Thought Leadership

When being told to be a thought leader, I have found it interesting to observe the way in which people decide to decipher what is a rather cryptic comment.  Each individual who is assigned such a task must ask themselves three extremely important questions.  The first, and foremost, is what they truly believe a thought leader to be.  Secondly, one must decide for themselves just what being a thought leader entails.  Lastly, a thought itself must be decided upon.  Each thought must be carefully developed, ripened in the way a fruit does, growing until it weighs the mind down to the point where to not put it to paper should be considered a cardinal sin.

To the surprise of none, being a thought leader is an exceptionally difficult task, although many may make it appear as though they were born to it, even the greatest of us have poor judgements or thoughts now and again.  It is an inevitable truth in life that nobody and nothing is perfect, but there must always be those who are willing to step forward and forever push the line.  For some, they lead the fight as the greatest of generals have by using innovation and intelligence in their efforts.  Others still take the risks needed to push forth an idea that would be considered preposterous, all because they care about reaching out to the general public and allowing the world to see the ideas.

I have observed that many take a thought leader to be one who brings forth newer technologies each and every year.  Yet I find that there conviction in such matters could not be more questionable.  While technology is indisputably an important part of common civilization, it and of itself can hardly be considered anything more than what it is, a pretty screen that is a momentary novel.  By producing newer technologies each year, these so-called thought leaders show that they are not revolutionary, but are simply listening. 

Thought leaders, in truth, are the ones who step forward when others would fear to, unafraid of the possible repercussions.  Consider Galileo, a man insulted and persecuted simply because his views differed.  Many would argue that the world has changed, that thought leaders are praised not persecuted, and yet maybe this is because a true thought leader has not emerged into our midst in some time.  To those who would argue that thought leaders are fairly revered, was Sean Parker heralded for his work with Napster, or was it constantly being tried for piracy?  Consider, more recently, Facebook and its creator.  Forever will there be the challenges to the leaders of thought; the key is to remember that to falter is to forfeit.