EP #061 - Why Most LinkedIn “Thought Leadership” Fails (And What to Do Instead)

I've been thinking about why so much of what passes for "thought leadership" on LinkedIn completely misses the mark. 

And after working with hundreds of executives, I've identified five critical mistakes that turn potentially powerful content into noise.

Here's what's really going wrong - and how to fix it.

1. Most "thought leadership" is actually just promotion

The biggest culprit of this is that familiar "I'm so humbled to announce..." post format that floods LinkedIn feeds daily. You know the ones - they read like acceptance speeches at awards ceremonies.

Most executives default to promotion mode the moment they open LinkedIn. They're announcing awards, celebrating company milestones, or sharing product launches. 

And while there's a place for company updates and you can argue that place is LinkedIn, these kinds of posts aren’t thought leadership.

What to do instead: Share insights, lessons learned, or industry observations that help your audience solve problems. Save the promotional content for your company page.

2. They don't show up at all

This one might surprise you, but I've met countless industry leaders who genuinely believe they have nothing valuable to say. The irony is staggering - and frankly, a little maddening.

While everyone complains about too much noise on LinkedIn, the truth is we're not hearing from the people who matter most. Instead, we get the 47th post this week about "5 Ways AI Will Change Everything" from someone who discovered ChatGPT last month.

What to do instead: Start with the assumption that your experience has value. You've solved problems others are facing right now. Share those solutions.

3. They lack strategy (and empathy)

Most failed thought leadership comes down to a simple Venn diagram problem: executives talk about what they know without considering what their audience cares about.

True thought leadership lives at the intersection of your expertise and your audience's pressing concerns. This requires curiosity and empathy - understanding what keeps your target audience up at night, what they yearn to learn, and how your experience can help.

What to do instead: Before writing anything, ask yourself: "What problem is my audience trying to solve?" Then share how your experience addresses this specific challenge.

4. They don't understand the medium

LinkedIn isn't a blog platform or an academic journal, but you wouldn't know it from most executive posts. I've seen LinkedIn posts that look like they were copy-pasted straight from a doctoral dissertation - complete with footnotes and enough jargon to make a consultant blush.

Dense paragraphs, research paper formatting, and wall-of-text posts perform about as well as Password123 at a cybersecurity conference. 

LinkedIn rewards scannable content with plenty of white space, short sentences, and clear structure - not the corporate equivalent of War and Peace.

What to do instead: Use short paragraphs, bullet points when appropriate, and plenty of line breaks. Write for someone scrolling on their phone during a coffee break.

5. They dramatically underestimate frequency

Here's where I'm going to hurt some feelings: posting once a quarter and calling it "thought leadership" is like going to the gym once a month and expecting abs.

The biggest disconnect I see is executives thinking sharing an insight once is enough. They operate with a "one and done" mindset - as if their LinkedIn audience has the memory of elephants and hangs on their every word.

But great leadership is about saying the same important things in a million different ways. Most people don't absorb concepts on the first, fifth, or even fiftieth exposure. 

Our research shows effective thought leaders post 1-4 times per week, but most executives post 1-4 times per year. 

What to do instead: Embrace repetition with variation. Find different angles, stories, and applications for your core insights. Your audience needs to hear your key messages repeatedly before they stick.

The Bottom Line

Real thought leadership comes down to consistently sharing valuable perspectives that help your audience navigate challenges you've already solved. You don't need the perfect insight or the most original idea - you just need to show up regularly with genuine value.

The leaders who get this right understand that thought leadership is a service to their community, not a platform for self-promotion.

— Justin

Justin M. Nassiri | Founder & CEO
M: 650.353.1138 | E: [email protected]
250 Fillmore St Suite 150, Denver, CO 80206
www.ExecutivePresence.io

Executive Presence specializes in helping top-tier executives boost their visibility, activate their network, and position themselves as thought leaders via our premium, fully-managed LinkedIn service.

Our unique process involves ex-McKinsey, BCG, and Bain consultants conducting monthly hour-long interviews with our clients, and turning them into impactful daily LinkedIn posts to establish their unique voice and authority. On average, our clients see a 500% bump in engagement in their first 30 days with us. Data is continuously analyzed to improve engagement and identify impactful messaging that you can use for conferences, podcasts, and internal communications.