You may wonder, how does one become a thought leader? Do you need to go to thought leadership school? No! Anyone can be a thought leader by following these 6 simple steps. 

You may come across people on LinkedIn who describe themselves as thought leaders, and you may wonder, how does one become a thought leader? Do you need to go to thought leadership school? Get a thought leadership degree? Is it a title like Sir or Lady that is bestowed by a member of a royal or grand ducal family?

Becoming a thought leader is actually quite easy if you follow these steps.  

Call yourself a thought leader  

No one ever spontaneously referred to another person as a thought leader no matter how intelligent, insightful, or outspoken they were. You have to call yourself a thought leader. Give it a try. “I am a thought leader.” It feels good and right, doesn’t it? 

Mention it often  

Now that you are a thought leader, you need to let the world know. Say it in your LinkedIn bio. Put it at the top of your CV. Fit it into every conversation at every networking event. Mention it to restaurant servers. “That was tasty spaghetti carbonara, but as a thought leader, I found it a bit dry.” 

Get thought followers  

What is a leader without followers? To show the world that you are the real deal, you’ll need to recruit dozens or hundreds of people to refer to themselves as your thought followers. Have them put it on their LinkedIn profiles. Ensure that they like every social media post you make. Punish them if they do not. 

Share links to articles you haven’t read  

You may think that as a thought leader, you have to keep up with the latest news and ideas by reading tons of articles every week. Wrong! All you have to do is give the impression you do. Let other schmucks read and discuss heavy, complex content. You should therefore aim to share four to five article links per week on LinkedIn, followed by these exact words and nothing more. “Great read. Thoughts?” 

Use lofty language to describe your professional activity  

It doesn’t matter if you’re a mediocre CEO of a company of five people, a department head despised by your team, or a senior officer. You need to use the loftiest of language to describe yourself and your career. Think of the Dada art movement of the 1920s. Gutenberg creating the printing press. Neil Armstrong stepping on the moon. That’s you! “As a junior accountant and thought leader, I strive to break barriers, revolutionize society, and change world history.” 

Take on other thought leaders in a bid for thought leadership supremacy   

What happens when you meet someone else who says she’s also a thought leader? And next to her is a man who says he’s a thought leader? How many thought leaders can you have? If everyone is a thought leader, is anyone a thought leader? Prove yourself by challenging them to thought leadership battles: speed posting on LinkedIn, using the most idiotic jargon, and hopping around to the greatest number of companies and leaving the longest trail of unfinished projects.  
  
If you win, you may become more than a thought leader; you might just become a thought king, thought queen, or even thought emperor.

Read more at wurst.lu