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Description:
Like most buzzwords, Thought Leadership is an often misused and misunderstood term. But what is it really? And why do many of the world’s leading companies invest serious money and smart people into this mysterious practice, building dedicated business units to create it? It sounds like business jargon, but this ill-defined term captures a key practice that has been used for many years to create success for individuals, charities and vast companies.
Drawing on over 30 years’ experience of engaging with Thought Leadership, author Laurie Young provides an extensive examination of its history, its purpose, its future, and how you can make Thought Leadership work for you.
Packed with groundbreaking case studies from global organizations such as IBM, Deloitte, Allen & Overy, Fairtrade, Philips and Unilever, and with over 50 unique interviews with some of the world’s acknowledged business leaders, Thought Leadership can help anyone involved in the business decision-making process to gain alignment across their company regarding the challenges they face.
Thought Leadership can come from any source in business - unique insight, research, executives, customer engagement, product managers, and expert professionals. We all have knowledge, experience and a point of view. Laurie Young’s accessible look at this fascinating and vital business practice is your first step to making Thought Leadership work for you and your organization.
Contents:
Chapter 01: What on earth is Thought Leadership? • Introduction • Different types of Thought Leadership • Related concepts: it’s not really... • Towards a definition • Summary
Chapter 02: Who has used it before? Thought Leadership in business history • Introduction • Boulton & Watt use Thought Leadership to start a revolution • William Lever uses Thought Leadership to clean up • Robert Woodruff uses Thought Leadership to help Coca-Cola grasp the ‘American century’ • Bernays uses Thought Leadership as ‘business propaganda’ to help kick-start capitalism and consumerism • The Western business world becomes enamoured with ideas • Silicon Valley uses Thought Leadership to hype tech stocks • Businesses develop organizational competence in Thought Leadership • Summary
Chapter 03: Where does Thought Leadership come from? • Introduction • First a word on purpose and audience • So where does it come from? • Summary
Chapter 04: Components of success and failure • Introduction • How Thought Leadership works • The ‘dos’: elements of success • The ‘don’ts’: constraints and failures • So, what, then, are the components of good Thought Leadership? • Summary
Chapter 05: Communicating and disseminating Thought Leadership • Introduction • First a word on creating and managing the message • The communication methods that have spread Thought Leadership • Managing the creative content of Thought Leadership programmes • A leading PR specialist thinks about leaders • Planning the integration of these communication methods and issues • Summary
Chapter 06: Thought Leadership strategy and planning • Introduction • First a word on the value of strategy • Useful issues and concepts to think through • Elements of Thought Leadership strategy for the single practitioner • Planning tools for Thought Leadership • Summary
Chapter 07: An evolving discipline • Introduction • The state of the art • Practicalities • Increasing organizational capability • Thought Leadership and marketing • Different cultures, different thinking, different business models • Historical perspective • The beginning of measurement • A need for academic rigour and verification • Is it a good thing? • Summary ISBN - 9780749465117
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Pages : 344
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