the company's culture and values. By integrating corporate influencers into their strategy, businesses can engage and attract top talent and customers, making their brand more relatable and humanized. The video also mentions the power of social media in helping employees share knowledge and personal stories that align with corporate goals.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. harness [ˈhɑːrnəs] - (verb) - To control and make use of (natural resources), especially to produce energy. - Synonyms: (utilize, employ, exploit)

What truly sets businesses apart is their ability to harness the power of human connection.

2. embodies [ɪmˈbɒdiz] - (verb) - To represent (an idea or quality) in a clear and noticeable way. - Synonyms: (personifies, represents, symbolizes)

A lack of opportunity for participation of employees leads to disconnection, ... failure to cultivate a corporate culture that embodies the company's vision and mission.

3. cultivate [ˈkʌltɪˌveɪt] - (verb) - To try to acquire or develop a quality, sentiment, or skill. - Synonyms: (foster, nurture, develop)

...or the failure to cultivate a corporate culture that embodies the company's vision and mission?

4. credibility [ˌkrɛdəˈbɪləti] - (noun) - The quality of being trusted and believed in. - Synonyms: (trustworthiness, reliability, authenticity)

It's about building credibility that captures attention, that drives engagement...

5. intergenerational [ˌɪntərˌdʒɛnəˈreɪʃənl] - (adjective) - Relating to, involving, or affecting several generations. - Synonyms: (cross-generational, multi-generational, age-diverse)

...with the aim of fostering intergenerational collaboration and fighting age discrimination.

6. inspire [ɪnˈspaɪər] - (verb) - To fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative. - Synonyms: (motivate, encourage, stimulate)

Invent yourself. inspire others and impact the world.

7. vulnerability [ˌvʌlnərəˈbɪləti] - (noun) - The quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally. - Synonyms: (susceptibility, openness, sensitivity)

...showing vulnerability, how they have been struggling, what kind of challenges they're facing.

8. differentiation [ˌdɪfəˌrɛnʃiˈeɪʃən] - (noun) - The process of distinguishing or developing something from others. - Synonyms: (distinction, divergence, variation)

What if I tell you you don't need to be better than the others, only different.

9. empowerment [ɪmˈpaʊərmənt] - (noun) - The process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling one's life and claiming one's rights. - Synonyms: (authorization, enablement, enfranchisement)

You have a powerful opportunity to use social media as a platform to highlight your expertise and to share your competencies and know-how.

10. insight [ˈɪnˌsaɪt] - (noun) - The capacity to gain an accurate and deep understanding of someone or something. - Synonyms: (understanding, awareness, perception)

They share company insights, they share the newest milestones that the company has been living.

Invent yourself. Inspire others. Impact the world - Irène Y. Kilubi - TEDxAristide Demetriade Street

I invite you to close your eyes and imagine a group of people just like you and me standing in an open field, each equipped with solar panels and facing the rising sun and the sunlight pulls down. They absorb its energy, storing it within themselves. Together, they channel this energy into shared power grids, fueling dynamic systems that lights up cities, powers innovation and drives progress forward. Channeling the energy is key for every business.

What truly sets businesses apart is their ability to harness the power of human connection. While incorporating authenticity into the corporate culture isn't just a strategy, it's a total game changer. And let's be honest, not every business achieves that. Every Organization Built on a Clear Vision when employees understand where companies are headed towards to, they feel valued, heard and appreciated. And they find meaning in their roles.

Well, is it due to lack of communication, misalignment of goals, or the failure to cultivate a corporate culture that embodies the company's vision and mission? A lack of opportunity for participation of employees leads to disconnection. When employees are not given a voice and a seat at the table, they don't feel heard, seen and valued and invested in the success of the organization.

Now imagine having a workforce that not only represents your company, but actively engages and attracts top talents and customers. A dream come true. Well, corporate influencers are designed to do just that. We are living in the age of social media where influencers hold immense power. They shape opinions, drive engagement and influence people behavior. Yet all too often, corporations fail to integrate their own tenants, their valuable talents, their own employees, mistakenly thinking that influence is only for external celebrities or social media personalities.

But this is far away from the truth. Corporate influencers are value and brand ambassadors of companies, the true and authentic voice of organizations. And they communicate company topics very authentically to relevant audiences and influence their way of thinking. One way to achieve this is through their own personal social media accounts. They share company insights, they share the newest milestones that the company has been living. They share where they have been attending events, the progress that the company is making, new product developments, and so on.

However, the most important thing is that they bring in their own personal values and their own personal touch. While storytelling about the company's culture and values. But they also talk about their own area of expertise, their competencies, their skills still showing vulnerability, how they have been struggling, what kind of challenges they're facing. They're also talking about behind the scenes what is happening there within the company.

And most importantly, they also talk about thought leadership topics such as sustainability, diversity, innovation, but still putting the company values and mission in the forefront, not neglecting to be authentic and credible. Let me then ask you, how can organizations overlook the potential on their own internal workforce? You have a powerful opportunity to use social media as a platform to highlight your expertise and to share your competencies and know how. Because I truly, truly believe that each of you has something valuable to give to the world out there.

