Is there a gap between how you perceive yourself, and the reality that others see? Too often, we use self-descriptive marketing terms so much that we convince ourselves of their truth. And what are the biggest culprits? Here are two: Thought Leader and Trusted Advisor.

It isn’t hard to understand why so many refer to themselves in this way: it helps the ego, helps marketing, and shines a patina of professionalism and respectability on their activities. But just because these terms are used, doesn’t make them true.

A more useful approach is to consider that each of us sits along a spectrum of thought leadership from low to high, and along a trust spectrum from low to high. Depending on where you sit within this matrix, you are either a Commodity, Golfer, Academic, or Star. Not unsurprisingly, each has its own strategy.

• Commodities: Low thought leadership, and weaker trust. In this category, there is very little differentiation, and very low switching costs. Advantage can be achieved only by competing on price.
• Golfers: Low thought leadership, but strong trust. There is nothing inherently wrong with being in this category, but eventually the relationship will wain without an increasing delivery of benefits. Advantage can be achieved by developing thought leadership.
• Academics: High thought leadership, but trust has not yet developed. Again, nothing wrong with being exceptionally smart, but this by itself is not a sustainable competitive advantage: blink for a minute, and there is someone, somewhere, smarter than you, more up-to-date than you, or with more “followers” than you. Advantage can be achieved by building trust.
• Stars: People in this group are simultaneously thought leaders and trusted advisors: they have it all. The chief benefit of stardom is that their market price is higher than any of the other categories. Yet stars still have their challenges: it takes time to maintain thought leadership, and it takes time to maintain trust. If stars don’t continually invest, their advantage (and their value) degrades.

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