Are You a Thought-Leader?

Thought-leaders help others in becoming great leaders. 

You have spent a lot of time learning leadership skills, and you practice its principles every day. At this juncture of your professional journey, you know what works and what doesn’t.

There is a tsunami of information inside you. Become a thought leader by guiding people around, and articulate your leadership style in a way that others can reproduce.

Read the leadership journey of Tom Jakobek and David Thomson for insights on how to become thought leaders.

Why thought leadership

Organize your knowledge: When you write about your principles and experiences, it helps you structure them, and explain to others how and why they have helped in your leadership journey.

Transferable: People can learn about your leadership style by reading your notes when you aren’t around. It’s good to lead by example, but when you write about your skills and values, you can share them and transfer to each employee in the organization.

Self-Promotion: When you share your thought process and leadership skills with audiences outside, you gain credibility. You can list your articles on various social media platforms to promote yourself as a thought leader.

How to write about your skills

Choose your style: Think about your biggest strength or one leadership principle that has helped you solve many problems. Write why your leadership style is unique and effective in solving complex issues. Think of skills that will help other aspiring leaders, and explain how they can help build each of them.

Structure your thoughts: If you want others to understand your thoughts, structure them. You may want to show them how to solve a problem using your leadership skills, or you may want to compare the traditional leadership styles to the new ones. Choose a structure and flow to keep readers hooked to your story.

Give reasons: Remember, you are writing an article to solve someone’s problems. Don’t just put across your thoughts and expect them to read. Write about the general problems leaders face and provide solutions to them. Write your purpose behind the article and how you are going to help the readers. Also, tell them how to implement your skills to improve their leadership style.

You can check out community leaders like Tom Jakobek. Community leaders understand politics well enough to know that people will be able to deliver if they’re given guidance to be better at what they do.

Where to publish your writeup

Newsletter: The company’s newsletter is one of the best mediums to reach out to your internal audiences. You can easily publish the article in your in-house publications and get visibility within the company.

External publications: Websites, leadership magazines and blog posts etc. are great mediums for publishing your articles. They help you broaden your reach and visibility. You must be reading articles on various platforms, and try to guest post on similar ones.

Social media: Platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook have millions of subscribers. They also allow you to be a part of various communities. Join the leadership groups and start posting there. You can also discuss your ideas on various online forums by participating in discussions and questions and answers.