You might need someone to help you sort things out
but you remain your thought leader.
Believe in yourself.

~~~~~

Thought Leader.

Another label (buzzword) that has been around for a while. It describes someone seen as an expert who can lead and inspire others. You’ve probably seen it on websites, in articles, or heard it in speaker introductions.

I understand the reference, yet the term has a strange feel for me. Maybe it’s semantics. The idea that someone would lead my thoughts is a bit unsettling. Almost like thought control or mind control. You know, kind of like, Follow me! I am your thought leader!

How about you help me clarify but I lead my own thoughts? Maybe I can be a thought stimulator. But you remain the thought leader.

When I have facilitated workshops, delivered a keynote, or worked one-on-one, I have always viewed the people in front of me as thought leaders within their environment. Them, not me. My job might have been to introduce new ideas, a different way of looking at an old situation, or to encourage the audience to consider a plan of action. But I never considered myself their thought leader.

Even when I led campus committees (prior to my retirement as a professor) or spoke to the college’s Board of Trustees, wrote student success textbooks, or taught classes, my job was to facilitate conversations and encourage people to believe in themselves. To dig deep and discover what they had to offer. Deliberative conversations bring thoughts to the forefront and allow critical thinking and evaluation.

I tried to be more of a “Questionator!”   

You might need someone to help you sort things out but you remain your thought leader. Believe in yourself. Be willing to listen, converse, disagree, learn, adjust, tweak, change, and grow.

My website states, “You are the true thought leaders within and for your community.”

Yes, you are.

~~~~~

You will find more about me at www.stevepiscitelli.com.

Information about my newest book, Sharing Wisdom Across the Ages: From Elementary School to Retirement (2023), (eBook and paperback versions) will be found here.

And you can still order:

• Roxie Looks for Purpose Beyond the Biscuit (2020), in eBook and paperback format. Click here.
• Community as a Safe Place to Land (2019, print and e-book). Available on Amazon. More information (including seven free podcast episodes that spotlight the seven core values highlighted in the book) is at the above link.
• Stories about Teaching: No Need to be an Island (2017, print and e-book). Available on Amazon. One college’s new faculty onboarding program used the scenarios in this book. Contact me if you and your team are interested in doing the same. The accompanying videos (see the link above) could serve to stimulate community-building conversations at the beginning of a meeting.

You can find my podcasts (all fifty episodes) here.

©2023. Steve Piscitelli
The Growth and Resilience Network®
Atlantic Beach, Florida