Leaders.com
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Business
  • Leadership
  • Wealth
  • Master Classes
  • Business
    • Entrepreneurs
    • Executives
    • Marketing and Sales
    • Social Media
    • Innovation
    • Women in Business
  • Leadership
    • Personal Growth
    • Company Culture
    • Public Speaking
    • Productivity
    • Hiring
    • Social Issues
    • Leaders
  • Wealth
    • Investing
    • Cryptocurrency
    • Retirement
    • Venture Capital
    • Loans and Borrowing
    • Taxes
    • Markets
    • Real Estate
  • Master Classes
  • Login
  • Subscribe
Leadership LinkedIn

Researchers Joe Kingsbury and Tusar Barik joined LinkedIn Collective Live on Tuesday (Screenshot/Tyler Hummel)

By Tyler Hummel Leaders Staff

Tyler Hummel

Tyler Hummel

Tyler Hummel is a news writer for Leaders Media. He was the Fall 2021 College Fix Fellow and Health Care...

Full bio


Learn about our editorial policy

Mar 15, 2023

Thinking About Thought Leadership 

LinkedIn Collective Live hosted a discussion on Tuesday, March 14, with researchers Joe Kingsbury and Tusar Barik, who co-authored a new report exploring how businesses can adjust their approach to marketing and thought leadership in a tough economy.    

Key Details

  • In the face of a possible recession, both researchers ensured that there are still great opportunities to thrive in an uncertain environment, even with smaller teams and budgets. 
  • As the study shows, 91% of decision-makers say smaller or non-critical providers can do business if they can prove to their clients that they can help buyers survive a challenging business climate. 
  • Many leading thought leadership minds are smaller businesses with a strong vision and ethos for their companies.  
  • Companies still have room for improvement, as 71% of surveyed C-suite executives thought companies were not producing impressive thought-leadership work.
  • Collecting good impact metrics and building a culture of thought leadership allow businesses to create humanizing content that feels authentic, well-packaged, substantive, visionary, and timely to consumers who need practice answers to whatever issues they face. 

Why It’s Important 

This year marks the fifth year that LinkedIn and Edelman have partnered on a leadership impact report, and they surveyed 3,500 producers of thought leadership. As Kingsbury and Barik note, the results of their work are encouraging. They believe high-quality content can break through the challenges the economy is creating. 

Their report draws upon the perspectives of survey respondents to help marketers and executives grapple with quality thought leadership in times of stress,” according to the report. 

“Thought leadership refers to content and knowledge that offers expertise, guidance, and point of view with a specific topic within your field. That can be thought pieces, essays, presentations, and reports that organizations make freely available in exchange for contact information. Thought leadership is not content that describes or sells a particular product or service,” says Kingsbury. 

Notable Quote 

“When I think of good executive thought leadership, I think that it is about the audience and not about your company. The audience cares about their problems, and there are three things a thought leader needs to be relevant: insight, actionable benefits that alleviate the problem, and it should be written in friendly language, not jargon,” says Virtusa CMO Brian Jochum.

Key Takeaways 

Kingsbury and Barik offer several examples of companies they feel are doing well in the space of thought leadership, most notably Shell Aircraft International, Salesforce, and Deloitte, who are doing impressive work spreading their ideas through new visions and methods of communication. Shell is leading in environmental concerns, while Deloitte is creating influence through new video and podcast distribution models. 

The importance and consumption of thought leadership and executives’ understanding of its importance is growing, according to Barik. Learning to package these ideas authentically and to have a substantive and easy-to-communicate vision for your products and services will allow stressed and smaller teams to break through and become more prominent users of thought leadership.

“55% of decision-makers say that during an economic downturn, it is more important than ever for suppliers who do not offer products/services that are essential to operations to produce high-quality thought leadership if they want to win our business … Breaking through in a downturn will require thought leadership that’s finely tuned to economic realities and a customer’s industry,” says the report. 

The full Tuesday live stream is available to view online. It is the latest in a series of discussions hosted on B2B marketing. The next episode, on macro challenges marketers are currently facing, will be hosted on May 23.

