4 QUALITIES STARTUP LEADERS MUST BUILD TO HAVE INFLUENCE IN THEIR INDUSTRY
When you struggle with personal branding the way I’ve described in 3 Things Keeping You From Building an Impactful Personal Brand, you probably can’t escape the feeling that the whole enterprise is a frivolous or superficial one. Something that feeds your ego and little else.
Because of this, I advocate that instead of focusing on building your personal brand, you aim for growing your thought leadership.
Now, let’s be clear.
On some level, we’re just arguing semantics here. And there will be plenty of you that still roll your eyes at the concept of trying to be a thought leader.
I get it.
We’ve all seen those cringe-worthy people on LinkedIn who have “thought leader” as their title or headline. I put them in the same camp as people who call themselves visionaries or gurus.
They tend to be a little more focused on the title or the recognition than on the work and expertise to back it up. And no one wants to be that guy (and I’m using “guy” as a non-gendered word here. Partly because I hate the term “gal”, and “girl” is too diminutive, and it’s simply easier. Just a stylistic choice, not wanting to overlook inclusivity here).
But I’ve thought a lot about this concept and have my own way of looking at what makes a Thought Leader.
I’ve read nearly every book or blog post that I could uncover on the subject. I’ve thought about the hundreds of non-fiction and memoir authors whose content I have devoured. I’ve had countless discussions with other leaders and thinkers in this personal branding and thought leadership space.
This is all to say this conception isn’t half-baked.
Undoubtedly it will continue to evolve, as it does to slight degrees nearly every time I wind up in a heated discussion around it, but it comes from a thoughtful, and well-considered space.
As I’ve developed and discussed this concept, it always sparks a lively conversation and I’ve found many of the impressive leaders, entrepreneurs, and business professionals who struggle with this whole personal branding idea find this direction not only more palatable but also rather inspiring and worth pursuing.