New, revised definition of thought leadership

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On this blog you will find a few definitions of thought leadership including my own – click on the Definitions of thought leadership to right of this piece under Categories to see the others.  However, like anything, as I learn more about the topic my definition changes slightly.

So here is my latest definition:

 “Thought leadership is about delivering new ideas and content to your target publics based on deep insights into the business issues and challenges they face.  In the process, the value you deliver should go well beyond merely selling your product or service.  Your thought leadership point of view should differentiate you from your competitors, establish you as the ‘go to’ expert in that field and position you as a trusted advisor – all with the intent of underpinning the sale.”  Craig Badings   

8 Responses to “New, revised definition of thought leadership”

1. Stephen G Diorio says:

   September 14, 2010 at 09:17

   Can you adapt the definition to include organizations, or in your view is thought leadership only attributed to an individual?
2. craig says:

   September 14, 2010 at 09:24

   Stephen, the definition can absolutely be applied to an organisation. I have found, however, that sharing information with an abundance mentality is often really difficult culturally for a lot of organisations. The result is very few are viewed as thought leaders or use thought leadership the way it should be used.
3. Thought Leadership - CLAIMING CONTENT CURATION IS THOUGHT LEADERSHIP IS LIKE PLAGIARISM says:

   July 18, 2011 at 17:21

   [...] which, unfortunately, is severely limiting in terms of where thought leadership has now moved (you can check out a whole lot of definitions here in this blog).  Karan goes on to argue that curation is about authoring context and he maintains that is [...]
4. PR holy trinity: strategic alliances, thought leadership, 3rd party credibility | Public relations and managing reputation says:

   February 8, 2012 at 07:02

   [...] holy trinity of public relations – thought leadership, 3rd party credibility and strategic alliances should be default characteristics of any public [...]
5. The Holy Trinity of public relations: free white paper | Public relations and managing reputation says:

   May 16, 2012 at 07:33

   [...] potential or, worse, not applied at all. These pillars, the Holy Trinity of public relations – thought leadership, 3rd party credibility and strategic alliances – should be default characteristics of any public [...]
6. Four Ways Content Marketing Builds on Thought Leadership | Jeffbullas's Blog says:

   May 17, 2012 at 04:40

   [...] and engaging for target audiences seems a prerequisite. But, and this is important, to rein in thought leadership or any other content to within a narrow set of parameters risks the organisation being perceived as [...]
7. » Robin Free says:

   May 17, 2012 at 05:29

   [...] and engaging for target audiences seems a prerequisite. But, and this is important, to rein in thought leadership or any other content to within a narrow set of parameters risks the organisation being perceived as [...]
8. Thought Leadership – CLAIMING CONTENT CURATION IS THOUGHT LEADERSHIP IS LIKE PLAGIARISM « e1evation, llc says:

   July 3, 2012 at 05:52

   [...] which, unfortunately, is severely limiting in terms of where thought leadership has now moved (you can check out a whole lot of definitions here in this blog).  Karan goes on to argue that curation is about authoring context and he maintains that is [...]