Archive for 2010

The six lessons of thought leadership

I was reading an article penned by veteran marketing strategist, Rob Leavitt.  Rob is the Principal at Solutions Insights and he specializes in issues- and content-based marketing.  Rob helps companies distinguish themselves in the marketplace and advises them on how to have strategic conversations with their clients, prospects, and market influencers.

Rob gets thought leadership and I thought the six lessons he has for thought leaders at any level were well worth sharing.  Here they are:

Six thought leadership lessons

Stepping back from the specifics of these two initiatives, I see six general lessons for thought leadership marketers at any level:

1. Put Customers First. It sounds obvious to say that thought leadership marketing should focus on what your customers really care about, but far too many marketers take a product- or solution-first approach and try to fit some larger issue neatly around their offering. Buyers don’t care about your offerings by themselves; they have their own problems to worry about. Engage them where they live. IBM is trying to build relationships with CEOs, so they research and talk about what other CEOs are doing. Deloitte works especially closely with Boards of Directors, CFOs, and other C-level executives; it’s hard to think of a C-suite issue more pressing these days than risk management. What do your customers and prospects really worry about?
2. Do the Research. Thought leadership without real research is just opinion, and opinions are a dime a dozen. Show buyers serious research, though, and they’re much more likely to pay attention. You might not be able to interview 1,130 CEOs around the world, but you can survey and interview your customers and prospects, produce serious case studies (not puff piece “success stories”), and comb the literature and online conversation to produce new insights.
3. Say Something New. Thought leadership without a differentiated point of view is just an echo of conventional wisdom. Why should customers listen to your version then they’ve already heard it before — or if you’re only telling them something they already know. Smart customers want to be challenged. If you’re not sparking at least some disagreement and debate, you probably haven’t said anything new. None of IBM’s five attributes are themselves shockingly new but the synthesis suggests and aggressive and innovative approach that goes well beyond conventional thinking. Deloitte’s focus on the upside as well as the downside of risk clearly stands apart from the post-Wall Street collapse mentality of compliance first, last, and always.
4. Build a Pervasive Presence. Long gone are the days when thought leadership marketing meant publishing a white paper, research report, or journal article and then moving on to the next project. Media fragmentation, information overload, and the power of social media make it critical that thought leadership marketers put substantial energy into getting the word out across a broad range of media and activities. IBM’s 360 degree campaign for the CEO study included traditional activities (email, Web, direct mail, advertising, press and analyst briefings, sales enablement, video, etc.) as well as a number of newer approaches (blogs, podcasts, online innovation jams, and branded content). IBM also produced 15 “flavors” of the main report for different industries and C-suite positions. Deloitte has similarly tapped a wide variety of media and activities to engage clients, prospects, and market influencers. For thought leadership marketing today, think multi-media, social media, and complementary online and offline engagement to build a strong presence wherever your stakeholders already spend their time.
5. Stick with It. IBM’s CEO study is a two year project, and the 2008 version is IBM’s third such study. To maximize marketing impact, IBM organizes a “teaser phase” (outreach to build awareness before the formal launch), a “reveal phase” (a multi-faceted public launch to build buzz internally and externally), and a “sustain phase” (ongoing engagement to dig more deeply into the issues with customers and others). Deloitte launched the Risk Intelligent Enterprise effort in 2006 and has continued to explore the issues, refine the point of view, publish, and engage. The point is to pick a core issue for your customers and stick with it. Thought leadership takes time. It’s better to pick one or two issues and work them hard for several years than to flit from one issue to the next in a more superficial way.
6. Confirm the metrics. Far from an airy initiative, thought leadership marketing can and should focus on core metrics essential to business development and growth. Objectives for the IBM initiative revolved around relationship building with CEOs, corporate visibility and interest, ongoing engagement with key contacts, and sales leads. Deloitte takes a similar approach, focusing on competitive differentiation, influencer relations, client connections, and business development support. Setting and gaining organizational agreement on clear marketing and business development objectives provides the grounding and accountability that marketers need to justify the necessary investments.

Serious thought leadership marketing is not easy, but taking these six lessons to heart will go a long way toward success. At least that’s my opinion! What do you think?

I think Rob is right on the money and would be interested to see whether anyone else has any more ‘lessons’ to add to his list of six?  

Dove thought leadership campaign values at odds with sister brand?

