Thought Leadership - what is it? Is it important? | Contented Online

Thought Leadership - what is it? Is it important?

Throughout my career, which started in copywriting and has moved through journalism and marketing management, I have often been tasked with creating "thought leadership" for a company or an individual. The first time I heard it I nodded solemnly. "Of course," I replied. "I understand completely."

But I didn't really.

Most companies (and humans) working in the technology field are assaulted with this term from time to time. Just now, I looked for a definition in one of my favorite places, Wikipedia. Here is how they define it:

The term was coined in 1994, by Joel Kurtzman, editor-in-chief of the Booz, Allen & Hamilton magazine, Strategy & Business. The term was used to designate interview subjects for that magazine who had business ideas that merited attention...Since that time, the term has spread from business to other disciplines and has come to mean someone who enlivens old processes with new workable ideas. As a result, there are thought leaders in the sciences, humanities and in government.

So that's our job, here in content creation: helping you demonstrate that you "enliven old processes with new workable ideas".  The truth is, if you have started a company, or have a successful company, you are doing exactly that. The problem is, not everyone knows about it.

You have to tell them.

This is why blogs are becoming more and more important - you need to get the information flowing, fast. Manufacturing marketing collateral like brochures and web pages is important in the long run, but in the short run blogs can help you on your way to showing the market what you can do. Blogs also help people understand where you are coming from, how you (or your company) think(s), and gives you a fluid base for communication with customers and potential customers.

The problem is, blogging does take time. Do you have it? Might it be worth getting a blogging expert to help you crystallize some ideas and put the content out there?

Food for thought.