How To Establish Yourself As A Thought Leader

A tight job market means tougher competition. People who hadn’t considered moving a couple of years ago are passively looking. Those casually looking have transitioned from passive to active job seekers.

Today, standing out from your competition is essential.

If you’re a senior executive or pursing those roles, one of the best strategies is to have others see you as an authority in your industry, a thought leader.

One way to be recognized as a thought leader is to share knowledge with your community.

Share What You Read

If you’re like most executives, you stay up on industry trends. Whether you’re reading an article everyday or once a week you should share what you read in a LinkedIn status update. Because most of your connections won’t see it the first time, it’s a good idea to share it several times.

Signing up for a news aggregator is an easy way to gather content to read and share. I use Feedly but there are several options available. (FYI, I’m not affiliated with Feedly.)

Sharing information of interest to your connections 1) helps keep you top of mind, 2) shows you stay abreast of what’s happening in your industry, and 3) you’re focused on professional development.

Share What You Know

Another way to be viewed as a thought leader is to share what you know. If you’re in sales, you know how to win accounts and retain clients. If you’ve been successful in any type of leadership role you likely know how to inspire and motivate teams.

Most senior executives have experience increasing performance, managing a crisis, and getting buy-in from the board.

Whatever your expertise, share it in articles on LinkedIn. They add gravitas to your profile and provide material to share. Just make sure you’re committed to doing it on a regular basis. Posting once every 6 months doesn’t send a good message.

If you have your own website (which can be a good job search tool) consider adding a blog. You can blog on your site and then later post the articles on LinkedIn.

Explore other places to share your knowledge. Everyone from Beto O’Rourke to Jeff Bezos has posted articles on Medium. You can too.

Share What You Think

Being active on LinkedIn doesn’t just mean posting articles and sharing status updates. Share your thoughts and opinions on articles and updates shared by others.

Join LinkedIn groups in your industry. Share your content and ideas there as well. Comment on other people’s contributions. Your LinkedIn headline is posted along with your name every place that you comment. So, it’s a good way to get your name out there.

Whether you’re pursuing a new opportunity or want to move up with your current employer, it’s critical to differentiate yourself from your competition. One way to do that is to be recognized as an authority in your industry. Sharing what you’ve learned through posts, articles, and comments can help establish you as a thought leader.