Have you ever had an IT Services company try to sell you hype? Maybe something that was so new they couldn’t explain it, or the “value proposition” was so muddled you were left wondering if and when that value would hit your top or bottom line? Having spent most of my career on the customer side of IT I certainly experienced this far too often. Whether IT, with all its TLAs (3-letter-acronyms) or any other product or service, we believe thought leadership is what makes the difference in you getting what your business truly needs, and not what it clearly does not.
Wikipedia provides a straight-forward definition of a thought leader as “A thought leader is an individual or firm that is recognized as an authority in a specialized field and whose expertise is sought and often rewarded.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_leader) Thought leadership is about applying thought leaders experience, knowledge and learnings to produce better business outcomes.
Experience as a CIO for large corporations, managing large IT Services companies P&Ls, and leading worldwide IT organizations, we know a bit about IT thought leadership. Applying thought leadership begins with your Business Strategy – not IT. It includes looking across your business people, process and yes – technology. It ends with producing the right outcomes for your business.