Thought Leadership, Yes Thought Leadership!
Thought Leadership – Well that’s one way of getting attention, but perhaps tweak the approach on this one!
I had a fantastic day today, met with some totally awesome clients and one in particular was a fine gentleman by the name of Ciaran Keating from East Software. This was right in the Sydney CBD and we enjoyed lots of fine coffee and food for a Friday morning.
We spoke for hours and hours at length and great minds think alike – we have a similar business strategy that we are pursuing called “thought leadership”. I originally learnt this term some years ago through the Australian Marketing Institute and this is basically:
– Being known inside and outside your industry as a reputable leader and someone who sets the pace!
It’s my dream to be that myself and although the “kindling” of that process is there for me, it’s a far-cry from that! But still aiming for the stars I am!
Putting on my marketing mentor / consultant hat, this is quite different to what most people do. I am all for survival – but too many people I find go from month to month without any clear direction! Not good for anyone, people can get in ruts, make poor decisions (i.e. especially not saving up cash or not thinking ahead) and it’s bad! What I like about “thought leadership” is that beyond the cliche it actually get’s one thinking long term! It makes you think about your reputation and make more considered and intelligent decisions which I think it awesome.
For example, to become a thought leader there are probably hundreds of ways of doing it, but I think nothing beats the long hard grind. In my case, I am personally:
– Writing this blog post! Ha, I got you
– Networking like crazy.
– Speaking all over town.
– Going hard for my clients ALL THE TIME.
– LinkedIn, Facebook, Facebook Advertising.
– And many more!
I think the trick for this working is really considering, “What must I do to get that reputation that people look up to me?”. And of course, we are doing this for far beyond EGO reasons – Industry leaders usually get paid the most, so ha ha ha! Hope that helps and gets you thinking – I will have to write more on this topic!