It's about building credibility that captures attention, that drives engagement, that make people follow you, that make people interested in what you're doing. And I always say the best thing is to have the so called X factor. When you're a corporate influencer, people look at you, listen to you and think, oh wow, I would like to be like him or her. Maybe it's very cool to work at that company.

So ask yourself, isn't it more beneficial than just issuing an ordinary job description out there, instead making use of your own employees because they are trustworthy, they are credible, and most importantly, they are relatable, something that external influencers lack. And consumers are more willing to listen to internal employees rather than to paid influencers.

And furthermore, when employees are given the opportunity to share their expertise, their knowledge, and to show the world out there how much they enjoy working for their company and how much they enjoy doing what they do, as aforementioned, they don't only talk about their expertise, but also about topics that matter. We've been working with several clients, for example universities, with clinics, with traditional industry companies. You want to fight against loneliness in society? Go for it.

You are up to diversity. You believe that every one of us should have equal opportunities, Go for it. And that's the valuable opportunity for inferences.

Sorry. So why does in fact the concept of corporate influences work? It's pretty simple. Because people listen and buy from people that they like, trust and can relate to. And what if I told you that each of you here can be a corporate influencer? Would you be up for the challenge? Yes. I can't hear you. Yes. Fantastic. So you all said yes.

Can you tell me how to get started? Don't worry, I got sure that's the reason why I'm here today. Because I have three jokers for you that you can leverage. Before I do so, I would like to share my story with you. To keep it short, I finally decided to found a marketing agency and decided to engage on social media on a regular basis, sharing my expertise, my knowledge, and also teaching organizations how to leverage the power of corporate influencers.

Was I scared? Of course I was right. In particular being so open and vulnerable about my transition from the technology field into marketing. I had weird thinking that my former colleagues would say and oh my God, Iran, you had the whole future in front of you and now you're switching it because of marketing and personal branding. A corporate influencer. You won't get far.

I even made it part of my social media postings. Trying to inspire and motivate others to overcome their limiting beliefs of being scared of what others might think. My lessons learned so far? Do what you really love and are passionate about and not to prove it to anybody else out there, or not even to yourself, because your life isn't yours if you constantly care about what other people think. Do you agree with that? Thank you. Fantastic.

So to help you get started, I have three powerful statements you can leverage. Just as I did when I started my own corporate influencer journey. Invent yourself. inspire others and impact the world. Invent yourself. It means defining who you are, what you stand for, and what you're aspiring to be. You can actively shape who you are by trying and exploring new interests, skills and ways of thinking. It involves taking control of your own personal growth and sometimes also meaning stepping out of your convenient and warm comfort zone. Right. And jumping into the cold water and reimagining your full potential.

inspire others. You can do so by creating many different content formats. How can you do that? You can talk about industry trends, tips, and you can talk about topics that matter and lie to your heart. You can give people advice, you can inform them, you can educate them. And many corporate influencers or aspiring corporate influencers approach me and say like what am I supposed to talk about? Let's take an example. You are keen on leadership and you say like, oh, many people have already been talking about leadership. What if I tell you you don't need to be better than the others, only different. And what about combining leadership with another topic, for example diversity or emotional intelligence, and view it from a different angle.

Because although much has already been said about or on leadership, nobody else out there has the same perspective as you have, has the same story that you have, have the same background that you have. And among hundred other leadership experts, they might probably choose exactly you because they can relate to you and can have the character, right? So here you can do a start a podcast, you can issue a newsletter, you can conduct weekly expert interviews and so on. There's so many ways of you to bring your message across and convey your motto next we have or finally impact the world.

So it's up to you to make a lasting and sustainable contribution to the world out There it involves making a positive impact and change to global communities, to systems and environments. You can do so through leadership, through innovation, through any actions that relate to societal, environmental and economic challenges.

Now let's go back to the free jokers. Remember them? I promised that to you since they will help you establish these three statements, namely, invent yourself, inspire others and unpack the world.

So job number one is to show personality when you start your corporate influencer journey. It's all about expressing your traits or characteristics, emotions, and really also showing emotions in an authentic way that truly reflect yourself and what you're aspiring to be. And of course, it involves being genuine and open.

Joker number two is a way to inspire others. Here again, it's all about you expressing what you want to convey. Many people approach me and say, Lai, well, I would like to bring my message across. Do I need to create content for that? Guess what my answer is? Of course, if you are trying to influence, you are in the content creation business, but still you have many different formats and content types you can choose from.

Last but not least, it's the third joker I have for you, which means have a strong mission. It's about purpose, driven by clear and focused goals that guides our actions and decisions. In my case, I wanted to make a societal impact and convey the vision that the future is young and old. Therefore, I founded the social impact initiative called Joint Generations with the aim of fostering intergenerational collaboration and fighting age discrimination.

So go ahead and start today, invent yourself, inspire others and impact the world.

Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Leadership, Social Media, Corporate Culture, Human Resources, Tedx Talks