​

​

​

​

​

The 9 Steps to Become a Thought Leader

There's a battle raging for our attention and it makes it very hard for anyone to stand out.

At the same time, standing out and being seen as a thought leader is more valuable than ever.

That’s because communication is increasingly personalised thanks to social media and AI: people trust people. We want to hear from people we trust rather than abstract entities.

What’s more, companies and consumers are becoming more purpose-driven. This reinforces the importance of thought leadership. Customers and stakeholders want to know who they are dealing with and what their values are.

If you’re a founder and don’t pursue thought leadership, your company’s valuation is likely to be harmed. As a CEO, you won’t reach your company’s full revenue potential without thought leadership. And as a communications professional, if you are not trying to turn your organisation’s leaders into thought leaders, you are missing out on one of the most effective tools you have at your disposal.

You may wonder: what exactly is a thought leader? A thought leader is a business leader, perceived as a leading voice on a relevant topic or in his or her industry. Thought leaders don't follow trends, they make trends. They're future-oriented and think long-term. People listen to what they have to say.

There is substance to what thought leaders have to say. Thought leaders are not influencers and they are not famous for being famous. Often they are famous for the few, not the many. In fact, thought leaders often speak to a small audience, because they are experts in that particular field or niche.

If you see the benefit in becoming one, here are 9 steps that can get you there, if executed well.

Step 1: Devise your strategy

A strategy is a master plan for how to get from the place you are now to the place you want to be in the fastest and most effective way. Developing a strategy entails several steps. First of all, you need to be clear about the objective. Second, define your audience. Finally, you need to be clear about your positioning, as it must be unique and specific.

Step 2: Develop your narrative

With a strong and personal narrative, you will gain the trust of your audience. This is why I insist on the importance of a personal story in your narrative, and not just your professional narrative. In addition to your personal and professional story, you need a topic that can be summarised in one word and an original point of view on that topic.

Step 3: Perform a digital makeover

Who do you appear to be online? What do people see when they check Google, LinkedIn or Spotify? Remove everything you no longer think is relevant or may mislead people and replace it with your narrative.

Step 4: Choose your channel

Thought leaders are often very visible on one channel of choice. Diluted focus gets diluted results. Try to be big on one platform - the one that is most prominent with your audience.

Step 5: Craft your signature talk

Your aim is to craft a signature talk on your topic that presents your point of view in an engaging, authentic way – a talk that feels right and is in line with who you are and your values. You want to make sure that you craft a talk worthy of your time and your audience's time.

Step 6: Gain visibility

Social media is like gravity. It is non-negotiable. However, your social media presence alone is unlikely to turn you into a thought leader. In addition to your main platform, you want to ensure that the media feature you, that you are a guest on podcasts and that you speak at events. Gaining visibility in the media, on podcasts, and at events, in addition to social media allows you to enter a virtuous circle. This is how you create momentum.

Step 7: Inspire internally

A leader's role is to develop a strategy and guide the business in that direction. To execute any strategy, you need to convince your team to follow you. As a leader, you can devise an excellent strategy, but if no one is there to follow you, it will just not happen. You must figure out how you want to inspire internally. It’s so important to have a genuine purpose and a mission to keep a team engaged.

Step 8: Protect yourself

The more visible you are, the more you may become a target. It is your job as a leader to ensure that your company and yourself are prepared, whatever happens. As a CEO or leader in an organisation, you will be the one to face the music if anything goes wrong in your company, internally and externally. Fail to prepare = prepare to fail.

Step 9: Become unignorable

You want to be so good and so visible that no one in your target group can ignore you. This means you really need to differentiate yourself. You can achieve this by writing books, starting a podcast, or launching a network of like-minded people.

Now that the process is clear, are you to take the first step?

​

Podcast Insights

Sven Lackinger is the co-founder of Sastrify, the go-to software procurement company to manage and maintain software within your enterprise that just raised a €30m Series-B round.

What’s their recipe for success? “We try to be everywhere where our customers are. These are the people who need to know that we exist.” Brutally simple yet effective.

If you want to learn how Sastrify finds its customers and communicates strategically with the right people in order to unlock growth, check out this week’s podcast episode with Sven Lackinger.

Listen on Spotify and Apple:

​

Let's Meet

I’m speaking at three events in the coming weeks. I’d love to see you there.

Seeking Growth - How message-market fit unlocks revenue for your startup with Jag Singh & Oliver Aust (in English)

June 14th, 6 pm, Online

Sign up here​

CEO-Kommunikation: Von Null auf Thought Leader with Oliver Aust & Bettina Hausmann (in German)

June 15th, 5 pm, Online

Sign up here​

Comms Meetup with Jag Singh and Oliver Aust (in English)

June 21st, 6:30-9:30 pm, @Wooga

If you are a startup communicator in Berlin and would like to attend, just reply to this email with your name, position and company.

​

Best,

Oliver

P.S. Know someone who might benefit from our weekly insights? Please forward them this email so they can sign up here and get a free chapter from my book 'Message Machine'.

Whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways Eo Ipso can help you:

1. Become a thought leader so you can drive the success of your company.

2. Tell your brand story and explain your value proposition in a clear way.

3. Protect your reputation before or when a crisis hits.

Schedule a free call with us here.

Friedrichstraße 68, 10117 Berlin

​Unsubscribe · Preferences​