The concurrent digital revolution has come to manifest a new type of public figure known as the "thought leader." A thought leader is a subject-matter expert or an influencing opinion within a respective industry. In the age of the entrepreneur, thought leadership has emerged as a sustainable marketing strategy that has proven to be an invaluable asset to organizations who are looking to attract clients by means of an organic and modern platform. Entrepreneurs have now opted to meet their investors and their customers where they are by means of establishing thought leadership in their own areas of expertise. While some may find establishing an influence to be a breeze, not everyone has the raw qualities that land the positions in Top 1% of profiles on social platforms like LinkedIn. While these qualities are not rocket science, there is a level of psychology in developing your career that can make a drastic change in your thought leadership.
1. You Don't Take Risks
Loss-aversion is a common mistake that thought leading entrepreneurs should learn to overcome. The security of taking no to low risks may offer an understandably reassuring sense of satisfaction. In macroeconomic decision making however, it has been proven that generally increasing risk up to it's most efficient point is a sound strategy in delivering increasing returns. This concept of embracing risk can be adopted into your development as an entrepreneur. Getting an idea of what risks are the best for your entrepreneurial vision is a firm strategy to employ. Whether it is as subtle as shaving a few hours of a weekday evening to get the extra rest you need, or as complex as dealing with a precarious business acquisition; be mindful of the sacrifices that have the potential to make for a great opportunity.
2. You Are Overly Confident
Before you make an artful dodge at this habit with the 'humble with a hint of Kanye' argument, take a second to hear this out. As an entrepreneur one of the strongest qualities that demonstrate the confidence you have in yourself, and your organization is adaptability. A though leading entrepreneur puts a huge focus on emotional intelligence and takes an approach that challenges success and maintains a separation between what has been achieved what and will be achieved. Being overly confident in this respect, means that while it is important to walk the walk, it is equally important to take an approach to your entrepreneurial career that departs from the notion that there is a point in your success that there is no room to learn or grow. To challenge this habit, try getting an idea of how aware you are of your emotional intelligence by asking yourself questions like How do I respond to change? or How does my company handle failure?
3. You Have Unrealistic Expectations
You are an entrepreneur in a world where limits are constantly challenged by the unsurpassed access that this generation has to information at every level. With that said, thought leading entrepreneurs know how to exhaust all of their resources to forecast the icebergs ahead. Opting out of doing your research as an entrepreneur could do significant damage to the overall development of an organization. Not having the most relevant research to support your claims can also have an effect on the expectations of your goal, vision or project. Avoiding this mistake as a thought leading entrepreneur could be a great way to navigate through your organizational journey and could make all the difference in your professional and personal relationships.
4. You Are Trying To Reinvent The Wheel
Solving the unknown and challenging the status quo are two flagship concepts that drive innovation and create a promise for a greater future. What some entrepreneurs tend to do however is have a such bias to the status quo that they are held back in the process. A thought leading entrepreneur knows how to embrace conformity to work smarter and not harder when devising innovative solutions. This is a strategy that not only helps you save the invaluable resource of time but also serves as an opportunity really focus on the core of what your mission as an entrepreneur is. Are you committed to social action? Are you passionate about the tech revolution? One way to find solutions to challenges in this area would be establishing a starting point with a thread of the information to lead you to the founders and leaders of these areas.
Thought leadership is definitely a strong feature for entrepreneurs to adopt in this emerging world of media. By supplementing weaknesses and working against the habits in this list should give you the extra boost to to meet the challenge of influencing others to believe in your product, service, or idea. Don't let a few bad habits hold you back from the long-term benefits of being a though leading entrepreneur in 2016.
