So, you want to be a Thought Leader?

So does everyone else. The problem is, thinking about things is only beneficial if it results in action.

This is a well-known idea but no matter how many times we hear something, we often have to learn it for ourselves. This is a story about how I learned the concept and how I apply it today.

After ~5 years into my professional career, I was working within the research directorate at a Department of Energy National Laboratory. Because this was a government agency (with a research-driven mission), most things were project based:

In this space lots of people had ideas and it was easy to get attention and excitement around yours (assuming it was practical). If your idea wasn't funded, it wasn't the end of the road, you just continued to refine the proposal for the next round.

If you were not the primary researcher, you may still be brought into projects for your experience. I got along with people, was ambitious, and had experience in cyber operations and research so I was called on to provide opinion frequently. It was in this role I realized what my dream job was - thinking of concepts and applications, maybe creating a proof-of-concept, and then letting others build it out while I went on to think of the next thing. It was great. People valued my opinion on things. I felt smart.

One day a colleague had several great points in a meeting. After the meeting concluded and we were strolling down the hall together he said "I'm a thought leader, I think of things and others run to do the work. I love talking about ideas." He said it with some amount of jest but I could tell he had the same job aspirations I did...and it sounded ridiculous when said outside of my own head. Over the next few months, I paid attention to those people that had ideas and those that produced results. It was eye-opening to see the career paths of each and how they were respected within the organization.

I quickly realized everyone wants to be a 'thought leader.' Everyone wants to lean back in their office chair and pontificate. Everyone wants to feel smart. Everyone wants to be invited to meetings to share their thoughts on topics. No potential for action items? Perfect, I'm just a thought leader after all. The working force isn't lacking thought leaders, it is lacking doers.

At that point I realized that working hard to complete things was the best way to advance my career - this doesn't apply to my own ideas, but helping others execute on their ideas as well. 'Doing' doesn't have to mean hands-on-the-keyboard. It may be in the form of writing the code yourself or empowering others to better execute. Organization, project management, and resource monitoring are all part of the execution - just remember they support the end result and should never be the end result. It is easy to focus on the process. I have done it and continue to do it.

• I have taken my own ideas into a hamster wheel. This could be because I wasn't sure how or lacked confidence to execute through completion. This is potentially the easiest use case to recognize because I have direct visibility into the time I'm investing and know the status better than anyone else.

• I have tried to drag others' ideas into the wheel. I probably felt smart contributing to the meetings (and was happy to see them continue) or wasn't sold on the plan even though I would not be accountable for the end product. This can be more difficult to recognize and when corrected, someone can get defensive or feel like her ideas are not being considered.

• I have found myself running alongside others oblivious we were all in the wheel together. Sometimes 'scope creep' gets the blame. Ultimately, it's due to lack of execution. This can also be difficult to recognize and when corrected, people can get the impression you are no longer engaged or don't care.

I will hopefully do each of these less because it is now something I consciously look for. Furthermore, I apply this to small and large tasks. Recognizing when you are not adding value or when an idea has hit a stalemate is not always easy, but failure to correct it will eventually stall your career. My learned lesson was bolstered when I moved into private industry where some things move much faster. I now work at a start-up where everything seems expedited. (This can also offer more rabbit holes - is a formal process needed for this task or are we just documenting the problem when the solution is more straightforward?)

Concepts (some stolen from various places) I use that help:

• I really like having a facilitator run meetings for an idea I want to pursue. I set up the issue and then hand control to the facilitator. This removes me from the meeting template and ensures a consistent flow with minimal rabbit holes. The facilitator keeps us on schedule and isn’t perceived as defensive because she is not the originator.

• Not everyone needs to be part of every decision. This is a balance; include people and acknowledge input from those that have experience but maintain forward momentum. You are responsible for seeking closure. In the same regard, don’t take it personally if your input to someone else’s idea is not fully integrated – she is responsible for seeking closure and must maintain forward momentum.

• Getting a foundation/example/proof-of-concept prior to discussing an idea helps solidify the continued success. A POC better communicates the parent idea but can still be matured as input is received. If you set up a meeting to chat about an idea, bring some materialized work with it. Demonstrate your motivation to follow it through. It's your game, put some skin in it and bet on yourself.

• If you want to see your idea add value, own it. Talk about it. Hold yourself accountable. If things get busy when it is at 80% completion, do what is needed to achieve the extra 20%. Close the loop or quit wasting time on something you don't care enough about.

• Glorifying a problem should be reserved for the pub. No one has to whine about issues alone because there is usually someone close by who wants to whine with you. Paraphrasing the problem statement multiple times in multiple meetings is useless. Have the end state in mind and focus on that. (This should apply to conference presentations and white-papers as well. If your message is only that a problem exists, you've cheated your audience.) Similarly, if you are on stale projects that round-robbin a problem, consider whether your presence adds value to the project and/or yourself.

Most of the managers I have worked for care more about results than the process. Assuming you are within company policy and the law, the details of how the job gets done are not as important. Every great leader I have worked for got her role because she got shit done. These people know what it takes because they did, and continue to do, the work themselves - they didn't just comment on it.

You will sound smart in a meeting if you have good ideas.

Your career will move forward if your work-product adds value to the organization.