What is a thought leader? Where does thought leadership happen?
When the phrase “thought leadership” comes up, people almost always make a face. “No, I’m not trying to be a thought leader (yuck)”. Or “I’ll leave that to the LinkedIn bros.”
People always assume that “thought leadership” starts and ends with LinkedIn. It’s self-serving, it’s promotional, it’s faux-poetry about corporate happenings and career milestones.
That’s not how I see it.
What is a thought leader?
Thought leaders are people who think in public.
They share what they know, how they learned it, and what’s coming next.
What do thought leaders share?
My framework for thought leadership starts with your audience. Who are you talking to, and what do they need? Then, ask yourself: What could you uniquely provide to that audience?
Whether you’re a high school principal and your audience is teachers, or you’re a CEO and your audience is employees, it’s likely that what they need and what you could provide is way bigger than a few pithy LinkedIn posts.
Here’s a short list of the kinds of help you could provide:
- Expertise
- Guidance
- Advice
- Perspective
- Curation
- Connections
- A new viewpoint
- An ear
You see that last one? “An ear.” I think that one form of thought leadership is listening. If your audience needs someone to listen to them, affirm their experiences, and sit in solidarity, that counts as thought leadership. You’re filling a void, and you’re doing it based on the experience, empathy, and wisdom you have built over time.
Thought leadership is not just about boasting. It’s about meeting people where they are, listening closely, and reflecting back what you hear.
Where do thought leaders share their ideas?
In my original definition, I say that thought leaders think “in public.” Sure, “in public” could mean “on LinkedIn,” and for some people, sharing their ideas on LinkedIn is helpful. But thought leadership goes way beyond LinkedIn.
You could practice thought leadership and serve your audience on:
- Professional social media (LinkedIn, your org’s intranet)
- Private communities for people who do similar work
- Meetings and conferences
- Conversations with leaders and decision-makers
- Conversations with the people you manage and mentor
- Sales calls
- Podcasts (on a private podcast for an internal audience, as a guest on someone else’s podcast, or by starting your own public podcast)
If you start by knowing yourself and think about serving your audience – sharing what you know in a generous way – you’ll start to unlock potential opportunities for “thought leadership” in all kinds of hidden pockets. Not just LinkedIn.
Where could you think in public? How could you show up as a thought leader? How could you most generously and effectively share what you know, how you learned it, and what’s coming next?
