The purpose of the research is to better understand current and future trends with regard to both thought leadership employees and Corporations involving thought leadership. We will be tracking the following points in our Think-Dojo-Guide(Thought Leadership Guide):
- Thought Leadership is the discipline of leading others to think deeper, see wider and embrace new changes and developments.
- Showing the True North and providing the pathway to get there.
- Being recognized as an authority in a specific field.
- Knowing what’s next.
- Shining a light on new possibilities and the route to realizing them.
- Thought leadership is an idea that is talked about in ways that others may not have considered before.
- Thought leadership is an expertise in a specialized field which also serves to advance that field as it is known.
- A striking point of view that sparks further thought and action.
- Providing relevant, actionable insights on emerging issues and trends.
We found that today’s thought leadership content is far different from it’s traditional stereotype. It no longer has to be peer reviewed, counter-initiative or even collaboratively produced. In fact these, traditional notions of thought leadership such as “peer-reviewed” (42%), “provocative” (36%) and “counter-intuitive” (36%) were cited by the majority as only moderately important.
The key is insightful, forward-looking content that’s timely, relevant, impactful and engaging. Thought leadership consumers cited “insightful” (96%), “relevant” (91%), “forward-looking” (91%) and “impactful” (89%) as extremely important or very important attributes of thought leadership. It also has to be actionable, original and concise – all of which out-ranked the more traditional notions listed earlier.