Author: Kate Dunstan
Published: 31 March 2025
Don’t you scroll LinkedIn and wonder at how delighted, honoured, and proud people are to be doing all the stuff they do? Do you learn anything when you read how thrilled they are? Does it make you think, or give you a new idea?
It’s the ones who write intelligently about what they do and share their expertise that attract attention, impart wisdom, and ultimately, impress.
It might be a stretch to call insight articles on LinkedIn Thought Leadership. After all, they’re not White Papers, ground-breaking research, or doctoral theses. But they are an opportunity to present new approaches or ideas and, yes, show how you think.
Unlike content that values volume over quality, true thought leadership offers unique insights, challenges conventional thinking, or presents innovative solutions to industry problems. It requires depth, originality, and relevance rather than just frequency. And, of course, it’s not just in LinkedIn, it’s published in books, professional journals, industry blogs, on websites, podcasts, Ted Talks, the list goes on.
In professional services, thought leadership addresses the specific challenges clients face rather than topics that merely interest the writer. It requires practical application beyond technical or academic theory.
For the most part, though, the purpose of thought leadership articles is to build visibility, reputation, and business. In that context, what are the essential ingredients of an effective article?
1. A catchy headline and beginning. If you don’t attract people to start reading, you’ve lost them already.
2. Real content. If they’re not learning, they’re not reading it.
3. Interesting material. If it’s boring, they’re not reading it.
4. Accessible language. If it’s stuffy or preachy, they’re not reading it.
5. Relevance. If it’s not useful to them, they’re not reading it.
6. Freshness. If it’s old or the same as everything else, they’re not reading it, either.
7. Brevity. It’s hard to keep people’s attention. If it’s long, they’ll give up.
Of course, there’s a lot more to writing a good thought leadership piece than these few short rules. There’s structure, language, style, pace, key messages, and the inevitable call to action.
Which brings me to a half day thought leadership writing workshop I’m running with This Friday Client Partner, Renee Taylor, on May 20 in Melbourne.
Come along and learn all the above. Find out more and register here. It’ll be fun!
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Author: Kate Dunstan
Published: 31 March 2025
Don’t you scroll LinkedIn and wonder at how delighted, honoured, and proud people are to be doing all the stuff they do? Do you learn anything when you read how thrilled they are? Does it make you think, or give you a new idea?
It’s the ones who write intelligently about what they do and share their expertise that attract attention, impart wisdom, and ultimately, impress.
It might be a stretch to call insight articles on LinkedIn Thought Leadership. After all, they’re not White Papers, ground-breaking research, or doctoral theses. But they are an opportunity to present new approaches or ideas and, yes, show how you think.
Unlike content that values volume over quality, true thought leadership offers unique insights, challenges conventional thinking, or presents innovative solutions to industry problems. It requires depth, originality, and relevance rather than just frequency. And, of course, it’s not just in LinkedIn, it’s published in books, professional journals, industry blogs, on websites, podcasts, Ted Talks, the list goes on.
In professional services, thought leadership addresses the specific challenges clients face rather than topics that merely interest the writer. It requires practical application beyond technical or academic theory.
For the most part, though, the purpose of thought leadership articles is to build visibility, reputation, and business. In that context, what are the essential ingredients of an effective article?
1. A catchy headline and beginning. If you don’t attract people to start reading, you’ve lost them already.
2. Real content. If they’re not learning, they’re not reading it.
3. Interesting material. If it’s boring, they’re not reading it.
4. Accessible language. If it’s stuffy or preachy, they’re not reading it.
5. Relevance. If it’s not useful to them, they’re not reading it.
6. Freshness. If it’s old or the same as everything else, they’re not reading it, either.
7. Brevity. It’s hard to keep people’s attention. If it’s long, they’ll give up.
Of course, there’s a lot more to writing a good thought leadership piece than these few short rules. There’s structure, language, style, pace, key messages, and the inevitable call to action.
Which brings me to a half day thought leadership writing workshop I’m running with This Friday Client Partner, Renee Taylor, on May 20 in Melbourne. Come along and learn all the above. Book in here. It’ll be fun. And useful.
