Moving to the middle
What is the difference between having a “personal brand” and being regarded as a “thought leader?”
Marketing guru Mark Schaefer explains the difference. In his book “Known,” Michael says: “Known means having the presence, authority, and reputation to give you your best chance of getting your job done. Thought leaders are informed opinion leaders and the go-to people in their field of expertise.”
You can be “known” in your field through a presence that is funny, quirky, bombastic or any of the millions of ways you can boldly differentiate yourself in this noisy world. You do not necessarily have to be a thought leader to be known.
On the other hand, plenty of thought leaders aren’t known — they don’t have a profound digital presence. Perhaps they are too busy thinking big thoughts to start that blog or podcast.
People in each of these divisions can be happy and successful in their own way.
“You can be successful and known and not be an authority, and you can be successful as an authority who is not known. To be somewhere in the middle seems to be the goal of everyone.”[1]
“I don’t want to be just a pretty face,” says one very comely movie personality. She wants to be known as someone who has opinions others respect. Many experts and practitioners are good with their craft. Yet, they are not well known. In the digital economy, being in the middle can get more work and projects. The middle means you are “famous” for your expertise. People come to you for your opinion.
Michael encourages people on both sides to advance to this middle state if their life permits. It lowers career risks and opens new opportunities.
“If you are a thought leader, your chance to spread your brilliant ideas and monetize would be enabled by building a larger, engaged audience. An example would be a non-profit leader I know who is an inspiring visionary. He has a chance to make a bigger impact on the world if he develops his personal brand beyond the small world he is in now.
“If you are known, but not a thought leader, you have a chance for more long-term opportunities and security if you are also regarded as a thought leader in some subject. An example is a friend who is an inspirational keynote speaker who has not developed any marketable expertise he can leverage into books or consulting.” Michael explains this clearly.
My take on this is that the experts should expand their presence with the help of knowledgeable people who know how to build their digital presence. In some events and conferences, I have been privileged to choose SME (subject matter experts) and partner with them, and the audience was amazed at their expertise and know-how even though they are not well known. I am so glad that invitations to share their knowledge came pouring in after the event. With some digital marketing assistance, they can certainly expand their presence and share their expertise so more people can benefit from it. They are now moving into the middle.
Many famous personalities are well known because of their fame, which is okay. Many are realizing that being famous alone might not be sustainable. They are now expanding their expertise and knowledge, and they are well on their way to becoming thought leaders. They are also moving into the middle.
What is disturbing is when people, who are not yet famous for being experts, in their impatience use marketing tricks and tips to achieve fame. They falsify their resume and make false claims thinking that this is the fastest way to be known and to have projects. What they fail to understand is the classic quote of advertising legend, William Bernbach: “A great ad campaign will make a bad product fail faster, and it will get more people to know it’s bad.”
To move to the middle. It becomes evident that competence and expertise are more important than just building platforms to achieve fame and recognizability. Those who have “faked” their way to having projects may have gotten away with their craftiness. But it ends in a quick death, and word gets around that the person is “all sizzle and no steak.” (An idiom developed in the 1930s) or perhaps a more modern term would be “all form and no substance.”
(Francis Kong’s podcast “Inspiring Excellence” is now available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or other podcast streaming platforms.)
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