Many innovators put off building a thought leadership strategy until it’s too late. Worse still they never do it and pay a heavy price.

Waiting until your innovation is “ready” is way too late.

Here’s why you need to build a thought leadership strategy.

1. Becoming a recognised authority in your field of innovation will bring you invaluable credibility and visibility: your people will see you as someone to trust, so they will trust your innovation more easily.

2. An effective thought leadership strategy builds traction with investors and clients. Investors take a long hard look at a leader’s reputation and vision and fret about more than ROIs and market fit. Clients will engage more fluidly with the what when they get the who.

3. Positioning yourself as a coherent thought leader is as important as being authentic because many competitors won’t or can’t. When you do it, you build a competitive edge and a differential reputation. Both are priceless.

4. By deploying your thought leadership early on in the game, you help the people essential to your mission understand what you are trying to achieve and why. You bring your people on your innovation journey with you from the beginning, so they become an active part of the journey and will do more than just root for you. They’ll be invested in your success.

5. You’ll garner momentum and excitement around your innovation and its impact, keeping your people engaged and you and your team motivated. Things take way longer than we think, and enthusiasm dwindles in a void.

6. Explaining your innovation and vision early on and engaging with your target investors and prospects can help you identify potential market issues and forewarn you of any resistance. Then, you can address them in time.

7. If you build your thought leadership beyond the innovation itself to articulate an overarching vision of positive change and impact in the world, no matter how small or big that world, you will become a leader with something relevant to say that resonates with a broader base.

Like with everything in life, you have to start somewhere.

As an innovator or a disruptor, it’s pretty easy to have something relevant to say. So say it.

Just start!

Start small – you don’t need to post every day (please don’t)
Talk about your innovation – no matter what stage it’s at
Explaining why you started this innovation journey
Discuss your hopes and dreams and what’s important to you
Talk about how what you are doing will help others

Once you have a coherent strategy, a clear roadmap, and some help – you’ll see that thought leadership isn’t as challenging as you thought.

You will reap the rewards.

Find out more about what thought leadership can do for your success.

Maybe you need a little bit of guidance or a teeny, tiny push.

Book a free 30-minute session with me and I’ll help you start. (just DM me on Linkedin)

Why wouldn’t you?