Thought leaders are often challenged by the same issues. What’s the best way to overcome them?

I am a firm believer in scheduling but also not losing the power of being spontaneous when needed. Part of sharing your mission in life needs to be about how can you help support those around you in a way that is meaningful. By creating content, articles, blogs, posts you are sharing what you know to make the world a better place. This is something that needs to be prioritised and I do it first thing in the morning when I'm fresh and ready to tackle the day. Scheduling 'content time' in my calendar has helped this enormously.

Spend Time... 1. Working on Communicating your Content and Delivering your Message, equal to or more than what you do to consume, synthesise and craft what you wish to say 2. Getting into the Right State to efficiently and effectively produce the Message that you're looking to share. ex. morning yoga works wonders 3. Scheduling in healthy eating, exercise, rest, social and leisure, to ensure space and happiness for both mind and body 4. Creating Clear Boundaries and Practising being strong in doing what you've scheduled yourself to do. As Thought Leaders usually 'love' what they do, they will often blur scheduled boundaries and forfeit balance in their life over researching, crafting and writing more thoughts, frameworks and viewpoints

As leaders, I believe that vulnerability is the the key. By acknowledging that we don't know it all, and showing that we are learning from our shortcomings and failures, we can all grow and do better together. To borrow the sage words of 20th century psychiatrist Carl Jung: “I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become”.

When thinking about sharing content on LinkedIn, it’s ideal to have a variety of thought leadership formats such as storytelling posts, image posts, short-format videos, long-format videos, and beyond. Based on which formats receive the best engagement from your audience, you can map out the time they each take to create. Then create content in batches as applicable. For example, if you create short-format insights videos consistently, record a few of them back-to-back and schedule them out.

Continuously broaden your perspectives through diverse input. Seek out constructive critiques of your ideas. Identify and check your own biases and assumptions. Surround yourself with people from different backgrounds who will stretch your thinking. Avoid just preaching to your echo chamber. The key is maintaining principled flexibility - holding positions strongly enough to lead, but lightly enough to grow beyond them. By continually expanding your aperture while sharpening a firm moral compass, thought leaders stay responsive, ethical and fresh.. Seek first to understand views you instinctively disagree with. Find common ground and values with unlikely allies . Radical open-mindedness keeps you credible.

In the age of AI, originality has never been more important. How can we demonstrate not just originality and authenticity, but personality, and connect with our audience? Some strategies I've found useful: - Use real world imagery and visuals where feasible - Share stories that are not only personal but also resonate close to home. After all, stories are the most potent tool for establishing an emotional connection. Remember, it's not just about what you say; it's about how you make people feel.

Thought leaders are often challenged by the need to stay relevant and maintain their credibility. To overcome this challenge, thought leaders can: 1. Stay informed 2. Engage with their audience 3. Collaborate with other thought leaders 4. Create valuable content 5. Adapt to change

Thought leaders often lose their voice because they lack trust in their own ideas, story, or perspectives. They fall into “thought followership” because they simply don’t trust that they have anything of value to share Meaning: They simply default to doing or saying what others are doing, especially those who are clearly leading the pack Thought followers don’t question why things are the way that they are. They don’t question the default way of doing things or the default way of thinking about things. And because they’re simply following the status quo, they don’t create change in the world Learn to be a better practitioner of asking why things are the way they are, questioning the default, and not blindly following the status quo

Being original is being true to you, your values and belief systems. If you attempt to mimic another’s leaders or behaviours or language it will become obvious it’s not aligned to you. Utilised communication methods and platforms where you can showcase your unique voice and also where your audience hangs out.

There is a real balance here. Thought leadership is not the same as being a constant generator of new and innovative thinking. Some of the best thought leaders have a simple and consistent message, and they continually link new and evolving discourses to that original message. That way, they become a voice of calm, consistency and moderation in an often volatile and fast-paced stream of “new” (which isn’t always better!) Instead, focus on deepening your understanding of how your idea or concept relates to other systems, and of honing your storytelling practice to ensure your leadership is impactful and resonant.

You don’t just become a “thought leader”. If you want to be one, because you feel your voice and idea is valuable to the world, you need to have a strategy to build your practice (your knowledge and storytelling), your brand (what you stand for, how people know about you), and your processes (research, engagement, products and advice). And that strategy needs to be long term, thought leadership is not the same as posting something that goes “viral”.

One critical issue that comes up time and time again is the inability of leaders to pivot, that is, to respond expediently to both unforeseen challenges and/or to change direction when a planner strategy isn't working. Competition has put more and more pressure on organizations to get results in a changing, digitally – focused, global society. Cinducting research,, assessing progress, paying attention to analytics, and staying informed about shifts in demographics, patterns of behavior, distribution challenges, etc. is essential.

Thought leadership (as a status) should not be the goal, it should be a result/consequence of your deepest, most intelligent and integrative thoughts. It would be best to be driven by ideals with pure intentions such as better well-being of people, sustainability, happiness and justice.. These are just examples but they drive important needs and ideas of a better world.. Also - try being practical, by adding something that can be done about it. Thoughts are important but the actions following them are equally important if you really wish to initiate changes for the better.

Be a pragmatic visionary: The ability to see what is yet to come, to see the synergies & non consensus right that others haven't yet fully realised, but to then be practical, convert this vision into something that is understandable & deliverable now. Something that solves today's problems using something that comes from tomorrow. Its not easy, but thought leadership is about taking something not understood & then adapting it so it can be used today to unlock value. Visionaries who can't deliver are just dreamers, so its essential to stay pragmatic, be practical, inspire others with a rising tide of capabilities but don't leap for the grand end solution in one gigantic leap that will fail. Play chess 6-12 moves out & move your pieces wisely