If you are focused on building a personal brand or elevating business, then thought leadership is a powerful and effective tool to build credibility and authority. Being a thought leader means that you position yourself as an expert and others look up to you for insights and guidance.
The best part? You don’t need a degree from a prestigious institution to become a thought leader. With consistent efforts and a well-laid strategy, you can become a thought leader. Let’s understand what the steps are that you should follow to become a thought leader.
Steps to Become a Thought Leader
1. Identify Thought Leadership Niche
The first question you have to ask is, What are you going to talk about, and who will be your target audience? You need to establish what will make you different from the others in your industry and what will make you relevant.
These questions will help you discover your niche, which you are trying to establish as a thought leader.
2. Learn a lot
Never refrain from learning, as becoming a thought leader is not a destination that you can reach. Rather, it is a continuous process of developing skills, learning, and broadening your perspective.
To become a thought leader, research is crucial. You need to deepen your knowledge about your industry trends. Gather all the information you can through books, research papers, and studies published in your industry. The more you know about the subject matter, the more confident you will become.
3. Work on your online presence
As an industry expert, you are required to build a strong online presence. If you are just starting, make sure you do that with a LinkedIn account. It is a critical step towards establishing your brand and visibility for other professionals and potential customers.
Apart from LinkedIn, it is also beneficial to have your website. You can publish your articles here and build an audience through SEO. You can share these blog links on LinkedIn as well. Depending upon your choice of medium, you can select which platform you want to work on.
4. Share your knowledge always
Always share your knowledge, even if you are learning. Don’t seek perfection; rather, put your thoughts aside and allow reviews for it. Your priority should be building authenticity for your audience to trust you. You can share your thoughts on various platforms like social media posts, blogs, podcasts, whitepapers, and guest blogs.
5. Speak at events
Being invited to corporate events or industry conferences is a golden opportunity for you to shine. Try to attend events that will also have your potential clients; this will help you get closer to them and build a positive reputation. These platforms are an excellent source for establishing yourself as an industry leader.
These five methods are a great way to get started if you are thinking of becoming a thought leader or positioning your company as one. These steps apply to both cases. Now, let’s see the journey of one of the most popular giants we know. ‘
Path to Become a Thought Leader: Stories to be inspired from
Let us see some of the real-life use cases to understand what the path is to becoming a thought leader.
IBM: Thought leader in AI and innovation
Step 1: Identifying a niche
With its platform Watson, IBM has always been at the forefront of innovation and AI. The differentiating factor is that IBM positioned itself as a caterer of enterprise solutions. It focused on AI enterprise solutions for the healthcare, finance, and education industries. This helped IBM occupy a niche wherein AI deals with complex, large-scale business problems.
Step 2: Continuous learning
The R&D team at IBM is one of its most important assets. The company made billions of investments in AI research, quantum computing, and cloud technologies. With the research, the company always pushed itself towards innovation and helped to find new applications for AI and data analytics in academics.
For instance:
IBM Watson Health collaborated with health organizations to apply AI for diagnosing diseases and treatment options and also predicting patient outcomes based on a large set of data.
Another example is when IBM Research partnered with Delta Airlines to develop AI-driven predictive analytics for operational requirements like flight routes and requirements for maintenance needs.
Step 3: Building an online presence
IBM worked towards building a strong online presence with blogs, research papers, whitepapers, and case studies on AI, cloud computing, and cloud technologies. The resources shared online established IBM as an industry leader.
Step 4: Sharing knowledge
IBM shares the knowledge with the help of free webinars, free technical guides, and case studies of how industries are leveraging AI. IBM also offers free courses on AI, cloud computing, and blockchain to help professionals learn new skills.
Step 5: Speaking at events
IBM organizes and participates in major events like IBM Think, which brings together leaders, developers, and businesses to discuss the future of AI. IBM executives and thought leaders often speak at these events on topics like AI ethics, enterprise cloud solutions, and tech-driven innovations.
Salesforce: Thought leader in Cloud computing and CRM
Step 1: Identifying a niche
From its inception, Salesforce recognised the potential of cloud computing and targeted customer relationship management software which was installed on-premise traditionally. However, SalesForce changed the way things worked by delivering CRM solutions via the cloud.
It carved out the way in cloud technology when most businesses were not even using the technology.
Step 2: Continuous learning
SalesForce continuously updated its platform. It introduced features like artificial intelligence with the Einstien Technology and expanded beyond CRM. The company invested hugely in learning from customer feedback, industry trends, and technological advancements.
Step 3: Building an online presence
SalesForce leverages its social media and website to put up quality content like blogs, whitepapers, and case studies. Also, it became famous for state of marketing and state of sales annual reports.
Step 4: Sharing knowledge
Salesforce shares knowledge through different platforms and conducted webinars. This way, it established itself as a thought leader.
Step 5: Speaking at events
Salesforce conducts its own annual conference, "Dreamforce,” which has become one of the largest business tech events globally. In the event, Salesforce executives, industry leaders, and partners come together to share insights and discuss the future of digital transformation.
These steps are crucial for anyone who wants to become a thought leader, irrespective of any industry. The most important aspect is to build authenticity and trust among the audience.