I have stated in my book and on this blog that I think Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty is one of the quintessential examples of thought leadership.  But recently I have had two interesting comments on this blog asking how Unilever (owner of the Dove brand) can purport to be a thought leader in one brand if there is a clear clash of values between the Dove campaign and another Unilever product campaign, Axe deodorant.  

The Campaign for Real Beauty is all about finding a broader, healthier more democratic view of beauty while on the Axe campaign stereotypes women – it shows a man putting on the deodorant and then having to flee and fight off thousands of beautiful, scantily clad women.

I have to say that at face value the two campaigns are at the opposite end of the beauty value spectrum.

The first person to raise this issue on my blog was Kym Kettler.  Kym had this to say: “One of the challenges that Unilever faces in Europe about the authenticity of its Real Beauty campaign is its Axe Deodorant campaign. Can a thought leader be a thought leader when it projects conflicting personas to different audiences? Doesn’t this undermine the credibility and trust needed for true thought leadership?”

Another reader, Sughanda replied: “Kym is right. Unilever tells women “You are beautiful even if you are fat” on the one hand, and tells men “Use our products if you want to be surrounded by really beautiful, skinny, sexy babes.  Hypocritical, isn’t it?”

I think they both have a point but I would be interested in your views.

My view is that a true thought leadership position should be closely aligned with the values of company and if a brand’s values are at odds with the company’s values there is a value gap.

So what you might say.  Shouldn’t brands stand and live on their own?

This was certainly true over the past few decades but times have changed and more importantly consumers have changed.  Consumers these days are demanding more from their brands when it comes to things like corporate social responsibility, the environment and a brand’s contribution to society.

Given this change, I think Unilever may well have a problem.

If a multinational’s brands are going to be at odds with the values espoused by the overarching brand then it only makes sense that they will need to review their brand positioning and align it more closely with the mothership.

Is Axe at odds with the mothership?  I don’t know, you tell me.

Is the Axe campaign at odds with the thought leadership stance of the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty.  I think it is.

The question is what do you think?       

Bernard Salt’s tips on what it takes to become a thought leader

Bernard Salt is Australia’s pre-eminent thought leader on consumer and demographic trends and represents KPMG at conferences around the globe to share his insights.

Here he shares his views on what it takes to become a thought leader and some valuable tips on how to get there.  Even though I have researched thought leadership for years and have written a book on it, Brand Stand: seven steps to thought leadership, I found some of Bernard’s insights very illuminating and I hope you do too.

1.   Bernard, you have successfully positioned yourself as a thought leader on Australian consumer culture and demographic trends.  Given your experience, what tips can you give aspiring thought leaders in other industries? 

“You must believe in yourself when others don’t, when there is no reward, no recognition, when no-one wants to interview you or pay for your views.  And you must do it with good humour year after year.  And then, one day, you break through and all the dissenters and critics and naysayers just melt away.  It’s a test of endurance, of personal belief and of courage.  Some might say it’s also a test of foolishness.  There are no guarantees.  You might just be deluded into thinking that your views are worthy of a national audience.” 

2.    Please describe some of the personal and KPMG brand benefits you have accrued as a result of becoming a thought leader in your field?   

“I am in spaces and meetings that KPMG would not normally get into.  I can cut through into relationships where an auditor or tax expert cannot.  I offer a left field bridge to critical relationships.  And because I am in these meetings with business and political leaders at the highest level i am able to offer advice as to who to talk to about different issues.  I’m act like a traffic cop.” 

3.   In building your thought leadership position, what has been your key differentiating factor/s and has there been one stand out tactic that has helped you achieve this?   

“No point being a thought leader unless you can pitch your ideas.  That means you need the skill of presenting.  Not just a good presenter but an outstanding communicator. During the 1990s i wrote reports (like thousands of other consultants) but this is not what business wants.  What business wants is a compelling case pitched verbally with passion and with direction.  Hone your speaking and presentation skills.  And then hone again.  Watch good speakers and presenters.  Watch stand up comedians, they are brilliant at controlling an audience.   Get to the point, speak passionately, use words well (you must be articulate), and connect with your audience.  And when you think you are good enough in that skill area go out and learn some more because you are never good enough at speaking, pitching and presenting.  And don’t be precious about pitching saying oh but I haven’t prepared or I haven’t got my notes.  If you are so damned good you can pitch your ideas with 10 seconds notice. “

4.   Someone once said it takes 15 years to achieve overnight success – what has the journey been like from being one of a host of commentators battling to gain share of voice to someone who is sought after for his views in your space? 

