When complex topics come up, thought leaders typically have a list of usual suspects we can turn to for information. However, by continually going to these same sources you might become repetitive and miss out on new and important perspectives. To explore why these old habits can be detrimental and how we can overcome our presets I’ve invited Watchen Nyanue Hampton to join me.  Watchen is the Founder and CEO of I Choose the Ladder, a boutique consulting firm in Chicago that does work at the intersection of talent culture and strategy. Watchen starts us off by discussing how our defaults could be drowning out other voices and perspectives that could potentially be advantageous to your business.  Further, she shares how breaking that cycle can only happen with conscious and thoughtful effort. Finding new voices that want to step into the spotlight can be difficult.  Watchen explains how finding them can only happen by getting to know people as people, by humanizing the way we interact with others in our personal and professional spaces.  Asking questions and being genuinely interested in others can help them feel seen and heard, which will have a massive impact on how they work and the pride they feel. Watchen shows how elevating others in thought leadership and using your own power to share the spotlight can be good for retention, succession planning, and reaching wider audiences through wider conversations that you otherwise might never have been aware of. Three Key Takeaways: ·         If you are in a leadership role it is your job to know the people who you are leading. ·         Be intentional about the way you craft your life and your career.  Always know that you have a choice. ·         If you are not part of the community and are aware of the conversations that are going on, you are never going to think about engaging them.