When business leaders come to me for help with their thought leadership, they usually have a lot of “who’s” on the tip of their tongues.
“Did you see that [X PERSON] is publishing a book? I want to do that.”
“I want to show up on LinkedIn like [Y PERSON].”
“[Z PERSON] is everywhere lately. How do they do that?”
In short, people almost always know who they want to emulate. We watch other people’s career trajectories, or we see their end success, and we think, “I want that!”
But all these “whos” are just the start of the story. They don’t actually tell me very much. That’s why I start my work with an aspiring thought leader by asking questions.
Starting with “Why?”
Want to build your thought leadership? Ask yourself these questions.
Knowing what other people are doing isn’t enough to build your own strategy. To find your voice and become known for your ideas, you have to reflect on why you want to be known, who you want to talk to, your key ideas, and how you’ll start building your platform.
What’s your goal? Why do you want to be known as a thought leader?
Why do you want to become more known? Why do you want to be a thought leader? Why do you want your ideas to carry weight among your peers? Why are you doing this? What’s your end goal?
Who do you want to talk to? What are your big ideas? And how will you start?
After we dig into “why,” we think about “who” you’re talking to, “what” you have to say, and “how” you’re going to do it. You’ll notice that I don’t spend much time looking at those “whos” I first mentioned – the people who are already well-known. Sure, it’s important to understand the market of ideas. But those other people don’t share your goals. They don’t have the exact same audience. They definitely don’t have the same ideas. And you probably won’t use the same tactics they did.
I use this process to help my clients zero in on their own ambition, network, strengths, unique ideas, and tools in their toolbelt. It’s easy to point to the end of someone else’s career and say, “I want to be like that.” It’s much harder to figure out how to get there yourself.
So, if you’re spending a lot of time feeling green with envy over someone else’s platform or audience or book advance or job title, put all that aside and build your own strategy.
I call the process G-A-I-N:
Goals
WHY do you want to be known as a thought leader?
What business outcomes are you trying to fuel?
Do you want to…
- Get new clients?
- Speak to bigger audiences?
- Get published in prominent business media?
- Work toward writing a book?
- Find a new job?
- Build awareness of an important business initiative or product?
Audience
WHO do you want to talk to?
Whose attention are you trying to get?
Is your audience…
- Your boss?
- The board?
- Your customers?
- Leaders in the industry?
- Peers?
- People who might hire you?
- Newcomers or entry-level employees in your space?
Ideas
Of course, your unique ideas are the most important element of a thought leadership campaign.
WHAT do you want to be known for? WHAT can you not stop talking about?
- What do you want to be known for?
- What are the contoversial or new ideas that will set you apart?
- What’s something new you just figured out?
- What’s your longest-held belief that hasn’t changed over time?
- If you could publish a book tomorrow, what would the title be?
- What’s something you want everyone to know?
Next Steps
The final step is to pull everything together into an action plan. How will you achieve your goals by getting your ideas in front of your audience?
- What platforms will you use? (Where does your audience spend their time?)
- How could you start developing your ideas?
- How could you test your ideas with a trusted audience?
- How could you take small steps to start now?
Once you’ve pushed your self to define your goals, audience, ideas, and next steps, it’s time to start experimenting. Test your ideas. Start sharing them. Incorporate regular reflection and writing into your work routine. The key is to build a strong foundation and then start putting your ideas into practice.