Home / News / Thinking About Thought Leadership 
Share
FacebookTweetEmailLinkedIn

Related Stories

People Know What They Want—But It Changes

by Hannah Bryan Leaders Staff
Marketing and Sales

Mar 22, 2023

The last three years have resulted in quickly changing consumer trends as global events have forced customers to change previous habits, and for U.S. consumers, that is not likely to change. 

Key Details

  • This year, the threat of recession, repercussions from the war in Ukraine, and the beginning of a likely tumultuous presidential race will keep consumer trends shifting, according to the Consumer Trends Index (CTI). 
  • Understanding the trends can give businesses and marketers critical insights into how best to approach their customers and increase sales. 
  • Brand loyalty continues to affect consumer choices, and participation in loyalty programs is growing. 
  • More consumers want a personalized experience when purchasing from a brand they trust, but at the same time, a growing number of consumers value privacy when it comes to their data. 
  • Overall, U.S. consumers are more optimistic than the rest of the world about the economy, but many still worry about rising costs and overall economic uncertainty.

Go deeper

FacebookTweetEmailLinkedIn

Empathy Is A Leadership Skill 

by Tyler Hummel Leaders Staff
Company Culture

Mar 21, 2023

Empathy

The stressful and evolving economy has made trust, loyalty, and empathy in the workplace more important than ever. 

Key Details

  • Elisa A. Schmitz, founder and CEO of 30Seconds.com, writes in a recent op-ed for CEO World that the ability “to put yourself in their shoes and see the world through their eyes” and empathize with employees is vital. 
  • Building connections with staff—building trust and loyalty—can be a powerful solution to a workplace where burnout and stress have become the new normal. 
  • Uniting a team around a shared compassionate vision can improve a team’s “employee satisfaction, growth, innovation, productivity, and retention,” according to Schmitz.

Go deeper

FacebookTweetEmailLinkedIn

Trader Joe’s Secret To Success

by Hannah Bryan Leaders Staff
Marketing and Sales

Mar 20, 2023

While other, larger grocery chains have raised prices over the last year, Trader Joe’s has kept its smaller selection relatively unchanged—and still profited handsomely. 

Key Details

  • In 2020, grocery chain Trader Joe’s gross average revenue per square foot was about $2,130—nearly double its competitors. 
  • Prices at Trader Joe’s have held relatively steady compared to other grocery stores. For example, bananas in the store have had the same price for about 25 years—just 19¢ per banana.
  • Trader Joe’s has also been consistently ranked as the grocery store with the highest-rated customer satisfaction, yet it sells fewer products and has smaller stores than its competitors, The Wall Street Journal reports. 
  • The grocery store has established a loyal customer base by keeping its prices low and its inventory attractive to shoppers.
  • Since its founding in 1958, Trader Joe's has opened 561 stores in 42 states plus the District of Columbia. The company has annual revenue of $13 billion.

Go deeper

FacebookTweetEmailLinkedIn
Entertainment

Mar 16, 2023

One Basketball Coach’s Lesson On CEO Longevity

by Hannah Bryan Leaders Staff
Leadership

Mar 16, 2023

How CEOs View the Economy

by Savannah Young Leaders Staff
Leadership

Mar 15, 2023

The Power Of Good Hospitality

by Geoffrey Morris Leaders Staff

Recent Articles

Leadership

Mar 22, 2023

Creating Loyal Employees Is About More Than Just the Paycheck

If you think simply paying your employees more will gain their loyalty, think again.

Business

Mar 20, 2023

Worried About ADHD At Work? Here’s How It Might Actually Help You

Neurodivergent people often have a high level of creativity and innovative thinking.

Productivity

Mar 17, 2023

Unlocking Your Inner Drive: How to Motivate Yourself

Make real progress by trying out these techniques for boosting your self-motivation.

  • Business
  • Leadership
  • Wealth
Join the Leaders Community

Get exclusive tools and resources you need to grow as a leader and scale a purpose-driven business.

Subscribing indicates your consent to our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy

Leaders.com
  • Privacy Policy
  • About
  • Careers
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
  • Disclosures
  • Editorial Policy
  • Member Login

© 2023 Leaders.com - All rights reserved.

Search Leaders.com