Applying Thought Leadership Lenses

"But I have no idea what to talk about".

That's the chief concern and objection I hear when working with executives or subject matter experts interested in building their thought leadership platform and content. It's usually because of two things:

1. They're thinking too narrowly about the boundaries of the domain of their expertise
2. They don't really have an identity or archetype surrounding their content, so they struggle to anchor it in something that feels true to them.

Today we're going to tackle the first one: getting outside the most obvious "zone" of your expertise in creating thought leadership content. (We'll tackle #2 next issue).

Thinking More Broadly

When most people start creating content or thinking about building a personal thought leadership platform, the first stop in their brain is what they do for a living. That makes sense and is the easiest starting place. For example, as a marketer, my first foray into "content" online was my marketing blog.

The trouble is that most people either run out of topics or thoughts to talk about within such a narrow scope, and they get tired of retreading what they think are repetitive topics within that same narrow scope so they lack the motivation to continue.

Instead, I encourage people to think about how they can apply lenses to broaden topics that can surround the core. Here's a visual about what I mean:

Let's walk through a hypothetical example. Say you're an AI person and you've decided that your thought leadership domain of expertise is AI.

If all you talk about is AI tech or capabilities, that might get limited and/or boring at a certain point (not to mention very much a drop in an ocean of content on this topic right now) and it doesn't really allow you to stretch your legs or share unique perspectives that demonstrate your knowledge. But if we take a look at the lenses that widen the angle:

• Within the industry, can you explore the nuances, trends or considerations that AI presents within your industry or potentially unique impacts of that on the vertical or space you work within (ie, AI in healthcare has much different considerations than AI in something like education, AI for an engineer is very different than AI for a nurse).
• Within the market, there are a number of critical discussions surrounding AI. Can you dig into a sub-topic like ethics within AI? Or what about how AI is displacing other technologies and functions? What are the implications for something like speed to market for a brand or career development for jobseekers?
• Within the culture, you might explore how or whether there are generational differences in use, trust and adoption of AI. Or maybe you'd like to look at how it shapes our thoughts around creativity and creation and the role of the human brain or soul in what constitutes "intelligence". How does it change the way we consume information?

Even Lenses Have Lenses

If you wear glasses, you've been to the eye doc where they put the lens contraption over your face and flip things around to dial in the focal areas you need to see clearly.

My "lenses" above are only one way to look at the world; maybe you've got your own ideas about how to zoom in or out on a topic. Which is great! This isn't a rule, it's just a tool.

The point is that every area of expertise has really granular levels to explore, down to super specific tactics or concepts or steps. Then there are bigger, broader implications for why your expertise is even necessary in the world, reasons why it matters or what it can change, people it can impact...you get the idea.

If you're a visual person, you can draw your lenses on a piece of paper or even use something like a mind map (I love tools like Miro or Mural or LucidChart for this) to get brainstorming and figure out what dots you can connect. Start messy; let your brain make even the loosest of associations between ideas or topics and see where it takes you.

The last thing to remember:

Thought leadership is dynamic. It's not a fixed menu of topics and ideas. In fact it's better if it morphs, changes, and shifts over time because you will grow and shift and change over time (whether "you" is your company brand or your personal one). That's also how you keep audiences engaged and coming back for the next iteration of whatever you're up to. People and even brands are multi-faceted. Use that to your advantage.

Have you explored an exercise like this for your own work, and if so, what have you learned along the way?

Next week, we'll tackle Thought Leadership Archetypes, what they are, and how finding yours can unlock creativity and ideas you didn't know you had!