Thought Leadership fears: Your competitors getting more attention than you?

Thought Leadership Times Blog (Sep 29 2009)

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   Over the past two weeks, I fielded a few concerns about competitor information and thought leadership online.   A common theme seems to arise in the following comments:

   ·          “If we have any information about our competitor on our site, we’ll lose our customer’s attention.” 

   ·         “My competitors will benefit from my thought leadership insights”

   ·         “Our competitors will copy our thought leadership ideas”

   My initial reaction was that these comments were reasonable and correct.  Why should any thought leadership property have information regarding my client’s competitors?  After all, it’s their site and they control the information flow which includes excluding competitor information.  However, after some reflection, I now believe that it’s actually the opposite of good thought leadership to exclude competitors from the dialogue.  I’ll give 2 brief reasons below that I hope will spark some thoughts.

   Open dialogue or something else

   Successful thought leaders aspire to establish a community of interested constituents. Their objective is to foster an open dialogue on a particular topic in which there is a shared interest.  Thus, we should ask the question:  Does the ideal of “open dialogue” lose out to the “fear” that competing brands, or ideas, can co-opt the attention of the participants?  How confident should interested constituents, including customers, be if their trusted thought leaders practice information censorship of competing voices?  Most likely, I believe that people who believe they’re just hearing the “company line” will go elsewhere for more “objective” information.  I also believe that people who feel they’re just hearing one-side of the story will tell others of their experience.  Could this be one reason why corporate blogs don’t gain much of a following, regardless of their content quality?  Corporate blogs publish the company line, exclusively, which aids little in delivering better understanding.

   If brands and teams want to really create an open dialogue, they need to be open about their intentions or be honest that they’re doing something else and not thought leadership.  Customers will then find their trusted information elsewhere.

   Having an opinion helps

   So, what really puts brands at risk when discussing competitors in a thought leadership position?   Not having an opinion or a differentiated position seems to be the big issue.  Each company and brand has a certain perspective and approach.  The more sincere and honest this perspective or approach is within the organization, the less defense is needed to protect it.  Who can really copy your well-crafted organizational beliefs?  Being an information resource and a thought leader does not mean giving up your opinion about your business.  I believe that customers respect us for our unique message that serves them.  Understanding how that message honestly differs from others helps.

   Conclusion

   Thought Leadership is about being a leader and building a community of interested participants.  Be honest about your objectives.  If thought leadership is not a focus, then do something else with your resources.  Your opinion is your differentiator.  Customers and industry insiders come to you learn your opinion and understand how it fits.  Thought leaders have opinions and these cannot be copied by competitors.  Genuine opinions come out of your organizational learning and need no defense.

   
   

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