What’s the beating heart ❤ of thought leadership?
Sadly, It’s not ideas 💡. Good ideas are table stakes.
I believe the heart of thought leadership is marketing and sales.
Let’s assume you (or your organization) has a really good idea.
Congratulations. ✨
That’s a really good start, but it will never be enough.
If you want your idea to reach scale, then — you need others to “buy in” to your idea.
✅ Internal colleagues
✅ Customers and clients
✅ Industry groups
✅ Regulators
✅ Media
✅ Policy Makers
Why should they give your idea any attention? 👀
Busy people don’t have time. ⏳
Good ideas are cheap.
We can watch a 💯 TEDx talks for free.
When an idea is “sold” — it’s not about money 💵 changing hands.
It means your audience says:
👂 I hear you.
🧠 I agree with you.
👉 I will take action.
And that’s the psychology of influence.
That’s the world of marketing and sales.
There’s a lot that thought leadership can learn from:
💬 social selling
🛒 point-of-purchase decisioning
🔎 account based marketing
⚙ complex enterprise sales
🤝 relationship management
Because it’s not enough to have a good idea 💡.
You need to master the marketing and sale of ideas.
Do you agree with me or disagree?