Thought Leadership: The benefit and challenge for you, your organization or brand
“Corporations do not pursue Thought Leadership for theoretical reasons: they need to attract customers, address their needs and deliver a return" - Van Halderen M., Kettler-Paddock, K., & Badings, C. (2013)
I still remember vividly the first time I hurried to the #google search page to find out the meaning of the term Thought Leadership. I had come across a job opening on the website of an organization I was interested in. If I recall correctly, the job description read something like this:
“The ideal candidate will support the development of Thought Leadership…”
In essence, the role needed someone to contribute, and help find answers to the question:
How can we maximize the Thought Leadership potentials within our organization?
As you might have rightly guessed - at that point in time, I knew next to nothing about the concept of Thought Leadership or how it could be used to the benefit of any organization. Fastforward to today, as I write this article, I am at the same time working on a graduate research which looks at the impact of Thought Leadership on customer pre-purchase evaluation. and happy to share with you some insights from the study.
Thought Leaders - who are they?
“Thought Leaders are the informed opinion leaders and the go-to people in their field of expertise. – Denise Brosseau
Particularly within the last decade, there has been an "exponential" increase in the use of social media platforms i.e. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram for conducting businesses among individuals and organizations. On many of these social media platforms, certain "unwritten" patterns tend to reflect how we interact with each other.
On LinkedIn, for instance, there is a high probability that we are more likely to connect, communicate and do business with people we know and can trust. And it is with such understanding that the concept of Thought Leadership, has arguably become a powerful tool available to individuals and businesses. In the words of Denise Brosseau;
"Thought Leaders are trusted sources who move and inspire people with innovative ideas.” - Denise Brosseau
Although, the concept is now becoming an integral part of modern-day marketing and sales effort, it is still difficult for many individuals, communicators/marketers alongside their sales team to rightly figure out how to use as well as justify the value of Thought Leadership to support business objectives. As the Academic Society for Management and Communication concluded,
To benefit an organization and gain the support of the top management, communicators need to be able to understand and explain how Thought Leadership creates value.
Thought Leaders - The Benefit and Challenge?
“A Thought Leader is an individual or firm that significantly profits from being recognized as such.” - Russ, P., & Bruce R. (2012)
At a foundational level, we can agree that one objective of most businesses is to find customers to its sell products, goods or services to. The first distinct advantage that the use of Thought Leaders can offer in such scenarios is that they (Thought Leaders) usually have developed a network of people (potential customers), within their connections. And as some would argue, individuals working for organizations and brands tend to have more credibility and are easier to relate to because:
Their audience know them on a much more personal level and have got a practical understanding of what they represent.
These considerations can be quite important, particularly for companies and brands that operate in specialized fields where these characteristics could be crucial assets needed to rise above the competition. In such cases, the effective use of Thought Leaders can become the differentiating factor that can help them to quickly reach out to customers at less cost and at a faster rate.
However, for many businesses, implementing a successful Thought Leadership programme or using Thought Leaders as part of the business strategy is still a challenge, particularly as a lot of marketing communication professionals still find it hard to identify the right individuals to help them drive their Thought Leadership goals.
Do you have experience with Thought Leadership programmes or interested in learning more about the concept? Please get in touch: kingsley@dibie.org