Gift of the Gab Isn’t True Thought Leadership
Many firms release numerous blogs, case studies, interviews, guest columns, and articles, thinking that they are developing a thought leadership profile. However, being so prolific doesn’t imply being a thought leader; it simply means being prolific
Being a thought leader involves much more, so let’s discuss what it is.
Opinions matter and they make you an authority
By providing professional services, you inherently know. You’ve studied and trained, and you are qualified. You have vast experience in your line of work and you know the ins and outs of the business.
Your expertise is thus a unique thing that only you can give, and it is valuable to many others.
Your education and experience also make you an authority figure who can influence others. The key here is to use this and mould yourself into a leader, but not just any leader – but a thought leader for a specific market.
So how do you do that? How do you become a leader to many and a person they can respect?
How to become a thought leader
You need to use the knowledge and skills you have to give meaning to your opinion, but you also need to learn new skills.
The knowledge and opinion you possess need to construct into something that will be of use to a larger number of people, which means that you need to see what they all desire. That means that it should resonate with many people a level above ‘general information’, while striving to alienate very few.
Building your profile
With the knowledge and skills you have, you also need to use them to create your profile.
To develop your profile, you need to reach various groups around you — groups like colleagues, clients, the staff, business partners, and more.
To do this, you can use a variety of methods, but the key is to make them as specific to the group type you’re trying to reach. The rest is up to you and with the knowledge and skills you have that make you stand out; you won’t find it hard.
Valuable tips that can you help turn your expertise into thought leadership
- Know your market
You need to identify your target market by delving deep into who they are and what they’re made from. You should pay the most attention to clients you love working with and see the similarities between them.
- Learn what they need
The next step is to learn what they need, what their issues and problems are – and then deliver. They need to see you as the person who will provide them with the help they crave for.
- Give tips and insights whenever you can
Additionally, you can also provide tips and ideas even when they don’t need or are asking for them. The key is knowing what they lack and present that before they request help. Be the expert.
Final thoughts
As you can see, being a thought leader is not hard. You only need to appreciate what you have and learn how to mould all that expertise into something that everyone else needs.
You can also get some outside help that will benefit you in your efforts of becoming a thought leader. The Thought Leadership Initiative is there to give you precisely that, and you can contact us whenever you want to find out more.