THOT LEADERZZZzzz

Popular though it is, “thought leadership” often seems silly to me.

I’m reminded of this rereading GK Chesterton’s 1905 masterpiece Heretics, in which I find this gem:

“All men can be criminals, if tempted; all men can be heroes, if inspired. And this doctrine does away altogether with Carlyle’s pathetic belief (or any one else’s pathetic belief) in ‘the wise few’. There are no wise few.”

I think that’s right: there are no wise few.

The idea that there are these wise, few “thought leaders” with super-elite knowledge that no one else possesses is a myth. (Granted, it has proved a lucrative myth for some of them, but it’s still a myth.)

The most useful “thought leaders” seem to be the ones who simply tell us common sense.

They tell us stuff our parents knew and told us over and over.

Gary Vaynerchuk is perhaps the biggest “thought leader” of recent years. Nearly all of his content is some version of “be kind” and “focus and work hard”.

Like mom and dad told us.

Sure, trendy “thought leaders” say it with jazzier jazz-hands, but is that worth bowing down to their supposed brilliance, the way we so often do? Is that worshipful tendency good for us? Is it good for them?

Even in the faith-based fundraising and Christian marketing spaces, all the biggest names are simply saying the things that everyone has been saying for decades, if not time immemorial. Granted, they say it with cooler catch-phrases, selfier-selfies and updated wardrobes, but it’s all the same advice.

Speaking for myself, from a certain angle, we at SUBLIMITY are simply helping people rediscover things everyone used to know:

💡 Everything worth doing is worth doing excellently.

💡 Beauty matters.

💡 People in your audience are wired for more than utility.

💡 You should get to know the people you’re trying to entice.

💡 Consumers get bored of the same old thing.

💡 Donors are worth loving, not just “acquiring”.

💡 You should care enough to create amazing experiences.

Your parents and grandparents probably could’ve told you all that.

We think they were onto something.

Maybe that’s why our in-depth interviews with people like your parents and grandparents (and you, your kids, your friends) are so rich and useful for creating awesome experiences that grow audiences and impact.

There’s no “maybe” about it. The smartest marketers look to audience members for “thought leadership” at least as much as they look to the glamorous industry influencers with podcaster mics and $500 sneakers. You should too.

PS - I'm having some fun with "thought leaders", knowing their egos can take it 😉. If you know you're called to be a thought leader, then I trust people will greatly benefit, and I hope you do it with all the skills, gifts and excellence that you can 💪 .

Photo by Alexandre Pellaes on Unsplash