Reflect on these simple questions for a minute.
What are you working on right now? And what have you been thinking about lately?
I’m sure you have answers to those questions.
But now, one more question:
Who knows about it?
Aha. Here’s where most people get quiet. Most of us are missing the steps between “do the work” and “talk about the work.”
Let’s think about what it takes to connect those dots and go from just “doing the work” to “talking about the work” (in other words: how to get started sharing thought leadership).
The thought leadership cycle: How to move from “doing the work” to “talking about the work”
Thought leadership, at its core, is generously sharing your work and your ideas. But so many people are busy doing the work, checking off tasks, and leading teams that they don’t make the time or headspace to reflect on what they’re doing or to share it with anyone else.
They stick to the “work” part of the cycle below. Most people don’t ever go beyond “work.” And that’s okay. But it means they don’t create the opportunity to reflect on what they’re learning or share their insights.
Do you see what comes after “work” in the diagram above? It’s “reflect.” Consider what you’ve learned. Think about your work. Reflection is by far the most important part of developing your thought leadership.
It’s the magic key that unlocks new ideas, new depths of expression, and more authentic connections with other people. Reflecting on your experiences and sharing those ideas with others is the project of thought leadership in a nutshell.
Thought leadership requires us to look inward, not outward
But if reflection is the key to creating thought leadership, why do we all spend so much of our time and energy watching what other people are doing?
When I work with a new client on their thought leadership, usually their first instinct is to gather as many examples as possible of how other people are showing up online. They’ll send me screenshots and links: “I like this person’s LinkedIn profile” or “I want to sound like this.”
That’s fine, and it’s important to understand the market of ideas.
But if you only focus outward, you delay doing the thought leadership work that actually matters: looking inward.
It’s much easier to spend time looking at what other people are doing. But figuring out what you have to say? It’s hard work. But it’s work worth doing. Time and again, I find that developing thought leadership has benefits that extend well beyond a few pithy LinkedIn posts or getting an article published in a magazine.
The hard work of reflection doesn’t just make you a better thought leader. It makes you a better leader. Understanding your work in a new light makes you better at that work.
When you move past “work” and spend time on the “reflect” part of the cycle above, something magic happens: You start to understand your work in a new way, which makes you better at doing the work…and develops your reflection muscle so that you’re better at uncovering insights and sharing them as thought leadership, too.
That’s why I think of thought leadership as a practice — something we have to keep doing over and over in order to get better.
A challenge for you
So, if you’ve been focused on what everyone else is doing (looking outward), here’s a challenge for you. Take 10 minutes today to reflect on those first two questions above:
What are you working on right now? And what have you been thinking about lately?
After you’ve spent some time reflecting, ask yourself again:
Who knows about it? And who do I want to share this with?
