Essential Skills And Traits For Thought Leaders

Josh Steimle 

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

My life changed the day in 2012 I sat down with my fellow Forbes contributor Cheryl Conner. I wasn’t writing for Forbes or any other publication at the time. Cheryl was a longtime friend and associate and I knew her as a public relations guru, so I wanted advice on how to promote my digital marketing agency. I was hoping she could tell me how to get my company featured in articles in mainstream publications. Instead, she gave me some straight advice. “Your company isn’t very interesting,” she said. My heart sank. “Your story is what’s interesting. That’s what you need to tell.”
That boosted by ego, but also made me uncomfortable. I didn’t want to be “that guy” who always talks about himself. I would much rather have promoted my company or members of my team. Self-promotion reeked of…well, of self-promotion. But Cheryl explained to me that if I had something of value to offer based on my knowledge and experience I had an obligation to help others by sharing it. In order to help other entrepreneurs, business owners, and marketers, and grow my business at the same time, would be to engage in thought leadership, a term I didn’t know anything about at the time. I would have to set myself up publicly as an expert in my field. Thinking about it made me feel embarrassed. “Get over it,” Cheryl said. “It’s not about you, it’s about what you can do to help others.” Despite my discomfort, I started researching thought leadership, looking for ways to share whatever meager knowledge and experience I had.

(Photo: BigStock)

Since that day three years ago, I’ve written over 200 articles for Forbes as well as many other publications. That writing has led to other opportunities. I’ve been flown and hosted in exotic places to speak at events. I’ve been featured on national TV and radio and presented at a TEDx event with over 1,000 attendees.Within one 12-month period my company’s revenues grew over 1,000%. This year I received my first book deal. Most rewarding of all has been the thank you notes from people who have been positively affected by what I’ve shared. It’s not that I’m smarter than anyone else–much of what I share is lessons learned from the extraordinary number of errors I’ve made during my career as an entrepreneur. I tell people “I’ve made all the mistakes so you don’t have to.” 


The skills and traits I share here I don’t share because I’ve mastered them, but because I’ve spent time researching thought leaders I admire like Ann Handley, Michael Hyatt, and Clayton Christensen and have found these to be the qualities they possess. Here are 19 essential skills and traits I’ve seen work for them, and work for me to the extent I’ve applied them.
Research
Successful thought leaders are voracious consumers of articles, podcasts, videos, and other media, especially books, which often represents the most highly curated form of knowledge. Most people don’t have time to dedicate to a particular field of knowledge. They rely on thought leaders to keep up on it and pass on the most valuable tidbits.