“From my first public quote (1989) to entree to the speaking circuit (2001) is 12 years.  I started my column in 2003.  There is no start point.  I have been gearing to what I do now for 35 years, I just didn’t know that’s where I was headed at 15.  And yet looking back it’s always where I was headed.  I get lots of people saying they want to do what I do.  And it’s admirable that they have the sense to ask straight up how to get there and how to do it.  Saves a lot of stuffing about.  But I can tell from a 2 minute phone call they haven’t got it.  Other people, I think they could do it if they wanted to but many don’t want it.  You have to want it.  You have to take hits.  You have to be the last person standing when all other pretenders have melted away. “

5.       You deliver a lot of interesting and informative content on your site http://www.bernardsalt.com.au/  and you have written numerous books covering a range of topics.  What are the benefits of providing so much content and what’s your advice, in particular to companies who seem to think that giving away too much content will reveal too much to the competition? 

“This is a good question.  There are a lot of people who I am aware copy my material, style and approach (without attribution–there is no protection against intellectual theft).  But the way i figure it is that it’s my job to remain intellectually creative to such a degree that pretenders are continually left with the option but to copy.  The only people who are paranoid about giving away material are people who do not have faith that they are creatively superior to those who would copy them.  Copy away.  I’ll just think up other stuff.  It keeps me sharp.”

6.   What, do you believe, are some of the barriers that hold corporations back from becoming thought leaders and what would your advice be to them to overcome these? 

“Corporations need to be patient with thought leaders.  And commercial organisations are notoriously impatient.  I was able to deliver commercial value as well as evolve into thought leadership.  Not an easy balance.  Partly the reason is that thought leaders get to a point where they believe they can act more freely and successfully without the organisation.  I always thought I could go further with a global commercial partner than without.  And I was right.  I speak across the globe today courtesy of KPMG International.  I couldn’t have done that by myself. “

70 reasons to be a thought leader

When I speak to people about thought leadership for the first time, one of the first questions they ask is: “What can it deliver to my business?”

It’s a great question and one that has had me thinking for a while.  The more I think about it the more complex and multi-faceted I realise the answer is which is why I have developed a listof 70 thought leadership outcomes/benefits in a table.

But to all those thought leaders and writers on thought leadership out there, I need your help please.  While I may already have 70 benefits, I’m sure there are many more.  I would really welcome any further inputs either via e mail to cbadings@cannings.net.au or in the comments section at the end of this blog:

…and more definitions of thought leadership

I have had some great responses to the post on the two definitions of  thought leadership from Eric Gruber and Dana vandenHeuvel.  While these appear in the comments section I thought they warranted a listing in a post.

The first is from Meg Wildrick from Bliss PR:

“ From a tactical standpoint, the term “thought leadership marketing” means different things to different people. As in traditional marketing, there are endless possibilities for inputs (e.g., statistics, stories, analysis, opinions), spokespeople (institution or individual),outputs (e.g.,books, videos, podcasts, documentaries,articles) and objectives (e.g., credibility, awareness, loyalty, positioning). But what’s unique about real thought leadership, to me, is that it’s edu-marketing. It’s one part promotion/persuasion, one part teaching/giving. True thought leadership helps audiences make sense of things — e.g., the world, a sector, an experience, the future. It’s marketing, of course, because it drives revenue by (1)boosting credibilty; (2) engaging customers; (3) creating differentiation and (4) triggering the reciprocity reflex. But it also inspires.”

The second is from Jim Pennypacker from Dance Communications:

“Thought leadership marketing is the active positioning of your company (or you ) as an authority, resource, and trusted advisor on issues of importance to potential customers. This positioning is accomplished using a variety of media, including books, newsletters, blogs, e-mail, events, etc. It allows you to earn trust and build credibility and recognition, differentiating yourself as one who clearly understands the business and needs of your audience. It’s a means of nurturing leads, improving customer retention, and expanding your market.”

Any other suggestions out there?  If so I’d love to hear them.

Two more definitions of thought leadership

I am constantly reading what others have to say about thought leadership and am always interested in how other people define thought leadership.  I would like to put up two definitions that I have recently come across.

