We find thought leaders in all walks of our life. One of the world's most sought-after and my favourite, Dr. Stephen R. Covey, on the topics of leadership, organisational effectiveness and family, because he had the courage to find his own voice and make a distinctive contribution.
Thought Leaders are not just Subject Matter Experts, but change agents whose intentions and efforts are aligned to improve the world and who then choose to have a more significant impact by sharing their expertise, knowledge and lessons learned with others, aligning their efforts in a way that creates momentum for sustainable evolutionary and revolutionary change.
Common Characteristics and behaviors of thought leaders are:
Expand Ideas,
Nurture Relentless Curiosity,
Engage with Ecosystem,
Show the way forward,
Tell Stories,
Uncomplexify,
Engage with Metaphors,
Channel Universal Wisdom,
Help Others see the Impact,
Be willing to be Vulnerable,
Practise Journalistic Principles – these includes thoroughness, accuracy, fairness, independence and transparency,
Build lasting relationship,
Foster Trust,
Think relay not sprint,
Encourage ‘others to Other’ conversations,
Share Certain Behaviours – Help thought leaders increase momentum for their ideas,
Foster Approachability,
Be Discoverable
Share Openly
Avoid TMI (Too Much Information)
Be Persistent
Get Support
Don’t just think – Do
Steps to be a Thought Leader:
Find your Driving Passion – Develop your strategy:
Identify your Niche, the intersection points where your credentials, expertise and commitments are aligned; identify the ‘reason to believe’ i.e. why others should listen to you on this topic and is there an audience or market need?
Define your ‘What if’ future (WIF) – that your stand for, and is ready to make happen, Think Big.
Align with trends.
Build your ripples of Influence
Select your path forward, by sharing WIF to learn what resonates, be open to adapt new ideas.
Nurture divergent and consilient thinking. Consilience is the ability to link facts and fact based theory across disciplines to create a common groundwork of explanation.
Identify and enroll stakeholders
Have meetings with who matters
Face the naysayers
Clarify your message, overcome objections, don’t give up easily
Adapt, modify and redesign program, project or process to bring in multiple viewpoints and recommendations
Use zero-based thinking to regularly reassess that they are going in the right direction and let go of perfection. Relook, Rethink, Reassess.
Activate Your Advocates - This is needed to broaden impact from one ripple to entire pond.
Identify champions (ones who will put their reputation online) and allies (those who roll up their sleeves) – potential supporters
Think about ‘what’s in it for them’ and what holds people back, and align their messages accordingly. It could be altruism, shared point of view, skill-building, credibility and reputation, social capital, innovation, media attention, business considerations. Necessary trust can be built on a lot of different factors, especially visibility, credibility, likeability and comfort level, reputation and reliability, brand, baggage, confidence, sense of humor, loyalty, coachability, network and trust circle.
Prepare to SPAR - Set up their tracking and connection tools, prepare their message template, articulate your one-page action plan, and rehearse and hone their elevator speech and key messages.
Pursue a ‘Button to Billboard’ engagement strategy – incrementally bringing people on board
Create broader agreement with their ideas – crafting a white paper, hosting a training or encouraging a spin-off
Identify and empower champions from key constituent communities.
Put Your “I” on the line
Step into spotlight as the person who is ready to lead the way - “ If not me, then who”?
Willing to step forward, even if they are not yet expert enough
Understand it is their right and responsibility to lend their voice to the world’s conversation
Have the courage to stand up for community, even if there is a risk
As a follower there is a role: to pick up the torch and carry forward
Look at failure as a step-in learning
Appreciate the surprising rewards – influence, impact, connections – that comes with stepping into the spotlight of thought leadership
Use the ‘rules for resilience’ to reframe any doubts or fears and overcome failures and setbacks.
Use different kinds of help: forming a mastermind group, “ purse club”, or personal board of directors to support their efforts
Leave aside their “ Yeah, but….” And keep moving forward.
Codify your Lessons Learned
Understand how change happens
Overcome the ‘Not Me’ attitude – It often includes one or more of the following often false beliefs:
Not the leader, others already know it or own it, Too Busy, My strength lies elsewhere, Early days.
Capture what you know. Begin a wisdom journal or store mementos along the way.
Use Exercises like “JuxtaRows” to distill insights into a set of guiding principles or lessons learned they can share with the world. This is putting down on left the negatives and on right the positives.
Create intellectual property: represent ideas visually, add a creative and memorable name and a clear set of instructions for what needs to be done to repeat their success.
Devise verifiable metrics and collect proof points that document their progress to date and support their ideas.
Protect their intellectual property with a trademark, copyright, patent or other legal protection.
Decide what they would like to control and what they will not control.
Hire needed expertise, such as knowledge management experts or a ghostwriter, to move this phase along to completion.
Put yourself on S.H.O.U.T –
Select your audience and venue
Hone your message
Overcome resistance – Learn to practice strategic ubiquity, start with 20 minutes increments, overcome any fears of the online world, pledge yourself to be in service to others, earn to overcome objections and commit to spreading happiness. Happiness spreads.
Understand potential pitfalls – to avoid including straying from principles of transparency, going outside your pond, trying to please everyone, becoming too predictable, not matching your content to the level of your audience’s expertise.
Transform individuals into a community – Say We, Not I.
Start with the basics. Ensure others can find you. Be discoverable, connect with the community and share ideas widely by say writing in a well trafficked forum.
Incite ( R ) Evolution
Track your impact as a thought leader by measuring the reach, resonance and relevance online and off
Accelerate your influence by consulting, speaking, writing
Amplify your voice, create a follower community, empower followers, teach them. Your success is reflected in the success of your followers.
Take care of yourself. When you hit a speed bump, seek support. Rest and rejuvenate. Remember to connect. Turn over the baton to others and let them carry it for a while. Together you can stay the course and achieve the finish line.
We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.
Thought leadership is not about being known; it is about being known for making a difference. Keep learning and growing and regularly share what you know with others. That is the core of the thought leadership journey. Increase your impact, expand your influence and leave a legacy that matter. Remember to stay in service to your followers.
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