Becoming A Subject Matter Expert (SME) or Thought Leader

I think there area lot of nuanced meanings of the words “leader” and “leadership”, and I also believe that many younger professionals assume that they need to think in terms of “moving up the corporate management ladder” to be considered “leaders”. This belief could not be further from the truth.

This is by far my favorite: “A simple definition is that leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act toward achieving a common goal”.

Not everyone is cut out to be a people manager, and there are a finite number of those opportunities. As a recruiter for well over a decade, I have worked as a partner with hiring managers with a unique perspective into what makes for a good and bad “manager”. And I have met some phenomenal leaders that are strong individual contributors. I’m creating this content for anyone that wants to grow their reputation, be seen as a SME (subject matter expert), and develop a reputation as a leader…someone that inspires others to action. So I am going to address a few of the ways you can establish yourself.

• Write content. A blog, a book, articles (LinkedIn is the easiest platform with the widest reach and is FREE, or try your hand on Medium). Comment on content your industry/professional peers post; *thoughtful* dissent backed up by rationale is, believe it or not, one of the fastest ways to establish yourself. It generally leads to offline discussions with other people who are interested in your thoughts. LinkedIn, Quora, Reddit, Facebook…all of these are platforms that encourage discourse and exchanges of ideas.
• Start a podcast or Youtube channel.
• Public Speaking. On a subject, on a panel, for an instructor, for professional organizations. Keynote speaker at industry events, presenter at a Meetup. Most people don’t know how to “create” these opportunities. This is fairly simple: let people know that are on committees, leadership teams, project/event management staff *know* you are interested, and that you have ideas on topics or are happy to speak on a panel. Reach out to instructors/teachers at local colleges/universities with subject matter you are a pro at and offer to speak to their classes or come in for a Q & A. If you have an area of expertise and can provide real-world expertise, I promise students will be appreciative. Having free guest speakers is generally welcome by instructors! Attend events in your field, meet the event staff/hosting organization, and ask about future opportunities. Which leads to the next point…
• Volunteer. Especially for your local professional association chapters or specialty events (like a MeetUp). If you are a member of a sizable social group (church/mosque/synagogue, fraternal order, civic group, etc.) offer to create/host an event and see if you can use their meeting space. If there isn’t a structure to use, check out Peerspace to find some based on your location.
• Networking. Meeting other people that share a passion, profession, goal, or set of interests with you. Make an effort to get together for 1:1 meetings (coffee, lunch, drinks, dinner.) *Psst, this is also the best way to build your professional network for your next career move.
• Teach/train. Informal groups aimed at learning, small (or larger) seminars/classes. Contact professional development organizations and offer to be a guest instructor for their class at no charge.

• Become a mentor. This can be inside your own organization or more broadly in your profession. One of the examples I use when I am interviewing for a job is the fact that I have mentored 4 recruiting coordinators directly into full recruiting roles. I wasn’t their manager, but I helped give them training and opportunities to learn the ins and outs of recruiting. In my last job, I actually developed a formal mentoring plan for my RC’s path to a promotion (which she achieved while I was still there).

Make sure to record your more formalized activities on your resume and LinkedIn profile (obviously if you publish something on LI, you don’t need to add it as it becomes part of your searchable pages).