How to Be a Thought Leader, Not Just an Instigator: Close the Circle
How do you feel about challengers — people who question everything and shake things up? I think this personality type can make a helpful thought leader, as long as they present solutions along with their critiques. I define “thought leaders” as people who think in public about their work. Thought leaders share what they know, […]
Thought Leadership Inspiration: Focus on the Hardest Part of the Problem
“Focus on the hardest part of the problem.” That’s advice that my client, technical teamwork expert Chris Danek, gives to teams working on complicated medical device problems. The advice applies to thought leadership, too, whether you’re talking about your work as a mechanical engineer or a management consultant. Hear me out. Go beyond the basic […]
How to Simplify the Way You Talk About Your Work (No Jargon Allowed)
How do you respond to the question “What do you do?” Can you answer it in a sentence? Is your answer as simple as “I do X for Y because Z”? Or do you have to take a deep breath before you wander down a long, winding road toward an inexact definition of your work? […]
How to Be More Interesting
What has your attention right now? What are you spending your time on, working on, thinking about, exploring? (No, I really want to know. I love this stuff.) I love talking to people about their work. I also love hearing about all the things on their mind that have nothing to do with work. The […]
Thought Leadership Isn’t About Ego — It’s About Generosity
Can I convince you that thought leadership is generous? When I lead workshops about thought leadership, the groups usually fall into one of two categories: people who are eager to improve their thought leadership; and people who are, frankly, not interested in thought leadership at all. Recently, I talked to a group that fell into […]
The Power of Play
This week, my eight-year-old went to surf camp (one of the very fun rites of passage of living in a beach town). On the first day of camp, I watched a team of coaches herd the huge crew of neon-rashguard-clad kids onto the beach, through a round of stretches and warmups, and then out into […]
How to Practice Thinking Like a Thought Leader
Are you a thought leader? Yes, you. (Hi! 👋) If you’re thinking, “No way” or “Who me?” this is for you. If you’re doing good work, it’s not a huge leap to start reflecting on that work and sharing your insights. Thought leadership is helpful for your own learning — and a generous act that […]
How to Understand Your Intellectual Heritage — and Define Your Thought Leadership Legacy
This week, an email subject line caught my attention: “Insights on BCG’s 60-Year Intellectual Heritage.” The newsletter celebrated BCG’s founder’s birthday and listed ten big ideas from the firm since its founding 60 years ago. I’m always interested in how professional services firms market their ideas. And the concept of “intellectual heritage” stuck with me. […]
3 Thought Leadership Best Practices
In a sea of similar content, how will you make your thought leadership stand out? Hint: the answer is not to order up something interesting from ChatGPT. Instead, consider how you could follow three thought leadership best practices to level up your thought leadership and create more memorable content. Think “barbecue content” When I […]
Keep Showing Up: Building a Consistent Thought Leadership Practice
In an ongoing attempt to spend less time on my phone, I’ve been doing some Internet Experiments. Namely, a month ago, I deleted Instagram (my #1 time-sucking app) from my phone. Instagram was the only personal social media I had left. I stopped using Facebook years ago. I left Twitter when the Elon sagas started. […]
