"thought leadership" or "thought capital"
As regular readers of this blog will know, one of my particular areas of interest is the development of professionals' reputations and how thought leadership can help as a tool in this process.
In an earlier post ("a compelling piece of thought leadership"), I proposed that a lot of 'thought leadership' that is published probably does not deserve that soubriquet as its content neither challenges current thinking nor does it offer new solutions to existing issues.
This prompted one reader to get in touch to ask, "if it's not thought leadership, is it worth producing at all? After all, if I'm producing what my competitors are thinking, how does that show my clients that I am the better professional to engage?"
There is a simple answer to this question, and that answer is yes, your "thought capital" is worth producing. Let me explain...
Developing thought leading materials can be an expensive process, not only in terms of the potential cash costs of researching and gathering data or launching the end product, but also in terms of the time and intellectual capital that you need to invest. The end result can be a remarkable study that shows you to be at the cutting-edge of thinking in a particular field and a professional whom it is worth engaging if you are looking for the best and (often, as a result) the most expensive solution to an issue.
But before embarking on researching and publishing your thought leadership, consider this: how deep an insight do your (potential) clients really need about this particular topic? Do they need to see you as the guru in this particular field or are they just looking the reassurance that you understand this issue and all its implications and that you can 'sort it out' for them?
If it is the latter, then the thought capital that you produce may not need to break new ground or find new solutions. Instead, it may only need to be an explanatory piece that guides your audience through the issue and its pitfalls, showing how you have thought it through from their perspective and, possibly, resolved it for other, similar organisations. Or it may be a measured opinion piece examining how a market has moved as a result of new legislation, new competition, new technologies or new regulation. And while you may consider that your opinions do not alter dramatically from those of your competitors, consider this: you, not they, have taken the time to provide your audience with this thinking and this in turn may have given them sufficient reassurance that you have the expertise and professionalism to provide them with the service that they need.
So while thought leadership is the holy grail for those seeking guru status, do not discount thought capital, as it forms the foundation stones in building your reputation and so developing your business.
the Heresiarch
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the importance of passion
I’ve been thinking about the importance of passion in what we do.
Not long ago I had to make a visit to my dental surgery. Now, I am not someone who is terrified of dentists, but when you’re lying back in the big grey chair, a tube draining liquid from your mouth, a bib hanging around your neck, and a light glaring in your face and then into your vision looms a masked man with what looks to be medieval instruments of torture, I must admit that even I can be prone to tensing ever so slightly.
I was having some exploratory work done. Nothing too serious. But it did involve some sharp tools and things that make drilling noises (not that I felt much as my mouth was so heavily anaesthetised).
As he was doing his work, the dentist was chatting with his nurse about the previous night’s happenings on the latest celebrity reality tv show. I wasn’t in a position to say much at the time – literally – but my mind was screaming, “excuse me, can we keep our focus on the job in hand?”
Now, in retrospect, this exploratory work is probably something that my (excellent) dentist does every day of every month and nothing to be concerned about. But for me, it was a big moment. I had visions of having no teeth on one side of my face or of leaving the surgery with one of those metal cages around my head. (Neither of which happened, I’m pleased to say.)
But afterwards, once I had regained the ability to speak without dribbling, I said to my dentist, “You know what, if you're going to do something like this for a living, then you've got to pretend that this is important. Even if it's not, you've got to pretend it is, because it is very important to your client.”
See, here's the way I look at it. As professionals, we spend our waking hours thinking about our particular area of interest and expertise. And we strive to find better, thought-leading ways of delivering our service. But when we meet with a client, let’s say at the start of a project, we can often find ourselves needing to do just some basic work to get the foundations of the project laid. And often, this is basic work we feel we could do with our eyes shut.
And yet, I never think of that as “just some basic work”. I think of it as, “Somebody put their neck on the line to suggest that they engage me. To somebody, this may be the most important project of their year, and it may be a career-breaker or maker for them. For all the people watching them, it's my job to make sure that even at this initial meeting they feel they have done (more than) the right job by appointing me”.
Every project we undertake matters an incredible amount to somebody. Therefore, it has to matter a lot for me. And not just because of the money I'm being paid. I have a chance to work with these people and, perhaps, change the way they think, and I really only get one crack at it. They'll either walk away from here saying, “Wow, that advice he gave and those questions he asked really make sense,” or saying “Oh, another know-it-all adviser. What’s he going to tell us that we already know?”
the Heresiarch
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A compelling piece of thought leadership
Over the last few years, a new term has become inscribed into the professional services lexicon: “thought leadership”.
It’s an attractive term for a tool that is proving to be increasingly important in exhibiting the primacy of a firm’s, a practice’s or an individual’s expertise in an ever more crowded marketplace. And in business environments beset by risk, any executive tasked with making corporate decisions surely seeks advice from the leading thinkers in the field before taking action.
But what does “thought leadership” mean? I have often heard firms (misguidedly) use it as a generic term for their reputation development tools, encompassing (amongst other things) placed newspaper articles, press releases, surveys or seminar presentations.
While, if handled correctly, these items of thought capital can be advantageous in establishing a visible presence in a market, genuine and compelling thought leadership goes beyond opinions and analysis by introducing new ideas and new solutions to the business community.
And if the author has already established a strong reputation, such thought leadership can result in an elevation to guru status, inspiring a loyal following as well as an intrigued following of executives who wish to share in – and take advantage of – such an innovative new approach.
So over the forthcoming weeks, I’m going to take a closer look at the concepts of thought leadership and reputation development in the professional services, including:- the different types of reputation development tools available
- planning and writing an effective reputation building piece
- how to promote it and how to use it; and
- how to move from expert to guru to rainmaker
the Heresiarch
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the business of apostasy
APOSTASY.It's a word you don't find much used any more in modern, secular politically-centrist societies. Which is a shame, because it's a good word.An apostate - one who commits apostasy - is one who challenges dogmatic approaches to the way things are understood or done. You find many of them in history, from the religious (heretics) to the political (dissidents). And no matter how big or small their challenge, their innovative opinions have made them leaders in the development of ideas and society.But for the purposes of this blog, I've decided to focus neither on religious nor political apostates, but on professional apostates. And to explore innovative ideas for challenging the dogmatic approaches to marketing and reputation development that can often be found in the professional services.And in the end, I hope this proves a valuable resource to any professional looking to establish him- or herself as a figurehead, a leader, a rainmaker in their field.
