Always, humans are driven by “what’s in it for me?” Therefore, before going about dishing out content in your area of interest while building your thought leadership portfolio, you must be armed with the knowledge of what your audience members would gain from each piece of content you make available to them.
Think about it this way: when you purchase an item at the supermarket or grocery store, are you doing so just because you are excited about the producer, the packaging or even the store? Not at all! You want to part with your money to own that piece of the item because you already have in mind what use it would be for you. The same goes for your readers – they want to get educated or informed about something they need help with. If you are able to creatively get this done, you can be sure that your journey to thought leadership is gaining grounds.
Since it is really easy to get confused about a popular topic, we have put together key points of concerns that people have about thought leadership. Read on to find out about the frequently asked questions on the topic.
- What is thought leadership really about?
Once a concept becomes widely spread and accepted, it can assume even definitions that don’t come close to its true meaning. To begin with, thought leadership isn’t just about coming up with new ideas and concepts that have never been heard of before. You don’t necessarily have to present something totally new or unique but you can be uniquely helpful with what has already been shared by others by using the available concepts to uniquely help your audience.
- Are thought leaders simply experts in a field?
Partly yes. Being an expert in a niche is very vital to thought leadership. However, that is only one piece of the puzzle. The components that make a thought leader are highlighted in (4) below to help you further.
- Can anyone be a thought leader?
Everyone desires to be successful but not everyone achieves success because the level of commitment differs from person to person. Likewise, despite the fact that almost everyone has something they are passionate about, we all don’t get to put in the needed effort to move the needle on such matters or bring about unique, creative perspectives in our fields and industries.
- What are the key factors to consider when starting out as a thought leader?
At Scribe Tribe Africa, we believe in the 6 Ms of thought leadership, which involves having a (1) message to share with a set of proven (2) methods that solve specific problems for the (3) masses (a group/community of people), with the (4) motive of helping them live more authentic, effective and productive lives; here, the thought leader is a willing (5) messenger who creates a (6) movement with his message.
If any of these is missing, thought leadership isn’t what you’re building. Note, however, that you must take a stand and make a move before anything else.
- How can a person’s authority in thought leadership be authenticated?
Remember, you can only improve what you start. This means you can’t think of being authenticated if no one hears from you on a particular topic regularly. It might be safe to say that when other intelligent people begin to share your ideas with their communities, no matter how small, your authentication has begun.
- Can I sell when putting out content on thought leadership?
One of the great ways of having raving fans and loyal customers is through thought leadership. Therefore, businesses that take the lead in giving creative solutions to their communities can reap great rewards in terms of profit when they use the right strategy in communicating their values and giving calls to action for their products and services.
As always, there are other factors that come to play when one starts out on a journey; the same goes with thought leadership. One thing is sure, though: the process is really worthwhile as it not only benefits the people you are looking at helping but it also develops and rewards you in the long run.
