Want to Use Thought Leadership to Grow Your Business? Here’s How.

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I get this question all the time:

How do you become a thought leader? And why is it important?

I’ll be honest: Thought leadership isn’t for everyone.?

But anyone CAN practice thought leadership. It’s not reserved for authors, speakers, or consultancies.?

If you’re in B2B or selling something complex, intentional, strategic thought leadership can be incredibly valuable. On Tuesday’s livestream , I shared why companies solving complicated problems should be practicing thought leadership and how to use it to drive business.?

What is thought leadership?

Is it a long research report? A blog post? A tweet?

It’s all of those—and none of those.

Thought leadership is more than just one piece of content. It’s everything you create that establishes you as an expert and indicates you have a unique solution to a particular problem.?

It’s demonstrated expertise over time.?

Sure, it can be videos, blog posts, speaking, and books. There are multiple ways you can express thought leadership. But as Robert Buday writes in Competing on Thought Leadership , it’s “the acclaim that a firm or a person earns for developing, marketing and delivering superior expertise in solving complex customer problems.”

Careful though. The idea of becoming known for something is enticing, but not everyone needs to practice thought leadership. Can you imagine if Starbucks started creating coffee thought leadership?!?

Thought leadership is perfect for complex problems like digital transformation or diversity, equity, and inclusion. Not getting your morning caffeine fix.

How NOT to practice thought leadership

“I want to add value, but no one will hire me if I give away everything for free.”

That’s one of the most common objections to practicing thought leadership, and it might be true—if you’re solving a simple problem.?

The reality is, thought leadership addresses problems that can’t be answered after one Google search.?

Let’s say you share everything you know and your content helps someone solve the problem. That’s great! But what if they need more support? Or if they realize, “Hey, I can’t figure this out on my own?” Who will they call? The person who added a ton of value and openly shared their approach, data, and evidence!?

If you want to be seen as an expert, you can’t hold back. Here are some other common mistakes to avoid:

• Don’t hoard your ideas. Your ideas aren’t precious. (I know!) So what if someone takes your ideas and runs with them? They probably never would’ve become a client anyway. Who cares if your competitors use your ideas? If the problem is complex, there are more than enough clients for everyone. So share knowledge and provide value. Move your audience one step closer to the solution. That’s how you become known as an expert.?
• Don’t just start writing. The goal isn’t to create a beautiful piece of content—it’s to help your audience identify a problem, showcase a different perspective, and provide solutions. That doesn’t happen if you just sit down and start writing . You have to be strategic.
• Seed your ideas. No one knows you’re about to publish your big report, so you have to engage in pre-marketing. Share what you’re working on. Talk to people about their problems. Tell them you’re working on a solution. Don’t hold everything back until your content launches! One of my rules for seeding content is to only talk about the ideas; I don’t share any evidence, data, or details until I launch.
• Nurture your content. The truth is, no one will hire you because of one piece of thought leadership. (Remember, it’s a body of work!) What additional content can you share to deepen the conversation? A transcript? A video? A story? A case study? The more information you share, the more comfortable your audience will feel. They’ll know you understand their problems, and trust that you have the solution .?

So how do you create thought leadership?

The foundation of all thought leadership starts with the basics: Who’s your audience? What’s their problem? What’s my solution??

But we can dig a little deeper to create more impactful thought leadership. Try following this outline:

1. Identify the problem. Showcase your thought leadership around one very specific problem you’re uniquely able to solve. (When someone calls you and says, “How did you know I had this problem?” you’re on to something!)
2. Give evidence. What evidence do you have that this problem exists? This is where research comes in—and it doesn’t have to be surveys or focus groups. It can be evidence from your work with previous clients, a conversation you just had about this challenge, or how you’ve had to solve this problem yourself.
3. Explain why other solutions have failed. If you can, explain why the current solutions don’t work. Was it because they didn’t follow a certain process? Did they do it the wrong way? Was the technology implemented incorrectly?
4. Provide the new solution. What do you see that no one else sees? What’s your unique approach to the problem? Again, think about including some evidence. Do you have any before-and-after pictures or testimonials to support your solution?
5. Talk about the complexity. If you’d like, you can share how this solution varies depending on the industry or organization. What changes based on the sizde or maturity of an organization??
6. Share the next step. Focus on actions your audience can take. What’s the first thing they can do? The second? What potential obstacles are they likely to run into? How do they overcome them? What other resources are out there? And don’t forget to mention that they can hire you to solve this problem!?

This problem, solution, action framework works for all your thought leadership content, from an article to a video, from a book to a report. Just remember: It’s about adding value. The more information you offer, the more value you’re creating, the more valuable you become, the more known you become.

Another thing that might help? Practicing mindfulness! Join me live next Tuesday, July 26 at 9 a.m. PT to learn how mindfulness can help you focus on the present and the situation so you can develop an awareness of where you need to spend your limited time and energy. (The answer could be thought leadership!)

Your Turn

How do you use thought leadership to drive business? To bring in leads and create awareness of what you offer, whether it’s a product or solution? And how do you use thought leadership to move people through a decision funnel? I’d love to hear how you’re currently practicing thought leadership!