3 Signs You're Ready To Be A (Successful) Thought Leader In Your Career

As a former recruiting executive, I hopped to the other side 20 years ago to become an advocate for YOU, the worker. I write weekly on LinkedIn about topics that help people secure good jobs and build better careers. Thanks for reading - I'd love it if you decided to follow my newsletter by hitting the subscribe button above!

I think there is a difference between being an "influencer" and being a "thought leader".

To me, influencers are people that build a following around who they are as a person. They have persuasion over their followers because they admire and trust the influencer's point of view.

Recently, LinkedIn announced it's merging their original Influencer Program (of which I was one of the first 400), with their newer Top Voices program. I actually like the label Top Voice so much better because I think it implies being a thought leader.

My definition of thought leaders are people who are passionate about their industry and/or profession. They enjoy, dare I say, "nerd out" on exploring and discussing how to solve for the various challenges within their space. They don't think they have all the answers. They love sharing what they know, but they also happily invite others to share their points of view too.

It's a very good time to consider becoming a thought leader in your career right now.

LinkedIn is pivoting into a true social media platform. That's a good thing! Their new creator mode setting on your profile enables some tools and features that let you create and share content to serve your network of followers.

Why should you care?

We need a place where people can go to share career knowledge and ideas in the way we've become used to.

There's something called "TikTokification" happening right now. The idea that TikTok has shifted the way we prefer to learn and engage.

Just look at their new slogan, "TikTok Taught Me" and you know the company understands the power of what they've built. And, since a lot of people have real concerns about being on TikTok, being able to use a social media platform like LinkedIn instead, feels for many like the ideal alternative.

That said, not every LinkedIn user will be successful as a thought leader on the platform. Here's why...

Many people don't understand how to build the right strategy for being seen as a trusted and respected thought leader on LinkedIn. It's a more sophisticated process that involves some careful planning and focus.

Here are three signs you are ready to leverage the power of LinkedIn's creator mode to become a thought leader in your space:

1. You understand how to share industry news, insights, and challenges in a format that gets people commenting.
2. You know what your specialty is and how you want to grow your skills and knowledge to attract more of career opportunities you specifically desire.
3. You have a system for creating and curating enough content in your niche to post 3X per day, five days a week.

As someone who has used a specific process to gain over 2.6 million followers on LinkedIn, as well as 450,000+ newsletter subscribers on the platform, I can tell you being consistent on the platform has enabled me to become a thought leader in the job search and career advice space. If you can do the above, you should be leveraging LinkedIn right now. The return on your investment will be well worth it in your career.

Those who dominate early as thought leaders using LinkedIn's new creator mode will maximize their visibility and growth. You'll sit in the driver's seat because of the trust and respect you will gain from an expanded network of followers.

PS - If you want to become a thought leader on LinkedIn but don't feel you have the three things in place I've outlined above. I'm teaching a year-long program for executives to not only train them to be a thought leaders in their space, but also help them catapult their growth on LinkedIn.

You'll work with me to build and execute a strategy that maximizes your impact and minimizes the time you spend on it. The cost to work with me for one year in this program is $1499. If you are truly serious about becoming a LinkedIn thought leader, message me here on LinkedIn and I will send you the application for the program.