The first is from Dana vandenHeuvel, from Marketing Savant:

“Thought leadership marketing capitalizes on your intellectual capital and unique point of view to actively position you or your organisation as an authority, a resource and a trusted advisor on industry issues.  Thought leadership marketing allows you to earn trust and build credibility and recognition differentiating yourself as one who clearly understands the business needs of your audience.  And most importantly, it mobilizes your audience to think and act – engaging with you over the long term.”

The second is from Eric Gruber:

“Thought leaders are experts who are recognized among their peers as an authority on innovative ideas within a particular industry. Thought leaders confidently promote their ideas. Most importantly, thought leaders have earned respect from the outside world for their deep understanding of their business, the needs of their clients and the broader marketplace in which they operate.”

There are three key words that stand out in both definitions:

• respect
• trust
• authority

To me these are the key ingredients of your positioning as a thought leader.  In particular, gaining the trust of your target audience is the nirvana of any brand positioning.  And therein lies the power of true thought leadership .

If you have your own definition please send it through, I’d love to hear from you.

Interview on thought leadership with PR practitioner Craig Pearce

Craig Pearce

This is the first in what will be a series of interviews with thought leaders from around the globe and from different walks of life and industries.

In this one I ask five thought leadership related questions of Craig Pearce, a PR practitioner who has an interesting blog on all things PR.  You can visit his blog at  http://craigpearce.info/

1.      Craig you are in the process, and a successful one at that, of positioning yourself as a thought leader in the PR industry – are there some tips you can give to aspiring thought leaders in other industries?

I am not so convinced I am in the process of positioning myself as a thought leader for one main reason: I think it is rare for me to put forward original thinking. Most of my discussions on public relations and marketing – my area of, um, expertise… – are based on ideas that have been promulgated by academics like James Grunig or that I have learnt off my peers.

There are occasions, certainly, where I have articulated notions that you don’t seem to hear too much of, such as when I wrote that marketing should report to public relations, social media belongs to public relations and PR is not media relations. But that might be more to do with one of the attributes that I do believe characterises thought leaders: bravery.

There are some that might say this is more like stupidity, or career suicide, but after a year in which I was retrenched and felt forced, to a large degree, to enhance awareness of my skills and knowledge, I have no regrets.

But you need to have some sort of point of difference. It doesn’t have to be huge, but there needs to be a point of view you are putting forward. In the best case scenario, this point of view adds value to those who you want to interact with or position yourself favourably with.

An inherent dimension of learning off others is that it may well be that even if your stakeholders recognise you are no genius, if you are making the effort to reflect on original thinking or issues, and occasionally shine a perceptive light on this thinking or issue, maybe that’s enough.

Certainly, there are lots of watchers and critics in this world: those of us that are actually contributing, or going beyond the bounds of what is absolutely necessary are in the minority. Because of that, we’re of some value.

For a thought leader to be positioned as a thought leader they need to engage in two essential activities: think and articulate that thinking.

Whilst I don’t claim to be an intellectual or a great original thinker, I do at least put the grunt in. The posts on my Public relations and managing reputation blog are not something I quickly reel off. It takes a considerable amount of time to get them to a point where I am (relatively) happy with them. It is not a walk in the park.

A third stream to this is going to the trouble of bringing your thinking to people’s attention. In the context of a blog, this includes SEO and using networks like Twitter, LinkedIn etc.

I think having a problem solving, aspirational attitude and/or approach is a good one to have. Being fixated with the negative is all too easy. I leave that to the media. Another dimension of attitude (and the bravery mentioned earlier) is that it is good to disagree with others, it is good to challenge the orthodoxy and taken-as-read assumptions, which are all too often arrived at in a lazy, undisciplined manner.

This will not always make you friends, but I have plenty of friends. And I don’t expect them to agree with me all the time, either.

One approach to thought leadership is looking at it from a strategic, or SWOT-centric perspective. Look at the information/topics out there and the approaches existing thought leaders are taking. Then a ‘strategic approach’ can be taken to the generation of a thought leadership platform or program.

And there is nothing wrong with this, but it does sound a bit contrived, doesn’t it? If the platform is not sincere, if it doesn’t add value, then it won’t get cut through. I don’t think the importance of passion to all this can be underestimated.

2.      What do perceive as the key benefits of a thought leadership position for an individual? 

Creating that point of difference between yourself and all the other hens in the chook yard is the main one.

