How to drive performance by commercialising the Thought Leadership

in your business

Developing the Thought Leadership in your organisation is a

super smart commercial strategy

Learn why – and how to get started

Becoming a recognized thinker in your field is one of the most effective business strategies going

Traditional sales & marketing approaches are failing Crafting a strong thought leadership position for your business is a great way to:•Boost sales•Create closer customer connections •Get the best from your people

It’s about evolving from ‘push’ to ‘pull’ strategies as clients become attracted to what you know and your reputation for creating solutions to their challenges

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3 Mega Trends are driving this change

1. Marketing has changed forever

‘Push’ sales and broadcast advertising are increasingly ineffective

The Economist Intelligence Unit found that leading businesses are turning to ‘thought leadership marketing’ as the most effective B2B activity

Top ranking activities such as:•presentations at a conference •articles in business press •invitations to webinars/workshops•white paper publishing

offer more (and cost less)

2. Warp speed Change is the new normal

Over 3,000 new books are published every day!

We live in a time of exponential change. What we know is often out of date within months or weeks!

Thought leadership is the process of taking information and giving it meaning and relevance

Clients’ value the people and businesses that can make sense from the chaos

Establishing your thought leadership ensures that’s YOU (and not your competitor!)

3. Innovation and mega-productivity is driving competition

Today’s successful organisations must create a production line of adaptable thinkers who thrive in this new business environment

Thought leaders must be change-makers. Leaders who help us understand what’s really going on and what we need to do

They need to express their thinking through original content across multiple channels – blogs, briefings, speeches, webinars, white papers, panels & workshops

The Thought Leadership Blueprint -

5. things to get started

1. Step out of broad categories

You need to ‘own’ a niche

Don’t write about general industry issues (boring!)

Get specific, be innovative

Invest in your key people so that you establish a position of thought leadership across each of your go-to-market channels

It’s a great way to build sector-specific advantage whilst simultaneously enhancing your over-arching brand reputation

2. Develop a fitness for broadcasting regularly

Thought leadership needs to be actively created and communicated frequently

Aim to deliver a weekly newsletter, daily micro-blogs (e.g. tweets), a quarterly white paper and a book every year – all reinforcing and building on your message!

3. Get Ready for Criticism

Thought leadership is about moving the conversation on, challenging sacred cows and proposing new solutions

It should ruffle feathers (in a good way!)

Have some fun throwing rocks (and be prepared to take a few hits!)

4. Extend the thinking in your field

It’s easy to be overwhelmed when starting out

BELIEVE! You’ll have your own ‘unique take’ – based on your expertise, experience and enthusiasm

With some thinking, tools (and hard work), you can work this up into a unique commercial angle that your clients will value and buy

Start with a literary review!

Buy the 5 best selling books in your field. Think how you can either add to the thinking (‘yes, and’) or, where you disagree, contradict (‘yes, but’)

This simple approach positions you as a well-read expert and creates the perfect platform for you to develop your own original thought leadership

5. Think in full spectrum

The key to creating great messages is to structure them so that they dance across the full spectrum of preferences and learning styles

This means covering left brain logic through to right brain creativity and moving from specific examples up to high order contextual ideas

full spectrum thinking

A snapshot of the five components of an idea is outlined below

Integrating this understanding into your thought leadership is TRANSFORMATIONAL.

Want more?

To find out how you can develop the commercial power of thought leadership in your business, contact Mark Hodgson, Thought Leaders Global Partner

markhodgson@thoughtleadersglobal.com

About Thought LeadersAt its heart, Thought Leaders is a leadership development business for experts. We help companies, large and small, to enhance their performance through the effective positioning of their people and their organisation as thought leaders. Our Partners and Mentors have been involved in all aspects of training and development with numerous organisations throughout Australia, New Zealand, Asia, the United States, Europe and the United Kingdom.

We are a recognised authority in helping organisations to grow by adopting a thought leadership strategy and have created a global first in developing a curriculum to deliver on this. Our collaborative framework means we have access to an extraordinary breadth and depth of talent - united by a common methodology and values system.

We are experts in the design, delivery and project management of national and international learning & development programs and collectively have successfully delivered over 2,400 different workshop/coaching days in over 400 locations