How To Become A Thought Leader

Or Missionary: The 7 conditions of thought leadership.

1. Pick a topic you like so much you....

2. Feel a need to spread the word.

3. By contacting other people to present your ideas.

4. Have a clear message you believe in so strongly that you will support it even if it contradicts commonly held views.

5. Be more of a student than an expert so that your expertise is always expanding.

6. Speak and write for free to establish a market for your ideas.

7. Once you're successful, continue to learn and market yourself all the time.

Source: Andrea Meacham Rosal on Rain Today

Comment: Points 4 and 5 are often in contradiction. Once you "believe" in something you are rarely willing to remain experimental. And once your living depends on your reputation as an expert, how likely are you to say that you were wrong?

Recruiting.com. Talkdigger, Slashdot, Digg, Delicious.

Comments

[Droopy]

Good summary of thought leadership. It needs to be stressed that all employees in large organizations can show thought leadership, both to colleagues and their bosses. In fact, I think all leadership in our knowledge economy is thought leadership: the championing of new directions. See my website article for more on this topic: http://www.leadersdirect.com/thoughtleadership.htm

[Manny]

In this vein I strongly reccomend the book "High Visibility" by Kotler et al. I review it here:
http://successbooks.blogspot.com/2006/12/success-books-high-visibility-part-2.html