This week in our thought leadership roundup, we take a look at a case study on essential thought leadership elements, what one CMO has to say about thought leadership and content marketing, and the business secrets of a Twitter cofounder.
Three Essential Elements of a Thought Leadership Strategy: A Case Study
From LinkedIn:
“It’s possible to create interesting thought leadership if you don’t understand your brand — but your ideas will be off topic, off tone, and off strategy, thus confusing your audience rather than attracting potential clients. That’s why it’s essential that you connect your thought leadership to your brand personality, messages, and strategy. If your brand stands for being edgy and cutting edge, then your thought leadership should adopt an edgy tone. If you aspire to be a global brand, then your choice of topics should appeal to an international audience, and you should go out of your way to represent your company with international thought leaders.”
Our take: It’s great to finally see some truly concrete studies going on around the effectiveness of the thought leadership movement. One of the best ways to learn, and to hone your own business strategy, is through the consumption of case studies and data.
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Do You Really Want To Be A Thought Leader?
From Business2Community:
“I find the term ‘thought leadership’ pretentious. By definition, thought leaders are the recognized experts in their field who are considered authorities and educators. In other words, they are fonts of wisdom, and somehow that knowledge is meant to keep or capture business. Here is my problem with this approach: Consumers in the digital world are more empowered and open to multiple sources of information and ideas. They sample and choose what is relevant to them. They don’t just read news and information, they engage with it. They are looking for ideas and conversation starters.”
Our take: Engaging your customers in real, actionable dialogue is one of the most valuable things business leaders can do. Throwing content at them that you suspect is relevant is nothing compared to taking the time to discover what your users really want to talk about.
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How To Succeed Without Being A Workaholic
From Forbes:
“For Stone, conceptual blending between theater and startups was his X-factor. It gave him unique insights beyond others in the tech industry. His knack for understanding a customer’s pain points derives from his acting years, when he learned to empathize and put himself in other peoples’ shoes. His charisma on stage later translated to the boardroom, where he won over investors instead of audience members.
‘If you want to be good at what you do, you have to have new, varied experiences as much as possible,’ Stone explained. ‘I’ve always thought that creativity and problem-solving comes from lateral thinking. In other words, the ability to connect dots you otherwise couldn’t connect if you didn’t have a robust set of experiences to draw from.’”
Our take: The fact that Stone is a cofounder of one of the world’s most well-known and innovative companies makes this piece worth the read, but more importantly, what he says makes a lot of sense. And since we love mind mapping, his comments about connecting unprecedented experiences falls right in line with how we get things done.
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The post Thursday Thought Leadership Roundup: Essential Elements, One CMO’s Perspective, and a Twitter Cofounder Shares His Secret appeared first on via @Mindjet's Conspire #ideasquad.