The Importance of Thought Leadership

What is "thought leadership" and how does it apply to me?

If you're asking this question, you probably already have an entrepreneurial mindset and are ready to utilize what this phrase really means. If you know you're a leader with the next BIG idea who is just itching at the idea of how to push YOUR product, YOUR service, YOUR breakthrough idea to change an industry, and maybe even the world, this just may be the wrap around your brain explanation and motivation you need to start learning how to find YOUR success.

Thought leadership is a breakthrough way of thinking in today’s society. Working a nine-to-five-day job, wasting away for someone else’s dream is becoming a thing of the past as technology, social media, and out of the box ways of thinking are much more accepted and has given us more of an opportunity to become who we’ve always dreamed to be. There are so many out there who dream of becoming, say, the next YouTube sensation, but most fail. Why is that? The answer is simpler and more obvious than you probably even realize.

When you sit back and follow someone else’s dream, streaming their services, their live streams, their YouTube channels, etc., you think you may be studying them and gaining knowledge on how to perfect your craft, your understanding, etc. However, if you’re consuming too much of someone else’s thoughts, you are leaving yourself with limited time to actually work on your own dream. The goal is to be followed and not to follow, but so many of us are either, deep down, too afraid to actually take the leap, or possibly too consumed by thought leadership in others, that we are being blinded and missing it for ourselves. Which, technically is great for the thought leaders we admire because they are doing exactly what they should be doing, and they are doing it successfully. They are growing their following, pushing their product, their service, their ideas and you're falling right in line to make them successful. This is the time where you have to ask yourself if you're just another statistic; another number? Or are you truly utilizing the resources of others around you to grow greater, larger, and to get a step ahead?

Being inspired by others is necessary, however, we have to be sure that we are taking small bits of what others are saying and doing and being able to apply them to ourselves, our unique branding, our unique methods and so forth. As Thought Leaders, we must be able to create something new and fresh and that makes sense so that we can now take the reigns and begin leading. We, in a figurative sense, need to now become the roots of our own fruit bearing tree and stop being the fruit of other trees, who rely on someone else’s roots to help us grow.

It is so important to be inspired and learn from others- these are the traits of not just good leaders, but GREAT leaders. Collaborate, process, be diligent and present what you want to the world in the way YOU would like something presented to YOU. If you think that story you have will be the next million dollar book, write it. If that screenplay you have is only sitting in your mind, write it, if you have a product idea that could save millions of lives, engineer it. And once it's done, decide how YOU, the Thought Leader, will present it to the world in order to change minds, change lives, and find YOUR success.