The Authentic Thought Leader

Discover the true key to authenticity in this week's HEROIC | Insights article by Michael Port .

In your extensive reading list of articles about how to be a great thought leader, you might have noticed a common thread: a vast majority of them mention the importance of authenticity.?

They say to be truly authentic, you must be true to your values and beliefs. They say you must embrace your own vulnerability by sharing your challenges and failures with your audience.?

Be honest and open about your intentions. Take feedback from your audience and act on it. Be transparent. Foster genuine connections.?

And don’t forget to lead with purpose and always keep your big-picture goal in the forefront of your mind.?

While this is all great advice,?research from Predictive ROI and Audience Audit Inc.?reveals certain habits and actions you might want to?avoid?in order to build trust with your followers.?

You see, being authentic is much more than simply being true to your core values. In fact, if you set out to show your followers you’re the?real deal,?you might actually cause the opposite reaction.

In the?most recent article?in this series, you discovered a new content-creation engine, one you can use to test your ideas while collaborating and interacting with your audience. But the truth is, this type of content creation—and everything you do as a thought leader—will work better when paired with authenticity.??

Five Things That Compromise Your Authenticity???

Some people unknowingly radiate fictitious genuineness and compromise their authenticity on their journey to become thought leaders. Here are a few things you might want to avoid as you create content, interact with your audience, and embark on your journey as a thought leader.?

#1 Calling yourself a thought leader

Your position as a thought leader is earned, not given. Simply adding “thought leader” to your LinkedIn profile is like slapping a thought-leader bumper sticker on your car—it doesn’t suddenly transform you into one.?

Self-proclaimed thought leaders can often come across as self-serving and egotistical. It’s probable that a large percentage of your followers don’t like the term either.?

In?The ROI of Thought Leadership, when survey respondents were asked what terminology they preferred, the majority did?not?choose the term?thought leader. In fact, 65 percent of respondents chose a different term—expert,?influencer, and?authority?were high on the list.??

And the jaded-skeptics portion of respondents (who made up 23 percent of all participants) were most likely to agree with the statement that “thought leader?is a title made up for people on LinkedIn who think they are ‘disrupting the industry’ by making videos.”?

For this group of people, the term?thought leader?actually denotes the opposite of expertise; they consider thought leaders egotistical and focused on self-promotion.??

Avoiding self-labeling can help you maintain true authenticity and prevent you from coming across as self-promoting and self-centered.?

And the truth is,?you?don’t decide whether you’re a thought leader or not—your community does. Leave the labeling to them, while you focus on doing deep work.

Do?deep work.

#2 Pretending to have all the answers?

Overstating your knowledge, insight, or expertise can lead to a huge loss of trust.?

With a world full of experts who claim to have the best answer (and all the answers), admitting to the world that you don’t know everything, that you’re searching for an answer, and that you’re trying to figure something out builds credibility. It shows you’re humble and willing to learn.?

When you’re humble, you connect with your trusting followers.?According to the research, this group made up 27 percent of respondents, and these trusting followers are the most likely to agree they have a lot to learn about their industry.?

If your audience has a lot to learn, you should too. Authentic thought leaders mirror their audience and know they don’t have all the answers.?

Do?mirror your audience and realize you have a lot to learn.

#3 Engaging in trend FOMO

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