Recognizing a Thought Leadership Moment in Your Industry

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For all of the discussion that’s being had about thought leadership marketing and social media, one of the most important aspects of the conversation that’s usually squelched by the “bright shiny object syndrome” piece of the conversation is the need to keep your eyes and ears open for emerging thought leadership moments that you can capitalize on.

That said, on the other end of the spectrum is what happens when organizations have a thought leadership tick (creating a white paper just because…with no thought leadership strategy) or when they have a “social media seizure” (starting a Twitter account because your competitor started one yesterday, again, with no strategy). However, there’s a happy medium.  In fact, from a PR perspective, this is really not much different than capitalizing on a news items or trend that intersects well with your offering, but taking a thought leadership approach on an issue takes a sustained effort and is not episodic.

What’s a Thought Leadership Moment?

My definition of a Thought Leadership Moment is an opportunity to gain share of voice and share of mind by establishing a point of view on a current issue or trend in the marketplace and having the conversation that your competitors aren’t already having.  I recently overheard someone talking about a small study that they saw from a company that made high school locker room equipment about the effect of hygene habits on the spread of the flu in schools.  (I’ve yet to be able to find a link to this study, however).  This is a good example of a thought leadership moment for the company, if they have the pieces in place (we’ll talk about that in a minute).  They’ve capitalized on a trend by establishing a point of view, conducting relevant and timely research, they’ve shared that with their target market and simultaneously educated their audience while articulating their solution to the problem. For those of you who are fans of Andy Grove and Intel, one could also define these simply as “inflection points”.

How do I recognize a thought leadership moment?

If you agree that thought leaders should be the best listeners (most leaders are great listeners), then you’re already on your way. Part of finding the right thought leadership moment is keeping an ear to the market and understanding what conversation is taking place, your place in it and the deciding where you think that conversation should go, or where it’s currently lacking.  Thought leadership moments often come in many forms, but these are a few that we see most often:

A significant shift or change in your industry or field – Patents expire, flu season + school season, new regulations, a major competitor enters/exits, innovations, etc.  Major shifts or trends in a market that precipitate your audience to seek knowledge and wisdom are great catalyst and prime thought leadership moments.  The story above about the locker room equipment company producing a thought leading piece of research on flu in schools could be followed up (in thought leadership, there’s always follow up) by a webinar on best practices in locker room hygiene which could also discuss the need for antibacterial locker room floor mats or something…

Recognition that getting your ideas out ahead of your competitors is critical to success – Thought leadership moments come when an organization has a so-called “window of opportunity” to make a first-mover or fast-follower advance. For example, the recession is changing the ways and processes of many industries. Flexible work, downmarket seeking, value-based products, and a more holistic view of how vendors integrate to help grow a business are just some of the changes that are stretching organizations beyond their elastic points and ushering in effects that will be felt for a long time, and which may never return to the way they were before. The thought leading organization will see this as an opportunity to get out in front of an issue with their point of view to garner share of voice, mind and market.

No one’s having the conversation you want to have in the industry or in your area – Another event that occurs while people are distracted by the economy, the administration in Washington, bright shiny objects or anything else that keeps them from focusing on the core conversation that the market thinks that they should have.  This often comes through a customer conversation where someone says “yeah, but no one’s really solving the real problem with X…”  There’s no better time to establish your thought leadership on that issue and start the conversation that really needs to take place in the market.  A slight variation on this them is when you’re bringing something new to your local area. Whether it’s a new technology or process or way or doing business, the future is here, it’s just not evenly distributed (apologies to William Gibson). Being the thought leader in your local area can be worth a great deal.

There are many more thought leadership moments that I’m sure you’ll find in your journey, however, if you see any or all of the above occurring in your industry now, this is a great time to capitalize on the opportunity and launch your thought leadership intitiative today.