This is a fantastic article on how content expands our horizons, something essential for leaders who, by definition, should have a better view of where they're going.

John Coleman gives a lot of great examples of how leaders shaped their visions from the content they read. And very often, these historical figures were also writers: Winston Churchill himself was a Nobel Prize winner in... literature.  

Knowledge and leadership are tightly connected. Just like learning and sharing. And in today's Web 2.0, this means that knowledge sharing is not just an opportunity to demonstrate thought leadership: it's an obligation.

This great post is about Leadership, not Thought Leadership.

I however decided to curate it here because it highlights an important and often underestimated concept: values that contribute to defining a leader, but unseen.

Building thought leadership is about demonstrating, showing, proving - it's very much outbound. Interesting to consider leadership-building actions that are unseen. How to you reconcile the market necessity of being seen, and these behind the scene values?

In any case, I concur: I recognize leadership in people who forgive, don't seek credit and let other have ideas. Although of course, this is far from sufficient...

Those 5 steps are basic but they make a lot of sense. Though Lori Ruff's starting point to me is confusing, she emphasizes a great simple truth: “in order to be seen as a thought leader, you have to share your thoughts.”  Actively curating content is a great way to do that: by continuously reacting to relevant content on your area of interests or expertise, you can easily make your voice heard and complement your own original creations and ideas.

I so much loved this movie. Powerfully stylish.

Ramli John has a very good point thought: As much as I wouldn't dare tell him face to face, Michael Corleone was wrong! It IS personal. He would need to revise his theory about personal branding.

Maria Elana Duron has another take on it: "I is better than we". Or, "sell the person before you sell the product".

Sudy Bharadwaj explains how to use the 4 Ps of traditional marketing to develop your own brand.

1. Product: be consistent and recognizable
2. Price: Know your value
3. Place: recognize your niche
4. Promotion: communicate your brand

These classical Ps indeed apply to personal branding. But in our online world, the 4th one take a whole new dimension. Knowing your audience and feeding it with frequent, relevant and high quality content is key to promote yourself and is an important task in developing your online personal brand.

Funny but relevant! And it's a good way to explain the benefits of developing your Personal Brand.

"It is much more effective when other people talk about you in a positive fashion compared to self-promotion."

This is a post by K. Tighe for the Scoop.it blog that was published a while ago but which is an evergreen on the practical ways you can start to build thought leadership. As she put it: it's not rocket science: it's rocket fuel! 

Denise Brosseau's 6 steps:

1. Foster Approachability and Be “Of Service” to Others
2. Listen to Learn
3. Join Your Ecosystem (even if it means collaborating with your competitors)
4. Become Discoverable
5. Share Openly
6. Think Relay, Not Sprint

Super relevant. When I talk to clients or businesses, one of the biggest problems seems to accept #3 above. Demonstrating thought leadership today implies a shift in the old communication paradigm. Thanks Denise for highlighting it.

Thanks also for mentioning Scoop.it alongside Twitter and LinkedIn as a place to follow great Thought Leaders!

How Thought Leadership actually impacts business.

The second data point of this survey is equally interesting: according to 80% of the respondents,

"Independent, informative content on company websites authenticates corporate capability, as opposed to mere personal opinions."

Content curation is not thought leadership. But it helps publish independent, informative content and therefore contributes to the demonstration of thought leadership. Eventually yielding actual business benefits.

Three iconic thought leaders: Steve Jobs, Richard Branson and Bill Gates. Thress different styles.

What do they have in commun and what's the take away for the rest of us? Being true to ourself, believing in our intuitions, defining our own path. This is ego-centered. And not sufficient: we also need to want to change the world and to work hard so people embrasse our vision.

Sorry for posting a photo from Steve Jobs, so often used in thought leadership-related media. But he deserves it :)

This post from Gwen Moran is a good way to start the week: these 5 actions might earn us the thought leader status indeed. But let's forget the status for a while: there are real, deep human values here:

1. Face challenges
2. Win trust
3. Be authentic
4. Earn respect
5. Stay curious

Ric Dragon take on Thought Leadership is straight to the point, pragmatic and ROI-oriented. And honnest.

He exposes an important difference betweenThought Leadership and the classical sales tricks: creating long term, altruistic value, not expect immediate return.

Thought Leadership is way more than a sales tactic. It's about being authentic, innovating and inspiring. It's a good thing that it's also a valuable way to develop a brand - and therefore, sales.