What it takes to become a genuine thought leader in today's 'Reputation Economy'

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‘Thought leadership’ can be quite a nebulous concept. Ditto authority, personal branding, reputation and expert status.

While track record and demonstrated outcomes from your body of professional work?will help your cause from an evidentiary perspective, what we’re talking about here are people’s?perceptions.

• What do peers and colleagues, clients, people in your community and the media think of you, in a professional sense?
• Do you share your knowledge? Drive conversations? Lead opinion on topics relevant to your profession, industry, and expertise? Do your social media followers see and acknowledge this?
• Do people seek out your opinions and ideas? Do they in turn share these with others in their professional networks?

You see, just telling people you’re a thought leader doesn’t necessarily make you one.

Indeed, it probably means you are not really a thought leader at all because it’s not your position to make that judgement. Semantics, I know, but I think it’s important a distinction is made.

That said, there’s certainly nothing wrong with aspiring to become a thought leader in your industry, profession, discipline or community.

Personal visibility

Embarking on a strategic thought leadership marketing program for your professional brand can be a great move career-wise, or in terms of growing your personal brand-based business.

Done well, consistently over time, such activity will help to:

1. boost your personal visibility so you get noticed (for all the right reasons) by key people in your industry, including employers and/or potential clients, customers, partners and collaborators;
2. grow your sphere of influence within your industry or chosen field of endeavour;
3. build your credibility as a trusted source of information;
4. make you more appealing to relevant journalists, bloggers and podcasters who are always on the look-out for savvy experts and industry commentators who can participate in interviews or provide quotes for stories;
5. put you on the radar of conference and seminar organisers who need to fill speaking spots on their event schedules.

What is a thought leader anyway?

Different people will have varying definitions of what constitutes a thought leader. Here’s my take:

I describe a thought leader as someone who has strong knowledge of, and expertise in, a particular subject, topic, or issue. But more than that, they have publicly and relentlessly demonstrated their bona fides over time by taking a stance, having a perspective, and voicing their views and opinions by publishing a high standard of relevant content across multiple channels, including public speaking.

If you were after a more cut-down definition, it would probably go something like this:

A thought leader leverages multiple channels to relentlessly drive and facilitate high-level debate and conversation around a particular subject, topic or issue in which they have a strong degree of expertise.

Key words from the above definition are ‘drive’ and ‘high-level’.

It goes without saying the thought leader’s perspective, views and opinions need to be of a sufficiently high level (i.e. borne of original thinking, big picture in nature, pushing beyond the status quo) otherwise they run the risk of simply becoming just another voice, part of the opinionated crowd.

And while the thought leader must be positioned at the vanguard of thinking in the space in which they operate, they also must be willing to bring people along for the ride; this is the leadership aspect of being a thought leader.

Introducing today’s ‘new’ thought leader

Therein lies the difference between ‘traditional’ thought leaders who have built up their profile and reputation mainly as a result of media coverage (which in turn has fuelled speaking engagements and perhaps a book deal with a publisher) and what I will call, for the sake of this article anyway, the ‘new’ thought leader.

Today’s new thought leader is every bit as smart and as adept as their traditional brethren, but they’re more likely to build their profile and earn their credibility by publishing their own content online as well as driving conversation and igniting debate via social media channels.

The new thought leader is also concerned about cultivating a community of advocates, or what I like to call a ‘village of support’. In other words, they see the bigger picture and strongly believe in involving their followers, champions, allies and advocates in the conversation around their chosen issue or topic.

It’s this deliberate sharing of knowledge and ideas using social media and online publishing technologies that sets them apart from more traditional thought leaders who probably are more concerned with where the next item of media coverage is going to come from.

Now comes the work!

If you want to become a thought leader today, you’re going to undertake a cross-section of reputation-building activities such as:

• write long-form articles for your own blog and/or other people’s websites;
• perhaps record a regular podcast or produce YouTube videos in which you lead discussion around a particular topic or issue (or allow yourself to be interviewed by other relevant podcasters);
• regularly connect with like-minded people in your profession or industry, most likely using LinkedIn;
• (still on the subject of like-minds) introduce people to one another if you think each will add value to the other;
• shine the spotlight on others in your community, encourage their thoughts and views around the topic in question, perhaps lending your platform for them to publish their own content (i.e. in the form of a guest post, or maybe you interview?them for your podcast);
• curate and share links to interesting, relevant and thought-provoking information, stories, and ideas from within your various networks (remember, being a thought leader it's not just about you).

Big chunky thoughts!

Of course, it goes without saying you need ‘thoughts’ - big chunky ones, maybe not yet fully formed, but ideas you can explore in public … ideas that potentially will change the way people think about a topic or issue … ideas that, combined with insights and a dash of experience, might become full-fledged frameworks that you can share (i.e. your IP).

To become a thought leader today, you don’t need to rely on the gatekeepers e.g. the media, or book publishers. You can create your own media channel and communicate directly with your audience; and you can also publish your own books and distribute them globally, with ease. The power today is in YOUR hands!

Be aware though, this all takes time and effort, so be prepared to dig in for the long term.

That said, the rewards will be worth it – you’ll make an impact, touch people’s lives and who knows what interesting and cool opportunities will open up for you!

Onwards!

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THIS ARTICLE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY MY WEEKLY EMAIL NEWSLETTER - Reputation OnRamp: Self-promotion for self-respecting solopreneurs and founders of small but mighty businesses ?? SUBSCRIBE HERE

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In case we haven’t met yet …

Hi, I’m Trevor. I help purpose-led business owners become clear and confident in how they leverage PR, content and digital communications for profit, impact and legacy.

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