A view into the soul of a thought leader

Chris Brogan epitomises a true thought leader: "..the more I share, the more business comes my way..."

I don’t think I’ve seen anybody encapsulate the essence of true thought leadership the way Chris Brogan has in his latest blog post.

I have quoted it here in part but I highly recommend you visit his blog to see the rest.  Simply put he epitomises the mentality a thought leader should have at the purest level.  No wonder he is a thought leader in his space.  Go Chris!

 ”Sometimes, I’m asked why I give away all of my ‘how I do it’ information. I’m asked whether this gives others the ability to compete directly with me. Frankly, I don’t worry about competition. I worry that there aren’t enough people executing effectively for companies. I’ve got plenty of work to do as it is. New Marketing Labs picks up plenty of clients and has even when I give away all my major points and ideas.

“I feed the system because I believe you can take something I’ve started, run with it, and advance the whole space. I give you all that I can because I know that you’ve got your own ideas, and maybe components of mine will help you.

“Oh, and the more I share, the more business comes my way. It’s a built in reciprocal loop. ” Chris Brogan

Throughout my postings on thought leadership you will notice I talk often about having an abundance mentality.  Many people struggle with this when it comes to thought leadership, however,  as Chris so rightly points out ‘the more I share, the more business comes my way..”. 

That ladies and gentlemen is the Eureka moment of thought leadership.  That is what it is all about.

Thank you Chris.

The characteristics of a thought leader

I have identified some of the broad characteristics of a thought leader as follows.

A thought leader is someone who:

1.      Expert - is an expert in their field and has a unique point of view

2.      Shares information - is willing to engage with and share insights and information with their audiences through speaking, social media, writing, mainstream media, etc

3.      Big picture – is refreshingly candid and understands the bigger picture and where they and their brands fit into their consumers’ lives and how they can add value or insights to their consumers beyond merely selling them a product or service

4.      Passionate - believes passionately in what they do or the space which they occupy

5.      Social responsibility - sometimes feels a moral or social responsibility to deliver something of value to the community in which they sell or operate 

6.      Expects nothing in return - Is prepared to engage with their stakeholders and share information and insights and literally expect nothing in return in the immediate future

7.      Values based - has long-term vision and often secures their space by anchoring their business in values-based behaviour which shows an understanding of their most important audiences

8.      Motivates – is able to motivate people to look at and to do things differently.

Please let me know if there are any other characteristics I should add to this list