What It Takes To Be A Thought Leader
Q: How do you define thought leadership?
A: Most professionals and businesses are automatically thought leaders in that their clients and customers already compensate them for their ideas. Where most companies and individuals fail, however, is they don’t bother to capitalize on this. Thought leadership is a marketing/promotion strategy that spreads established notoriety and credibility throughout one’s target market.
Q: How does someone become a thought leader?
A: Two promotion channels are crucial: publishing ideas in book or article form, and speaking about ideas/products/services before a professional group or to the media. These channels are used only rarely, most companies and individuals preferring to stick with less center-stage channels such as advertising, telemarketing and networking.
Q: What difference does thought leadership make to a business?
A: When a thought leader regularly publishes articles and books, keynotes conventions, or gets quoted in the media, he/she is viewed as the sole expert. With no competitors around, the thought leader's target market distinguishes that company/individual from the competitive pack.
Is Donald Trump "just" a real estate developer in New York City? Is Martha Stewart (despite her legal struggles) just another interior decorator? Most of us have no idea who these two thought leaders’ closest competitors are.
Q: What are the characteristics of thought leaders?
A: A love of ideas, a creative bent, the willingness to risk. Composing a book or article, delivering a keynote address, doing a TV or radio interview can be daunting unless one sees the inherent value of it. This isn't a strategy one adopts simply because there's a logical argument for it.
When the process is embraced, a resulting energy and enthusiasm spills over into new product ideas, strengthened client relationships and, yes, even increased sales.
Q: How can a business develop people who are thought leaders?
A: Make thought leadership in the whole company a priority. If it’s one more task to be crammed into an already jammed workload, people will resent it. Instead, reward them financially and make sure they get proper credit. If you’re a CEO, don’t hog the spotlight! Hard research shows that companies and individuals practicing thought leadership rank highest in profitability and employee morale surveys.
Ken Lizotte CMC is Chief Imaginative Officer (CIO) of Emerson Consulting Group Inc. (Concord, MA) which transforms companies and business leaders into “thought leaders.” An author of four books and hundreds of magazine and trade journal articles, he is a Certified Management Consultant and frequent keynote speaker at national conferences on such topics as publishing, professional creativity, career creativity, writing and media relations. Current President of the Institute for Management Consultants/New England, an advisor to Harvard University and a cofounder of the National Writers Union, he can be reached at ken@thoughtleading.com or by visiting www.thoughtleading.com