The Irony of "Thought Leaders"

I was sitting at my computer the other day while my teenage daughter was looking over my shoulder. She was sorting through her own social media messages on her phone, so when I opened my LinkedIn account to answer a message, she noticed that I was approaching 350K followers. Not an extraordinary amount compared to Richard Branson, but enough for my social media savvy daughter to drop her jaw and take notice.

“Whoa. Mom. What the heck? How’d you get that many followers?”

“Well…I’m considered an aviation “Thought Leader” (and yes, I used air quotes). She laughed, fake vomited, rolled her eyes and said, “Geez, that’s an understatement. You give me (force) your thoughts all the time, but I can’t imagine why anyone would actually want to choose to listen to your thoughts…” And with that, I was humbly put back in my place.

What she doesn’t realize is that as her mom, I’ve earned my right to be her Thought Leader. I expect as she moves through life, and gains her own experience, that she intentionally accepts or rejects my thoughts based on her own experience, rather than just my opinion. That’s my role as her Thought Leader. To simply put a thought or philosophy in her mind and have her take it with her as she tests it out in the world. I know she won’t agree with most of what I say, but that’s not my role. My role is to provide my version of best practice parenting from what I’ve observed in the world. I don’t want to simply convince her to mindlessly agree with me, I want her to take my life lessons and realize on her own journey, that mom was right (oh, okay, or wrong).

That’s the different between being opinionated and a Thought Leader. A Thought Leader has earned the right to their opinion only after experiencing all aspects of their chosen industry. It doesn’t mean they’re the best at it, or that they’re right, it’s simply that they have sat on both sides of the desk in an industry and can now translate opinion into ideas that can facilitate meaningful change. Real change can only happen by getting people to think for themselves, not simply following rhetoric of majority opinion. Thought Leaders don’t want you to just agree with them. Lead implies follow. Thought Lead means lead into thought.

Part of this role often entails getting an email or two (or hundreds) from people who say I am thinking incorrectly. When I started publishing articles that didn’t necessarily follow popular ideology, I received some spirited emails telling me why I wasn’t thinking right. In the beginning, I immediately wanted to respond to these donkeys and explain why they should think like me. I’ve learned now that I don’t want them to think like me, I simply want them to think.

Now, when I get an angry two page email questioning my intelligence, I relish in the power that I’ve created. I made someone think and I actually created an emotional response that drove them to the keyboard to have them share their thoughts with me. And you know what? Sometimes I agree with them. I respect leaders that flip-flop and make a sudden U-turn because they’ve been further informed about a fact, policy or situation. It’s hard to admit to being wrong or that your first thought was incorrect. Anyone who holds a course into a thunderstorm because they didn’t read the radar correctly the first time, but doesn’t want to admit the mistake, is an idiot—but, that’s just my thought.

The problem with Thought Leaders is that they’re usually the quiet, reflective introverts. They aren’t the ones leading the revolution because they have a deeper understanding of both sides. Because they’ve gone through the ranks from bottom to top, they don’t always strive to be the boss. They see the picture too clearly so they agree with the opinions and desires of both labor and management. They often don’t shine as clear leaders in a world that has a different value placed on traditional leadership. Thought Leaders are more balanced so they don’t tip to rise above the crowd, which is the conundrum. You can see this same issue with our political leadership across the spectrum. The people we truly want to lead our country would never take on the role. It’s the irony of it all. However, if we shift our thinking and understand that there is quiet, thoughtful leadership which has even more power to affect change than the loud cliché leaders, our country and what makes us Americans, will remain healthy, happily opinionated and vibrant.

Erika Armstrong is the author of “A Chick in the Cockpit”. From the front desk of an FBO, to the captain’s seat of a commercial airliner, Erika has experienced everything in between. If you want to share your thoughts with her, she can be reached at [email protected] .