What does that mean? Career opportunities, helping your organisation stand out from the crowd to win new and bigger business, enhanced self-esteem and peer recognition are some benefits.

The snowball effect of learning even more from those wiser than you is another positive, as is the constant challenge you feel in needing to come up with new topics. This brings with it a sense of ‘edge’ that I enjoy.

3.      In a previous life you were heavily immersed in the corporate world.  What are some of the barriers that stand in the way of corporations becoming thought leaders and what would your advice be to overcome these?

I think of the world’s leading public relations academic, Professor James Grunig, and his notions of two-way symmetrical communication in this context. Organisations, to be effective in their ‘management’ of stakeholder relationships need to recognise that they may need to change to meet stakeholder needs and wants. And they may need to give their stakeholders information they want if they are to satisfy them.

Essentially, organisations should open themselves up more, share their expertise and not be so control-centred. They need to realise that there are profoundly important issues at play here, including the survival of the planet and the future of the human race.

Corporates rule the world, not governments, and most of them should be taking a much broader socially-centric (not shareholder-centric) view of the world and behaving in this manner, too. Public relations can help them do this.

Until they get real in this context their thought leadership is all about product and financial bottom lines. Yes, this pays our bills as PR folk but it doesn’t do much for the soul.

4.      What is the key differentiating factor between a thought leader and others in their industry?  

Well, one key differentiating factor is that they care about what they are talking about. In fact, they are probably passionate about it. I certainly am in my field.

If you are passionate and you are constantly making a contribution, I think you can be forgiven a lot. You are putting yourself at risk by challenging orthodoxies (and if you don’t ever challenge orthodoxies then I don’t think you are a thought leader). It is hard to pull that off without being passionate about it. You might get away with it for a while, but people will see through you in the end.

Not only are thought leaders passionate about their topic, they are often passionate about helping others, whether it is their peers, customers, the community etc

5.      Thought leadership and innovation – do the two necessarily go hand in hand?

The easy answer is yes, but I don’t think that is necessarily the case.

As I implied earlier, the distillation and/or crystallisation of ideas/thoughts into a form that is useful for stakeholders is an important criteria that I don’t think should be underestimated.

Innovation – first and/or best of species – certainly helps kick thought leadership along, but it’s not the be-all and end-all. Customisation of this innovation in a relevant way to stakeholders is also important.

Tips on taking your thought leadership campaign to market – write and speak

This is a continuation of the post on 14/1/2010 on how to take your thought leadership position to market.

I spoke about six critical actions I believe need to be engaged in order to achieve this.  I have covered the first four (1. Make it a strategic business imperative; 2. Know your audience; 3. Share openly; 4. Cultivate the media).

Today I will cover the fifth:

1. Write and speak about your campaign

The last remaining will be covered in the last post in this series:

1. Pump up your content online

Action 5: Write and speak about your campaign

Your thought leadership point of view can be told through face-to-face story telling or writing. Ideally, you want to use a combination of both.

The value of having a number of compelling written stories around your thought leadership point of view is that they gives you a host of different options. With the web playing such an important role in our everyday lives, having a thought leadership campaign written up becomes critical if people are to find it online.

Writing could include one or any number of the following:

• articles written for the media
• letters
• opinion pieces
• white papers
• research summaries
• fact sheets
• background papers
• speeches
• presentations
• third party endorsements
• blogs

By using one or more of the above you are better able to share your information with your audiences. More importantly, you can make the information readily accessible to a much wider audience interested in the topic.

In their book How to position yourself as the obvious expert, Elsom Eldridge Jr and Mark Eldridge maintain that writing a book is essential in establishing your credibility in your field of expertise. They maintain that even if your book does not compete with those in the bookstores, you should write a book to use as a marketing tool to build your reputation as the obvious expert.

Tell your thought leadership story and drive word of mouth

I’m not saying you should write a book but wherever and whenever your thought leadership champion can, he or she should tell the story and get those around you enthusiastic about your point of view. Story telling is a powerful way to engage people and a great way to get people talking about what you have to say.

Word-of-mouth is the most convincing and believable form of marketing today. You should actively pursue speaking opportunities for your thought leadership champion.

