The very issue in which you are reading this article is full thought leadership. Take a look around – you'll find leaders and contributing writers taking the reader on a journey of (hopefully) discovery, bringing news, trends, metrics and actionable strategies to every possible topic.

But for what purpose?

I have been in the executive brand management vertical for 12 years. During that time, I've seen thought-leadership campaigns come to nothing and single articles shape an industry. At the beginning of this year, I noticed a change. I can only describe it as a global “numbness” to the endless suffocation of thought leadership content. Maybe it was generative AI causing a content saturation in the market, or maybe the B2B and B2C audiences were just exhausted. Neither of these turned out to be the reason.

The Harris Poll on Thought Leadership ROI suggests that marketing leaders see a gap between the importance of thought leadership and its effectiveness. the report says, “9 in 10 executives believe thought leadership is critical to building authority, but only 20% are effective.” This is not a void, this is an abyss.

Connected: How to improve your brand through thought leadership

In recent months, I engaged in a curiosity project and interviewed 72 C-suite executives about their thought leadership initiatives. It was from these conversations that I realized there was a huge disconnect between what the CEO was thinking it Was and what it must be.

Here are the results of these 72 interviews:

• 83% of leaders feel that leadership does not seem to have a limited purpose or measurable impact.
• 92% of executives want thought leadership to attract new customers, talent or investment, directly impacting growth.

After some reflection, I came up with a new definition of executive thought leadership:

“Thought leadership is defined as the publication of media content, to an external or internal audience, by an executive who is an expert in a specific field to support front-line needs, thereby directly improving organizational results and growth.”

This model has much more in common with servant leadership than anything related to PR. It identifies the stress points in each department and supports the individuals who carry out this work. In other words, executive thought leadership has become much more intentional.

If we break down the definition, we now have a clear thought leadership strategy and program.

1. An executive who is an expert in a specific field. Who are these leaders? Are they an expert in this field they are talking?

In many cases, this will be the CEO or founder. But not always. In a healthcare company, it could be the chief medical officer; if the goals are around talent and culture, he might be a chief human resources officer; for tech companies, maybe the CTO is the best person to talk about the topics.

2. Supporting front line needs. Which divisions of the company need support? People, sales, finance, operations?

People in the field have much more data than the executive. So as a first step to gain clarity on what needs to be addressed:

• Ask your teams about the biggest requests they're hearing from customers, stakeholders and partners. Focus on what triggers them the most stress.
• Collect data from anywhere, including external and internal stakeholders, employees and customers.
• Tabulate your findings to identify the most common denominators and a low to high volume problem funnel.
• Create an actual roadmap that answers each of these problems.

Example: A founder whose primary task is to build a strong practice program. Ask, “What do interns want to know when you come on board? Is there anything that would help them understand the organization faster—an article, case studies, white papers, white papers, onboarding collateral, a playbook or a visual guide?”

By creating more targeted thought leadership content, executives can then lead measurable results and support organizational initiatives.

Connected: How to develop stronger and more engaging thought leadership

3. Creating media content for external or internal audiences. What kind of content will solve the identified problems and result in growth? Who is the audience?

Take a leaf from former Amazon boss Jeff Bezos' book and use his own six page concept to distill complex information into narrative form. Develop collateral that solves specific problems by:

Identifying who you want to acquire your thought leadership content:

• To make sure you have the right audience ask: If they saw this and acted on it, would it solve your separation problems or your growth goals?
• Breaking down their main pain points (you can find them in step 2);
• Process all solutions, insights, benefits, industry metrics/statistics related to the problem;
• Converting this material into an executive essay of six pages (minimum);
• Reusing it in dozens (if not hundreds) of social campaigns, white papers, media articles, blog articles, newsletters, downloadable pages and channels.

We must not think what we believed to be thought leadership. The industry has been saturated with PR or “sales-y” thought leadership and it doesn't change any metrics in the company. New model – intentional thought leadership — is fully connected to a desired end goal. The only way to achieve these ultimate goals is to listen to the employees in your company. Whether that means talking to 10 or 1,000 people, then this is how you'll create your executive thought leadership campaign.

Connected: How do you reinforce thought leadership content?

A new era of thought leadership

Imagine your account executives armed with the perfect media asset from the CEO, one published in a mainstream publication and one that speaks directly to the prospect's challenges.

Such thought leadership provides support from the top and creates a cohesive and consistent message throughout the organization. It is a vital resource tool that will drive every single department in the company.