How to become a thought leader on LinkedIn

The short answer

Have an opinion. Say it plainly. Back it with something you have actually seen. Repeat, for a long time.

The label is given to you by other people. You cannot claim it. What you can do is post the kind of thing that makes someone forward it to a colleague with the words this is what I keep saying.

Opinions, not summaries

Most people post summaries: five tips, three lessons, a recap of a conference. Nobody quotes a summary.

People quote a position. Most small firms should stop doing annual planning. The reason your proposals lose is the first paragraph. You will be wrong sometimes. Being wrong in public, and saying so, is part of what makes people trust you.

Use what you have seen

You have seen things your readers have not: dozens of clients, the same mistake made twenty different ways, the thing that worked when nothing else did.

That is your material. Not research, not theory — the pattern you noticed on a Tuesday. Write that down and it is already more useful than most of what gets posted.

Say it more than once

The people who become known for something say it many times, in many ways, for years. One good post disappears in a day.

If it feels like you are repeating yourself, you are doing it right. Most readers see one post in ten.