Are you a thought leader?

At some point, and I’m not sure I can remember why, I started subscribing to Scott Ginsberg’s blog. About now, you’re thinking “Who?” Scott. The Nametag Guy? Oh, now you remember. *That* you’ve seen.

Anyways, he writes some good stuff. My personal opinion is that there’s a lot of chaff in the wheat, if I can deconstruct that metaphor.

I can generally do without the too-clever turns of phrase, and the rehashes of the same sayings in three or four different blog posts.

But.

There has to be a but, right? But, sometimes he comes out with really great, great stuff. Actually profound and meaningful instead of just rambling and space-filling noisemaking.

This definition of “thought leader” is by far the best thing I’ve seen from him. It’s just great.

So short and sweet that it’s like a nine-word poem:

A trusted source who moves people with innovative ideas.

He breaks out the six key themes (trusted, source, moves, people, innovative, ideas) and distills his message down to just a sentence or two. It’s really that good.

So, of course, I’m going to create the entirely opposite effect and write six separate posts, one on each of these themes, to dig deeper into discovering and communicating, living and expressing, your (and mine) thought leadership platform.

  1. Trusted
  2. Source
  3. Moves
  4. People
  5. Innovative
  6. Ideas

(I’ll link each post back here so you can get the full effect if you’re so inclined.)

What experience led you to recognize any of these traits in yourself? What did you do to clarify your message on one of these themes?

Can you share an experience in which you saw the benefit of one of these traits or the harm from its absence?