Thought Leadership in Changing Times

I was in the audience of an FT Latitude breakfast briefing this morning, listening to the changing nature of thought leadership for the modern environment. Here's what I learned...

How can you best get through to your audience?

Lesson 1: It's not that big ideas are done, it's that readers are over them

The teenies were characterised by lots of headline about transformation. Big ideas, for a time when only a few knew what that really meant and lots of people wanted to jump on the bandwagon. The FT's research showed that articles about 'digital transformation' are in decline, but articles on specific tech, such as AI, are on the rise. No shock...it's because readers want real. Too many PR flaks have flooded the cybersphere with articles that have little acton-oriented impetus. And now we see the reaction.

Lesson 2: Be more personal

Employees and customers want to hear from real people. Organisations are a collection of humans. Hopefully the pendulum is about to swing back away from buzzword-laden tirades. If leaders are better received when they act naturally, and strategy is better executed when it's relevant to everyone in a business, shouldn't our thought leadership reflect these truths?

I think there are some very simple, but often overlooked takeaways here. Sometimes in trying to be clever, we miss the point. A simple story, simply told will always resonate better when directed at the right audience. Yes, it's harder to be succinct - the fable of the journalist who 'didn't have time to make it shorter' comes to mind - but let's try, shall we?