This class is the first time I have heard of the term of "thought leadership" althought the concept is not foreign (no one living in the apple world is unaware of thought leadership). I struggled to think that you can become a thought leader- I am not creative, and tend to be a better manager than a leader. However, according to Forbes, a thought leader can be created in four steps.
What do you think? Can you become a thought leader? How important are thought leaders to today's corporations?
I think the article is interesting and makes it seem very simple to create the thought leadership image for a company. However, it is the implementation of their four steps that sounds very difficult.
ReplyDeleteI like the example of coke becoming a thought leader on clean water, as it is part of their value-chain. When I first heard of their campaigns I found it ironic that a soda maker selling us sugary drinks would care about clean water, but it seems to make more sense to me today.
I think thought leaders are very important internally at companies, however the company culture must support questioning not just from senior management, but from all employees to really grow exponentially.
I try to understand the concept of thought leader. To me, Apple seems a good example of this type. But I wonder why visionary is not part of the steps. Does that mean thought leader should focus on thinking hard who you are and what doing rather than what you want to be?
ReplyDeleteThis is a term that floats around my company. I do think that it is important to define some level of expertise for yourself. I think the most about this term when I see people's resumes on linkedin, there are some many people out there that are a jack of trades however they are a mast of none at the same time. I think remaining flexible is key but defining your own level of expertise is right step to thought leadership.
ReplyDelete-Pam
I would like to know how to identify those in the organizations that are considered thought leaders. Is it those who are subject matter experts? Refering to Pam's post, is it better to be a more diverse employee or an expert?
ReplyDeleteGood point Candace. I think in today's world you are expected to be above average in many areas rather than an expert on one thing. With the recession, at least as my company, many people had to expand their responsibilities and take on new work. This made many people in my company more marketable and we have found that many of these people left the firm for better or bigger jobs.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right Tyler. Even though doing more with less seems like a bad thing I know several people who have taken on additional responsibilities over the past few years as a result of others being laid off and have now either been promoted or been hired at other companies with a higher paying job.
ReplyDelete