Terrified of tariffs? Scared of sanctions? Antsy about AI? Mulling mergers? Rueful of regulation? Edgy about your ESG and DEI positions? The world has changed.

You need to refresh your thought leadership (TL) content – and probably much of your other content too, to fit the new context.

We can help you consider the best channels, design, format, tone and topics to move your audience, customers or clients. These things change with changing times. Thankfully, though, some things stay the same. Here are 10 practical elements to consider when embarking on thought leadership content, programmes or campaigns.
 

1. New hat or old hat? When you’re deciding on a TL topic, check whether others have had the same idea. If you’re merely repeating others’ work, you can end up making your firm look like a laggard, and your efforts may even emphasise the timelier work of other organisations. You might get internal kudos for good design or your collaboration and communication chops, but the work itself is not going to move the needle because it has been done elsewhere. 
2. Have we got the expertise in house? Be honest. Is the most promising business team full of thinkers? Maybe it’s full of salespeople who focus on their role. This doesn’t necessarily close off a project, but you need to be realistic and practical. If they are not going to contribute much, then the TL project team may have to reach out to external subject matter experts (SMEs). And if your TL is going to be full of external experts rather than supported by your own organisation’s team, is this really the right topic for TL focus in the first place? 
3. Willing hands. You need them. If you have a star player or team that’s making markets and powering ahead, it’s tempting to think: “Yes, we have our differentiator. There’s our topic.” But if the people in this team are maxed out on commercial work, or uninterested in participating, then think again. It’s easy to underestimate the SME time that must go into quality thought leadership. A smart and organised TL project team can take some of the strain, but SMEs need to be up for it. Some may even need approval or incentives from their own manager before they sign up. 
4. Can your firm make money out of this? It sounds obvious, but the early involvement of business development functions, wider marketing and account managers will bring you valuable feedback and direction. Your TL piece might not be ready for publication or circulation for six months, so you need to make sure the topic is going to be an area of commercial focus down the line.  
5. What’s that coming over the hill? Great thought leadership associates itself with the future more than the present, but be careful. If it’s looking too far into the future, that could be a problem. “If you are too early,” said Anna Wintour, Vogue’s editor-in-chief, “no one understands, and if you’re too late, no one cares”, and she knows. TL is not the same as blue sky thinking, but rather an ingenious extension of thinking. Your topic and scenarios must be recognisable as likely or possible, and relatively soon. 
6. Does your thought leadership proposal fit the business strategy? Do the topics and direction (at least in part) match what you want to be known for as a business? Most companies have strategies and values of some form in place, so it’s important that the TL topics fit with these. Again, early consultation will bring you useful feedback and give people (including the most senior people) a chance to get used to the TL ideas you are developing. That’s not to say that everyone must agree on everything. You are trying to create something new and distinctive that probably describes a world – a market, sector or behaviour – that’s different from how it is today. Not everyone is going to find that a comfortable process. 
7. Make sure your thought leadership includes distinctive commentary. Is the market interested? Are you taking a distinct position, or sitting on a fence? There are thought leadership and insights in the Financial Times and countless other publications each day. You want your ideas and presentation to be more arresting than these – dare to be contrary, dare to focus on one interesting angle rather than trying to cover too many bases to appear knowledgeable. You want your rivals to think: “Damn, I wish I’d thought of that”, or even “Damn, I wish I’d been bold enough to follow up on that idea we had last year.”  
8. Are your thought leadership plans investible? Or, said another way, does your project have senior sponsorship and support? Great work is not enough, it must be great work that is well supported. Senior buy in is also the solution to many other practical hurdles. If your star player in a certain role says they have no time to devote to a TL project, they may feel differently if their boss, or their boss’s boss, asks them to do just that. Admittedly, there is a counter argument. You sometimes need a demonstration or example of what you mean before others will invest their time and support. Sooner or later though, you’ll need the blessing of leadership or a senior sponsor. The project won’t have much of a chance without it, so start early! 
9. Have a solid internal comms plan. The last thing you want to hear from BD, marketing, sales and commercial partners is this: “Yes, we saw that. It’s great. How did that happen? If only we’d known about it… it’s too late now. Love the images. So cool we’re doing this sort of thing.” Internal communications is one of the most important elements in your thought leadership programme. It may even be that good TL with a good internal comms plan beats great TL without one. If large parts of the organisation are talking intelligently, persuasively and enthusiastically (including to each other) about the TL ideas, and if clients are listening and asking questions, well, that’s about the biggest marker of success you could wish for. 
10. Is your thought leadership making an actionable point, or points? It needs to be doing that. It’s ok to make a series of searing insights. It’s far better, though, if the audience is guided towards actions and answers. And better still if these involve further engagement with your firm and its services. Describing problems and challenges is part of most business content, but good TL also describes solutions. It’s not about cramming everything you and your business know on a topic into a report, or about letting a persuasive senior person roll out their hobby horse. It’s about focus, focus, focus – what few things do I most need to know? 

For help creating winning thought leadership programmes for your business, please get in touch.

The list of ‘ten practical elements’ was compiled by Andrew Smith and Marc DonFrancesco.