As independents we've been hearing the drums from not too far away about the importance of thought leadership.  Virtually, every speaker at the AIP (Alliance of Independent Pracitioners) monthly seminars has proclaimed that 'thought leaders" should be able to offer and disperse a range of advice on every topic imaginable, from buidling trusted relationships to marketing strategic advice.  In the blogsphere, we see daily the emergence of writer's, PR practitioners, social marketers and marketing communications professionals, declaring  his or her own thought leadership platform.

Back to basics

Independent communicators should know that deep knowledge and experience accumulated through every project is the most strategic weapon they have.  Their personal brand is also honed from personal experience and is becoming important in the age of peer to peer communications.

Knowledge and personal experience go hand in hand, have influence over one another and can be a powerful combination.

Toolkit

The use of glossy marketing in opening the door to potential clients is not longer the way to go.  Getting in the door is now about making this powerful combination of professional experience, personal brand and knowledge into a toolkit .  It's one way to optimize thought leadership towards influencing both knowledge and relationships with the ultimate goal of generating business.

As a professional communicator you probably spend a lot of time building context within organizations.  Thought leadership leverages this actiivity by generating even more knowledge, which adds to the pool of resources Directors and Managers can pull from when driving solutions.  When carried out well, thought leadership will help you navigate within an organization and across lines of business. 

Summary

Nowadays positioning thought leadership as an attribute to your brand is essential. More and more companies are using PR to position advisors and marketing communications to measure results.

There may be a lot of noise out there, but good thought leadership never develops in a vacuum, rather it creates a community of interest.