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
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
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
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
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.
Have you ever felt like your brain was full of spaghetti?. Your thoughts are jumbled. You have too much going on. You have good ideas, but they take a long time to explain. People’s eyes glaze over in the middle of your conversation. Most of the thought leaders I work
Can AI write thought leadership for you? Short answer: No. Long answer: Let’s look back at how content has evolved online, then do a couple of experiments to see how savvy AI writing tools have become. A short history of bad content (aka ‘sludge’) When I think about AI writing,
Can you teach an old dog new tricks? Or, in this case: Can an established thought leader pivot to explore new ideas? Today, I want to think about what happens when you add a new idea, layer, or dimension to your tried-and-true thought leadership. When you’re an experienced, established thought
What’s your thought leadership strategy? You might not be sure how to answer that question. You might think your thought leadership strategy is “LinkedIn.” Or “email.” Or “I’ve always thought I had a book in me…” Or if you like speaking, it could be “maybe I’ll get back on stage
How can normal people turn their work into thought leadership? If you aren’t creating thought leadership now, how could you squeeze it into your already full schedule? A lot of people assume that thought leadership is for other people. But I’ve seen that thought leadership can and should be a part