These opportunities could include speaking at:

• local chambers of commerce and industry
• business organizations and associations
• academic institutions
• consumer bodies
• conferences
• seminars
• workshops
• webinars
• your own work functions

Depending on the appeal of your thought leadership point of view and your thought leader’s oratory skills, he or she could consider joining a professional speaker’s circuit. There are many organizations out there with a variety of speakers on their books. It makes it much easier to join them if you have a library of written material on your topic as well as speeches and presentations which you or your thought leader champion has already given.

Get out there and spread the word!

Tips on taking your thought leadership campaign to market – online

This is the final post of a series across how to take your thought leadership position to market.  The last one was on the 14/1/2010.

I spoke about six critical actions I believe need to be engaged in order to achieve this.  I have covered the first five (1. Make it a strategic business imperative; 2. Know your audience; 3. Share openly; 4. Cultivate the media; 5. Write and speak about your campaign) and today I will cover the sixth and last:

1. Pump up your content online

Action 6: Pump up your online content

By maximising the use of the online world for your thought leadership material, you are making your point of view easily accessible to your identified audiences and sharing it with anyone in the online world who might be interested in the topic. This could be via a blog, twitter, your website, pod cast or vlog – you name it! There are many options open to you and more are becoming mainstream every year.

The objective is to inject your brand’s/company’s personality into the debate by using social media tools to give a human face to your company’s point of view.

Importantly the web gives you the right to engage with your online audience – it is a forum where you can ask questions, your audience can ask you questions and you can have discussions with other interested parties through discussion forums, chat rooms and the ‘ask us’ facilities available on most websites.

Traditional marketing tools for campaigns have changed

The traditional levers which we have pulled as marketers, advertisers or PR practitioners to sell products and services or change behaviours, advocate causes or build brands have changed.

Word-of-mouth is by far the most powerful form of marketing a company can access, and its greatest ally is the internet.

Brands today need either to be part of or to create their own conversations online. It is becoming just as important as driving media coverage. Why? Because the internet has accelerated and amplified public opinion – rumours start and spread online.

Moreover, while newspapers, magazines, TV and radio are here today and gone tomorrow, online coverage can potentially remain filed and accessible for a long time.

Online is the domain of new, powerful content created by consumers for consumers. It is competing for our attention and trust against traditional media sources, and in some cases it is winning.

This is well illustrated in a Media Centre Global Trust Poll conducted in the US in 2006 which found that 228,000 Americans think companies do not tell the truth in advertising while 276,000 think that word-of-mouth is the best source for purchasing decisions.

Word of mouth can be powerful for your thought leadership campaign

Word-of-mouth is enshrined in social media and is now commonly recognized as the most powerful form of consumerism in the marketing mix.

If you are looking at driving a thought leadership campaign for your brand or company you need to be aware of the tools available to you online in order for you to take part in and influence this powerful medium.

Your aim should be to supercharge your thought leadership content and, in so doing, engage the company with relevant online communities and help facilitate conversations in the digital world.

A digital influence strategy should deliver four key things:

·        Knowledge about what is being said about your brand/company in the digital space and the ability to track it and take part in it.

·        Productive engagement with customers, stakeholders and influencers in the digital space.

·        Optimised content, in order to attract the search engines and increase your ranking.

·        Measurement of your digital influence campaign’s return on investment.

There are a few key things you need to consider before embarking on an online campaign:

·        Senior management buy-in is critical, as they need to understand the importance of the task. This point cannot be over emphasized

·        Engagement online is done in a collaborative community: it is about marketing with rather than marketing to an audience.

·        Commitment – there has to be a commitment to communicating on an ongoing basis.

·        Honesty and integrity are also vital. Untruths, half truths and misrepresentations are cruelly exposed online and can be damaging to your brand.

That’s the last in a series of six posts on how to take your thought leadership campaign to market, however, I know there are a lot of people out there who know an awful lot about how to do this really well.  I would love to hear from you if you have any new or fresh ideas or if you merely want to add to what I’ve said already.

Another definition of thought leadership

On reading a very useful paper on thought leadership by the Content Factor, ‘Is anybody following your thought leadership?  Five best practices that can help establish your company as a thought leader’, I came across a definition on thought leadership from Brian Carroll which I have not seen before.

“Thought leaders genuinely influence others by creating, advancing and sharing ideas.  Their objective is to help others.  In business, thought leaders revolutionise the way others (both inside and outside their companies do business.  That’s thought leadership.” 

For other definitions of thought leadership please click on my other blog posts under the category “Definitions of thought leadership” in the column directly on your right.