Watch the following video about becoming a thought leader:
There are many ways to observe the concept of thought leadership in practice. A thought leader can be an innovative person, a brilliant executive, a community or a spiritual leader. However, the objective here is to understand the employment of thought leadership by organizations as an instrument to develop strategic positioning to differentiate and lead in the industry. Organizations who adopt thought leadership as their strategic positioning, are seeking to build their brand, to develop brand awareness, to build a unique platform for competitive differentiation, to build deeper relationships with customers, to be heard above all the noise in the marketplace or to get important stakeholders on board with a companys strategic plans (Kettler and Van Halderen, 2011).
Thought leadership is often used to describe innovative thinking many times without a clear relation to communication activities. In other cases, people consider thought leadership as being no more than a buzzword. But it is more than that: The essence of thought leadership is that it helps an organization to develop thought-provoking, innovative, and transformative ideas covering anything from technology to ethics. Communicating a wider or new perspective on existing issues from a novel point of view and help to transform key elements can be considered thought leadership.
Instructions
All essays should include a cover/title page and references/works cited page as applicable to MLA or APA.
While most research describes thought leaders or leadership experts, they can also be visionaries observant to what is happening in their organization or from the consumer sideline. Thought leaders do not limit themselves to the confines of their own ideas. Instead, they share their expectations up front and then encourage creativity. Thought leaders look for more than just their own best interest. They seek the interest of an entire group by working to solve problems and exploring new and different ideas. So, develop a 2-3 page essay.
Brainstormyour current workplace or one familiar to you. What trends have you been seeing? What kinds of problems have employees/customers been having?
Choose1 or 2 issues that are the most relevant to employees and/or customers. What can you say about those issues you believe to be unique and/or relevant?
What does the organization/company want to excel in besides profit? Share a great consumer story from yourself or someone you know that could benefit the company. Then describe a real problem in the same scenario and how the organization moved forward or plans to move forward to solve the problem.
And finally, in a summary paragraph and after briefly wearing a thought leadership hat, share your thoughts and opinions on how a thought leader can be valued in an organization. It starts by asking some simple questions when you step into your inner thought leader; how would you le build value in your contributions? Even if youre an introvert. Even if youre not the top of your field. Even if youve never wanted to lead anyone.
