 Are you delivering more value than you’re communicating?
The title of this post might be somewhat misleading to you. This article is not about how to become the smartest, most experienced expert in a given field of endeavor. That’s really a prerequisite to what we’re about to cover here, which is how to let the world know you’re a thought leader in your field. Big difference. It may be about ego. But for our purposes, it’s about billing. So if you’re looking for tips on nixing those zits in your headshot, look elsewhere. Thought leadership translates to “trusted authority,” which means more and better booking for your services—and a premium for your time. Before you begin As we mentioned at the outset, this article is directed at people who already have substantial expertise and experience under their belts. If that’s you, you have the scars and the war stories to prove it. Very little can surprise you these days. But that doesn’t make you jaded. To the contrary: It makes you eager to share what you’ve learned with others, to help them lift their game to the best-practice standard for which you stand. (If you lack that world-leading experience, don’t fret. You can build yourself to that level. Check one of our previous articles on topics such as how to promote your independent consulting business.) The cobbler’s-children dilemma “The cobbler’s children have no shoes.” That’s the adage. For you, this probably resonates. It means “You’ve been so busy doing the actual work of helping clients succeed, that it’s come at the cost of self-promotion which could actually lead to better and more lucrative engagements.” So committing to becoming a thought-leader requires a commensurate commitment of time and effort. This simply won’t happen on its own. The world will not come to you. That said, make an effort. Carve time out of your schedule for these reputation-building activities, and stick to it. It’s just like getting yourself into shape: The less you talk about it, and the more you actually do it, the more benefit you’ll see. Cull The subhead of this article--“Are you delivering more value than you’re communicating?”—should’ve made you sit up and take notice. There’s a very good chance that you’ve got groundbreaking, paradigm-shattering insights in your own possession, gathering digital dust in some forgotten folder on your hard drive. What was that assignment that really pushed the envelope of conventional thinking? How could you effectively cloak its client-sensitive details to turn the world on its head—and let you claim credit for doing so? In other words, don’t reinvent the wheel. (Alert: this may be the most proverb-heavy article we’ve posted to date!) Don’t try and scare up a game-changing opportunity when you’ve already done it, but the world doesn’t know it. That’s the gist of the “delivering more value than you’re communicating” slant, as it applies to this challenge. And don’t think that just because your client is in Industry A, that others in Industry B won’t be bowled over. That’s as myopic as believing there are no other potential clients awaiting you in Industry A! You want to find this prior work of yours—even if it includes brilliantly-conceived proposals that didn't fly or projects that were short-shrifted by budget cuts—and use it to set up the next phase of elevating your thought-leadership status… Tell the world In a word, Duh! But while this may seem like a no-brainer, it’s certainly not a no-effort-er. It takes work to transform your boundary-pushing and provocative ideas out to the masses. Fortunately in the digital age, you have a wealth of dissemination tools at your disposal. Dare we list some of them? Sure: Want to be more ambitious? Hire a P.R. firm. They can get you local and national coverage, which includes the added credibility of the unbiased third-party “source,” even if the germ of the story comes from you and the agency. They can help position you as an expert resource in the event of a fast-breaking news story (assuming you can make yourself available). Heck, see if they can get you your own TED talk. Which leads to the final topic of this article: Push the edge Don’t forget the “leadership” part of “thought leadership.” This isn’t just about your past brilliant successes. It’s also about your approach to future assignments and your expert “read” on the trends that are re-shaping your industry landscape. While your goal shouldn’t be to be regarded as an academic, you can still float provocative theories and predictions that set the world abuzz. You may get some blowback, but that’s a small price to pay for the exposure, the notoriety, and the increased billing that will follow.
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