So... what is Thought Leadership? A fairly simple definition from leading social media and branding expert, Scott Ginsberg is:
“A trusted source who moves people with innovative ideas.”
That’s a pretty cool definition of a Thought Leader and leaves no room for confusion.
FutureBuzz consider thought leadership a vitally important part of your social media strategy and spend a great deal of time building and reinforcing the various elements that turn you into a thought leader. Do you fulfill this six-part definition of a thought leader?
Let’s look at the six elements of that definition:
TRUSTED
Being trusted means you become a Thought Leader because the marketplace recognises you as such – not just because you just decide to be one. Remember: Trust requires evidence. What are you known for knowing?
SOURCE
No matter how you look at it, being a source means you have to be The Origin, not The Echo. The Initiator, not The Imitator. What long-term dialogue are you leading in your marketplace?
MOVES
Moving people means your job is to inspire, influence, challenge and disturb. How are you spurring people to purposeful action?
PEOPLE
Which means you are responsible to the individuals that comprise your constituency, regardless of who, where and how many there are. How are you building a following?
INNOVATIVE
Being innovative means you deliver actionable lessons that passed through the test of your personal experience; not regurgitated wisdom or plagiarized insight. Are you speaking with Meaningful Concrete Immediacy?
IDEAS
Creating and verbalising meaningful ideas means your mission isn’t just idea generation – but idea proliferation and idea execution. What did you create, manage or deploy today?
So you can now see how the definition of thought leadership as “A trusted source who moves people with innovative ideas” is a fairly important part of your branding and promotion. FutureBuzz aim to assist you on this mission. We build the strategy, help you with the ideas, coach you in authenticity and generate your following. In this culture of social media and new-age promotion, you have the choice to be in the Thought Leadership business. Or, you have the choice to BE ignored and, therefore, BE broke.
