A conversation I’ve had with so many people in the real estate industry over the last ten years is about the concept of ‘thought leadership’.

People want to be known as thought leaders because it sounds kind of cool, and of course, there’s a bit of cache with the title ‘thought leader’.

Or is there?

These days it feels like it’s mostly a crock, driven by ego (hence the title!)

I think the term has been bandied around way too much in the real estate industry to the point where it’s quite overused, and I think wrongly so.

Now I talk to some people who I think are real thought leaders in the industry, and they don’t want the term used alongside their name (because of its overuse).

And look, it’s not wrong to want to be a thought leader, but influencer culture and thought leadership are very different things.

Being the loudest person in the room, or having the most followers, doesn’t make you a thought leader.

To be a thought leader, you need to have original thoughts, that people would actually pay you for.

That’s the definition.

And that’s kind of hard to come by.

But I guess if the title of ‘thought leader’ is something you want badly want, then you can ask for some help to elevate you part of the way there.

Because becoming a real thought leader involves a connection between experience, wisdom and originality, and that takes time.

But no matter where you are right now, it’s never a bad time to make a start.

Today’s Prompt of the Day

Continuing on with the theme of ‘coach’ week, try this one on:

Suggest a plan for developing and sharing thought leadership content (e.g., articles, presentations, webinars) to enhance my credibility and visibility in [specific interest.] My specific interest is coaching real estate agents to get more listings.

Again, I won’t paste the whole result if you want to play with my chat, you can do so here.

I did go deeper and ask a question about how I could be more original than everyone else.

And yes - you want to have a really clear USP/UVP, preferably with some original IP if you really want to be a trail-blazing thought leader :)

Happy Hunting 🚀