Chasing the Art of Thought Leadership

What is a thought leader? It is certainly not someone who self-proclaims they are one.

It is hilariously egoistical to title yourself a 'thought leader'. It has to be earned. You need to have been thoroughly tried and tested as a subject matter expert first, as well as lifted up by the peers of the same matter. Just read Sangram Vajre's article here and watch the video by Pat Kelly.

Subject Matter Expertise is the Foundation of Thought Leadership

Companies often boast about the "thought leaders" they employ, but what they really have is really good SME's. Being an SME does not make you a thought leader. You will know stuff that is relevant but Thought Leader will be thorough and not just relevant.

Thought Leaders are elegant and be quite unique. You will notice them when they talk in meetings and presentations because they standout differently to other well read experts. When you listen to a real Thought Leader present or read something they written you will often find yourself thinking, "Oh wow I never thought of that!" or even "That finally makes sense to me!". This is because thought leaders are continuously developing their thinking.

What is the Differentiator

The evidence will be obvious and evident for the difference between an SME and a Thought Leader. Thought Leaders are creators and curators of content in their field. They are prominent on social media and are invited to big speaking events. You may have thought you are a Though Leader until this point :-) but if you are not well published, you are not yet there.

Thought Leaders lead the conversation in their industry globally, not just in their company. If you are operating in Thought Leadership you will naturally find yourself in this position without any force. They are well published because they are naturally developing their own thinking and by turn the content they create attracts many SME's imaginations, follow-ship and bandwidth.

Critically real Thought Leaders express their ideas and thoughts in such a way that really makes sense to people. They have the incredible knack to make the very complicated, uncomplicated.

Read, Read and Read

There simply is no way to Lead without prior knowledge and incredible amount. Thought Leaders read content, loads of it! They take in information with a "Yes and..." and a "Yes but..." method. Thought Leader with great elegance and agility can assess and determine the effectiveness of an idea and a piece of knowledge, knowings relevance to the situation and understanding when times of changed for the idea. This simple mode of operation is often lost on SME's.

Thought Leaders will constantly add to the existing body of knowledge in their industry in order educate the market. Fine tune it and make it effective. They always are willing to share it without fear of losing its rights, mostly because they are already refining the next version in their minds, constantly and consistently ahead of everyone else.

And Finally...

Thought Leadership is not for everyone, it is great and honourable to be a Subject Matter Expert in your field. Thought Leadership takes passion but also the rare ability to articulate your thoughts so well that it resonates across your market with great impact. Most of all it takes courage to put your thoughts out there and challenge the current thinking and become a beacon in your industry. Certainly it is not impossible.