Thought leadership is exciting. It transforms how audiences perceive you, unlocks brand-new career opportunities and helps enact change in the world.
But while many executives may aspire to become impactful thought leaders, not everyone can become one, unless they have the right profile and characteristics to consistently put their best foot forward.
In this article, we uncover the most important thought leadership best practices to leave a positive impression on audiences and achieve your desired objectives.
Because despite what you may have heard, becoming a thought leader isn't easy.
The first thought leadership best practice is whether thought leadership is right for you.
You might ask why it’s important to consider this, particularly if you’re eager to get started.
But if you jump into thought leadership headfirst without taking the time to consult a professional, you only expose yourself to various risks.
You risk making unsupported statements.
You could upset stakeholders.
You might spend a fortune to achieve little results.
PR professionals have represented 100s of clients over the years. They know when a campaign has potential and are experts at media training, and execution.
If your campaign does have potential, an agency will equip you with a strategy to strike the right chord with audiences and wean out any insights that are in high demand.
They will guide you through the thought leadership process from start to end, ensuring results and advising against any risks.
It only takes one heavy-handed tweet to cause irreversible damage to your profile or an unresearched media pitch to turn off a high-value journalist. It’s best to leave it to the experts.
PR professionals will often carry out a reputational assessment before helping an executive launch a thought leadership campaign.
An audit will look at any crises you or your business might have been involved in, whether it was accidental or intentional, and analyse how recently these ordeals took place.
If there is significant news coverage within a space of a year condemning you and your business, your PR agency will often advise you to stay out of the spotlight.
If executives fail to bear their reputation in mind before engaging in thought leadership, not only will the media reject their pitches, but they may risk a crisis resurfacing, leading to a public backlash.
That said, on the off chance that a crisis an executive was involved in was out of their hands, a PR team may use thought leadership to overshadow negative coverage and gradually rebuild their reputation.
Always ask yourself, am I passionate about communicating my opinions? Or am I only doing this because my employer wants me to support their marketing efforts?
If the latter is true, you need to reconsider whether you’re the right person to represent your company in the media, at events, and across social media.
You don’t need to be a natural speaker. You just need the right attitude.
Without the right attitude, your thought leadership won’t be genuine, and it will show.
Think about it, if you’re watching a video of a CEO discussing a technical project on LinkedIn without ever looking at the camera or mumbling, it’s unlikely that either you’re going to be engaged.
Neither will investors that they’re attempting to secure funding from.
You might be passionate with buzzing charisma. But while this can seem like a good thing, you need to be careful about coming across as arrogant or overly opinionated.
In media interviews or in-person events, this won't serve you well.
This is why it’s important to work with your PR team to perfect your media relations and find the right balance.
Thought leaders usually talk about a range of different topics when piggybacking various media hooks to make their opinions timely.
Sometimes these media hooks can even be far-reaching. Yet, no matter what, the best thought leaders always stick to their expertise.
Thought leaders who don’t stick to their expertise are often caught out, severely impacting their credibility at a time when they are attempting to build it.
Playing it safe is much better than taking any risks, even if you think playing into a journalist's hands is the right thing to do.
Besides, you don’t want to look silly during an interview when you can’t back up your ideas when asked about them.
On a practical level, this also means that you target the right publications that will realistically feature your insights, improving your odds of securing top-tier, impactful coverage.
Though your PR team will be able to guide you through every step of the thought leadership process, without knowing who you’re targeting, your efforts might fall on deaf ears.
Always know your audience.
This will guide the publications you target, what online platforms you incorporate into your strategy, and the tone and content of your messaging.
What you say needs to be tailored to specific needs, interests, and pain points within your industry.
The more meaningful your content the better.
More journalists will be eager to hear from you.
Audiences across social media will re-share your content.
You might be approached to speak at events.
What you say can influence government policy or industry regulation.
For instance, as the founder of a biotech firm, you might communicate scientific ideas more simply for patients, while providing more complex insights for investors.
Meanwhile, If you’re attempting to rebuild employee morale you may ditch industry thought leadership completely to focus on company culture.
Good thought leaders are always open and responsive to feedback.
This might mean directly responding to comments on social media, releasing statements reacting to trends, or making positive company changes, especially where employees are concerned.
The objective of thought leadership is to build a credible well-rounded profile, not a corporate, talking head.
Allowing some individuality and empathy to shine through is essential.
Lastly, always remember that thought leadership is a long-term commitment.
The best thought leaders have built their reputations over years of dedication, deep understanding, and real tangible action.
Thought leaders are always willing to be seen and heard and take responsibility even amid a crisis. Their audiences look up to them and eagerly await their insights.
Without consistency, coverage about you will disappear into the ether, you’ll easily become yesterday’s news, and the businesses you lead could suffer because of your inactivity.
Stock performance can fall, employees can be disengaged, and customer trust can wane, ultimately impacting your company’s credibility and reputation.
As an executive, becoming more visible than you are is the best thing you can do.