Thought Leadership

Thought leadership has become a buzz word in recent years as companies strive to differentiate themselves in their industry. Small companies think it’s a strategy industry leaders are using to tout their R&D departments. Some view it as a way to stake out the future; yet others see it as owning the current market. Everyone is right. Thought leadership is a concept that covers all of this.

Ultimately, it’s the new sales pitch. The smarter customer is demanding more than a product. They want a relationship and a knowledge resource. In response, many companies are transitioning their way of selling to talk more about how they think, rather than just about what they offer.

Thought leadership for a company centers around the brand promise and what you’re telling customers about your company. Thought leadership as a business strategy can be complicated as companies shift the way they meet the marketplace. If companies are ultimately going to move toward a thought leadership strategy then it stands to reason that somewhere within the company they will have to have thought leaders.

Long before companies can get there, individual leaders can. These leaders aren’t defined by a title or position; they could be a manager in the IT department or a vice president of finance. To us, thought leadership simply means differentiating yourself and becoming knowledgeable enough on a topic that audiences seek you as the speaker rather than your company. It’s landing on a topic or an area of focus within your industry and investing the time to become a valued resource and advisor. This is a critical way that senior managers build an executive presence outside of their companies and often accelerate their career by becoming known within an industry and sought after as a resource.

There is a huge communication component to thought leadership. Every month, executives stand in front of customers and external audiences and talk about strategies and the positioning of new products. In all of these presentations we tell executives that they gain more credibility by talking through issues and external situations than by giving details of a product solution.

Every week, we develop messages and presentations and send executives out to their external audiences to deliver them. Yet I’m always amazed at the missed opportunities. Presentations deliver great ideas and insights. However, once it’s said, it’s forgotten. Time and effort goes into creating powerful messages and rarely are presentations repeated or leveraged as part of an overall communication strategy.

We coach executives to leverage topics and audiences. If you’re going to invest time to talk at conferences and industry groups, then also invest the time to become a valued source on a topic. Pick your area of interest and learn it backwards and forwards. Corporate communications groups are always trying to develop speakers beyond the CEO. They would be more than happy to have another resource to propose to groups and can easily leverage a thought leader and their topic within the industry. We work with many corporate communication teams to develop high profile thought leaders and the impact of this effort is impressive.

When asked about developing future speakers, one corporate communications leader told me that she had quite by accident “discovered” a young employee who was very effective. As part of a media story, a journalist asked to talk to younger employees who might have a different perspective for her story.

The communications leader asked around within the company and was directed to a young man who worked in one of the regional offices. She prepped him for a small part in the interview and was amazed at how well he presented himself and his thoughts. Now she calls on him frequently as a thought leader on the topic. That was definitely a high profile moment for the young manager. Take time today to define what your is area of expertise; where can you be a thought leader for your organization.