Thought Leaders’ 6 Successful Social Web Styles

In thought leadership today, social media and traditional media are being used as forums to position people as subject matter experts and gain loyal followings.Thought leadership styles include approaches that position people as visionary or innovative (i.e. Steve Jobs) and educational or supportive (i.e. Oprah Winfrey).

    

I found Ryan Zuk’s commentary in the July issue of PRSA spot on in regards to the six traits thought leaders must adhere to:

• Knowledgeable — they develop expertise on a specific topic and share it freely.

• Aware — they track trends in their industry and across business at large so that they can insert themselves into conversations, or start new ones, in a timely and relevant manner.

• Interesting — they are charismatic and have memorable ways of delivering their messages.

• Innovative — they create new ways of thinking about and solving problems, and highlight these ideas in their conversations, writings, media interviews and speaking engagements.

• Engaged — they start conversations, and stick around to facilitate and encourage them, often including a compelling call to action or question that helps spread their message.

• Accessible — they openly make themselves available to media, analysts, prospects, customers, fans and followers so that their ideas resonate and can be shared easily across the social Web.