So you want to be a thought leader?
Great—truly. The world needs more people who are willing to share what they see that others don’t.
But I’m going to gently invite you to aim for something slightly bigger, and I think, better:
Be a Thinking Leader.
At the Message Design Institute, we’re a community dedicated to helping people (sensegivers!) transform the world with their ideas. And if there’s one thing we all share, it’s this: we know that changing what people think starts with changing how they think.
And that means more than just having thoughts, no matter how thought-leader-y they may be. It means learning how to transfer the thinking that led to those thoughts to others so that the thoughts they produce stick.
“Thought leader” has two words for a reason
“Thought leader” is, quite literally, two different concepts smushed together: thought and leader.
That kind of combination is a perfect example of what I call a core or prime strategy: two ideas that, together, define a very specific, and often new, kind of value.
Most of the time, though, when we talk about “thought leadership,” we focus almost entirely on the thought part:
- What’s your big idea?
- What’s your point of view?
- What’s your five-step framework, your marketable model, your proprietary method?
All of that is important—but it’s also incomplete.
That’s because there’s always a process behind the thought. There’s what you think… Those two things are not the same, and nor do they have the same value
The problem with focusing only on what you think
Here’s one of the funny little secrets of ideas: they’re often not nearly as unique as we hope they are.
It is shockingly common for two people, in two entirely different places, to come up with essentially the same idea—sometimes at the same time. Same concept, similar language, even similar applications.
What’s not the same?
- The experiences that shaped that idea
- The principles and priorities that guided it
- The line of reasoning that made it make sense to you
In other words: the way you think.
When you focus your “thought leadership” solely on the thought—the finished idea—you’re competing in a space where overlap is almost guaranteed. If someone else has a similar idea (and they probably do), it’s suddenly… not quite so leadership-y.
But when you focus on how you think, you move into territory that is distinctively yours.
Even if your conclusions are similar to someone else’s, your pathway to those conclusions—the sequence of “this led to this, which led to this”—is almost always unique.
And isn’t that what you were trying for with “thought leadership” in the first place?
Why thinking leadership changes everything
Here’s the real opportunity:
When we change how people think about something, we almost always change what they think about it, too.
This is the difference between:
- Telling someone what to believe
vs. - Showing them how you came to believe it
When you show people how you think, you’re not just delivering a conclusion. You’re giving them a path they can walk themselves. And when they walk that path with you:
- They’re more likely to truly understand you
- They’re more likely to trust you
- They’re more likely to arrive at a thought that feels like theirs, not just yours
That’s what I mean by being a thinking leader:
Don’t just focus on the thoughts you think set you apart.
Focus—equally, if not more—on how your thinking is different.
When people can see your thinking and align with it, the “thought” naturally follows. And even better, that thought is much more likely to be:
- Distinctively yours
- Defensibly yours
- Sustainably yours
Because it’s grounded in something no one else has: the way you make sense of the world.
How to start leading with your thinking
If you’re wondering, “Okay, but how do I actually do that?”—that’s the question we focus on every day at the Message Design Institute.
We believe all great messages—and all great change—start with how people think about something in the first place.
That’s why we built a simple framework to surface and structure that thinking. We call it ITBA, which stands for:
If – Then – Because – And
It’s a way to make the logic behind your ideas visible and usable—for you and for the people you’re trying to reach.
If you want help mapping out your own thinking so you can lead with it (instead of just tossing thoughts into the void), you can grab the handout and get started here.
The shift to make this week
If you create content, give presentations, lead a team, pitch ideas, or make any kind of change in the world, try this small shift:
- Instead of asking:
“What do I want them to think?” - Start with:
“How do I want them to think about this?”
Then, show them your how.
That’s where your real leadership lives. Not just in the thoughts you arrive at, but in the thinking that gets you—and them—there.
P.S. If you want to practice being a thinking leader, not just a thought leader, start by putting your own ITBA on paper. You might be surprised how much clearer—and more uniquely yours—your ideas suddenly become.