Online “thought leadership” is becoming an oxymoron.  You might do better with “narcissistic leadership” à la Trump.  

Marketing, sales, and politics use buzzwords. When a trend is new, even something that’s ultimately jargon seems to have meaning.

Thought leadership is a buzzword so overused it’s turned into an oxymoron.

The marketing idea is that a business should become a “thought leader” in their industry or vertical.  As they enlighten consumers, they’ll build a relationship that will lead to new business opportunities.

So SMBs hire marketers to help them become thought leaders.  Suddenly, we’ve got a litany of businesses providing thought leadership on the same topics.

It’s almost as if we’re putting together a football team and suggesting everyone play quarterback.  It’s difficult to set a direction when everyone’s trying to be a leader.

Today, with so many topics explained ad nauseam, it’s a difficult strategy to follow.  You’re a single voice in a packed football stadium.

Thought leadership suffers from buzzword hollowness. It’s all about the speaker.  Successful content marketing (like all effective communication) focus on the audience.

Skilled teachers, ministers, and authors don’t refer to themselves as thought leaders.

“I’m leading that thinking like nobody else can.”  Sounds like Donald Trump.

Image credit nydailynews.com

So you might be better-off go the Trump route of narcissistic leadership.  It gets attention – and you must admit – isn’t boring.

The internet is filled with want-to-be thought leaders who bore us with self-serving repetition.  Lame for something that’s ostensibly marketing.

Get people to laugh or smack their forehead in disbelief.

It may not be leadership we usually seek.  But it sells.