A few weeks ago, I had a chat with a fellow thought leader, and we were discussing the insights of her content. Together, we decided to map out a visual framework for her content – and suddenly, she had a flash of insight about how her ideas worked in concert with one another. For a moment, she was a superhero!
If we hadn’t had that conversation, she might have missed that insight – and I’m glad I was there, to see her in action. When thought leaders lend one another their experience and become part of a community, we elevate the entire field.
I doubt any of us said as a child, “I want to be a thought leader when I grow up!”
Every person who practices thought leadership comes into the field in a different way. Some people were driven entrepreneurs, or brilliant experts in specialized fields, like HR or marketing. Others have already had long careers as skilled leaders in massive organizations. Those are our origin stories, like in superhero movies. And they’re all different.
The thing we have in common is that we decided to share our insights with others.
Most thought leaders didn’t study the field in college, or work a summer internship under a thought leadership mentor. We’re all new at this, and there’s no established road-map for becoming a real voice in the thought leadership world. So, we need to learn from each other.
Because sharing ideas, supporting peers and colleagues, and helping each other improve is exactly what superheroes do.
On LinkedIn, the Org TL group has become one of the largest gatherings of professionals who create, curate, and deploy thought leadership on behalf of their organizations. If you practice thought leadership on behalf of your organization, we’d love to have you join our monthly OrgTL Roundtable.
Register in advance for this meeting. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
And if you’d like to do a “get to know each other” or catch-up call with me, here’s a link to my calendar.
I’d love to talk shop about thought leadership with you.
Warmly,
Bill Sherman
Co-Founder |Org TL