With both the rise of the knowledge economy and increase in publishing tools on the web, including this very platform on LinkedIn, there has been a greater emphasis on the idea of thought leadership. Influencing people via ideas has been, is currently, and will be discussed for quite some time, but I want to caution you: don't get caught up in the hype. While ideas are extremely important, they aren't the primary role of the leader.
Ideas don't change the world.
People who are acting on ideas change the world.
What I mean by that is quite obvious: recording a podcast, publishing a blog, or even writing an influencer post doesn't accomplish anything unless it leads someone to think differently which leads them to act differently. If all one does is think, read, and write, the world may have something different to discuss, but it will not change in any meaningful way.
True leaders don't use ideas to gain an audience, they lead an audience to implement ideas.
Another way to put this is that the leader's job is not to gain followers, but to lead the people already following him or her to accomplish the task at hand.
This is not to say that ideas and communication aren't important. Quite the contrary! Ideas are the primary impetus to tangible change. But ideas and thoughts alone don't implement changes...they inspire people to act.
Changing the world is not a spectator sport.
So what now? Here are a couple of next steps for you:
- Produce results, not an audience. Your job as a leader is not to gain a cult-like following until you reach some odd superstar status. Your job is to lead the people entrusted to your authority in order to accomplish the task given to your team. You will not be a celebrity. You are not the next _________. Work hard; lead well. Period.
- Reverse engineer your desired outcome. Think about what you need to accomplish, examine the resources you currently have, and figure out a path between then & now. Work backwards from the goal to determine the steps now and in-between. Then act on those steps. Don't think about them. Don't write about them.
- Brainstorm & ideate...then act on the good ones. Part of leadership is innovating in order to accomplish the given task (increasing metrics, launching a new product, etc.). Ideas are an inherent part of innovation, and should definitely not be ignored. There is a time to focus on ideation, and the beginning stages of innovating is the perfect time to do so. However, immediately after the ideas are on the table, filter them, then begin iterating on them. Act.
- Lead people more than you read ideas. Leadership is not about being well-read, but about your people being well-led. Your responsibility is not to be "up to date", but to serve and equip your people to do their jobs as effectively as possible. Keep their plates clean. Run interference. Enable them to do what they do best.