How to become a thought leader in any business

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Passion and enthusiasm mean as much to business development as investment and a well-thought-out business plan. Read on to learn how to become a thought leader in any field, create a vision for your business, and engage your co-founders, employees, and consumers.

When asked to name a few business leaders, names like Elon Musk, founder of Tesla Motors, Sheryl Sandberg, a prominent businesswoman on the Facebook board of directors, or Larry Page of Google come to mind.

Why exactly are they? Partly because of their intelligence and creativity, but not only. They are also ahead of others because their fields of activity are juicy, innovative and dramatic in nature, and the leaps and bounds of innovation in them make leadership more likely.

Likewise, Eric Ryan, the co-founder of the company, became the thought leader.

Ryan and the rest of the team took a trivial household item like soap and wrapped it up in a cool idea.

It would seem that everything in this niche has been occupied for a long time and it is simply impossible to come up with something new and interesting. But Method co-founders Ryan and Laurie succeeded. But not due to new technologies, but due to the very idea of safe, environmentally friendly and pleasant house cleaning.

The company's products focus on stylish packaging and environmental friendliness - what makes cleaning your home safe and enjoyable.

Well, the company itself has built a culture based on imagination and creativity and far from formality and admiration. This atmosphere allows entrepreneurs to put their soul into their work and express themselves through their activities. And this brings excellent financial results.

Here are Ryan's four rules, following which you can well become a thought leader in any area, even the most banal and full-time with other famous brands.

Use purpose to build a solid foundation

Ryan’s most important advice is to connect people to his goal, to get co-founders, employees and users to share the main idea.

You don't need to sell a product. You need to start a movement.

Eric Ryan

Whatever you do, you need to create a solid platform for your leadership - give people a clear idea of why you are doing all this.

For example, in his company, Ryan focused on the creation of the movement "people against dirt". The sale of cleaning products has become not a simple household activity, but a means of solving major social and environmental problems.

Method wants to prove that business as a whole can be not only a means of earning money, but also an engine for social change for the better. And the chosen strategy brings the company high revenues and ever-growing fame.

Don't underestimate the passion, love, and enthusiasm that can arise from a high goal.

Eric Ryan

Become part of a community with similar ideas

Instead of developing a global idea for your business from scratch, you can join existing communities that carry an idea close to you.

Method has selected members (from Benefit Corporation) as such a community.

To obtain the Benefit Corporation certification, you need to pass an audit of how the company affects local communities, its employees, consumers, various spheres of society and, finally, the environment.

Currently, more than 1,000 companies in the world have earned this status (and not only in the USA). It is, one might say, a global movement of businessmen who use the power of their business to do good.

Being part of the Benefit Corporation community energizes and inspires us to make this world a little better every day.

Eric Ryan

Joining the ranks of B Corp not only provides excellent employee motivation, it also provides consumer confidence, enhances the company's credibility and sets it apart from competitors in today's crowded marketplace.

The B Corp certification makes Method associated with the most socially and environmentally friendly companies on the planet.

Arrange public speaking

The Tipping Point, a bestselling novel by Canadian journalist Malcolm Gladwell, tells us that the success of a social epidemic, a mass obsession with an idea, depends on a small number of people whose opinion carries a lot of weight.

When you're doing public speaking, you don't have to get your message across to every person in the crowd. The main thing is to convince a few people who have an impact on the general public and start spreading information about your service.

Eric Ryan

These can be people who will write about your product on their resource, and then other people will pick up the idea, and the media will start talking about your ideas and products.

“With this strategy we have been quite successful in getting media attention and increasing our brand value,” Ryan says.

Share ideas for free

On the one hand, it even sounds scary. How can you give your ideas just like that, without getting anything in return? But there is also another side.

By spreading ideas, you strengthen your leadership position.

Eric Ryan described how upset Method CEO Adam Laurie was when he saw the final version of The Method Method. This book, released in 2011, revealed all the secrets of the company that make up its competitive advantage.

Ryan didn't care that much, though. He knew that he was upsetting Laurie, but he believed that it was the embodiment of Method's ideas, and not the ideas themselves, that distinguished them from their competitors.

So don't be afraid to share your ideas. Your main feature will be their implementation, and dissemination will help to win and strengthen the leadership position in your field.