Why Jason Miller isn’t (just) a thought leader.

As the Global Content Marketing Leader for LinkedIn, Jason Miller knows a thing or two about creating content that creates thought leaders. He also appears to know, along with the likes of Beth Comstock, that in a world awash with articles, Slideshare presentations, infographics and the like, new thought needs to be given to how one might still break through as a true leader. Consider his latest adventure, a leap beyond thought leadership into conversation leadership: B2B Dinner for Five.

From my vantage point, this new video addition to LinkedIn’s considerable content mix looks to creatively leapfrog the multiple millions of blog posts published daily (and their constant pushing, pushing, pushing of the author’s own thoughts), to bring forth, in a more engaging and welcome way, the thoughts of multiple experts in conversation.

As you’ll see in the video above (a compilation of what was originally parsed into several quickly digestible segments in the original post), the inaugural B2B Dinner for Five illustrates several key benefits that conversation leadership provides, which “these-are-just-my-thoughts-leadership” cannot:

Conversation dips into a deeper well of insight.

Sorry, but most of us will never be seen as true luminaries (the best I could ever muster, in my more hirsute years, was to be mistaken in airports for Richard Branson…as if). And even if you are one of the best minds in the business, you are still just one.  Adding the experience, education and insights of others enables you to take your audience deeper, further, farther into a subject.

Even when looking beyond the individual to project company leadership, more is more. As B2B Dinner for Five guest and general B2B bon vivant Doug Kessler of Velocity Partners told me, “No company can have all the answers. As part of your marketing mix, it’s great to include content that facilitates conversations around industry issues instead of just giving your own views on them.”

Thought leadership builds awareness; conversation leadership builds relationships.

None of this is meant to suggest that you shouldn’t engage in traditional thought leadership, which, as a recent Edelman study shows, is now de rigueur for getting included in RFPs. However, as Kessler observes, in conversation leadership you not only make yourself known, you also “build relationships with the influencers you invite along; you show the market that you’re at the forefront of emerging best practice; and you show that your company is a listener, not just concerned with its own views.”

The listening required for good conversation helps you learn.

That last point is one of the best-hidden benefits of shutting your mouth and opening your ears, whether it’s around a dinner table in front of a camera or across from an interviewee at a podcast microphone: when you listen in conversation, you learn. It’s qualitative research and content marketing all rolled up into one.

Margaret Molloy, CMO of Siegel+Gale. emphasized this in our recent interview, saying “The learning that accrues to us is more important than a project or some revenue, which may or may not occur. Asking questions of [potential prospects], as distinct from pitching them, is vitally important, and powerful, if we’re wise enough to truly listen, and generous enough to share it all with the community.”

Dialogue is more fun than monologue.

At one point in the initial dinner, Miller decries “the new boring,” which seems to cover most of the me-too content and thought leadership efforts out there. And there’s no better antidote to boredom, especially in B2B, than imagining yourself at dinner, swapping stories, jokes and, yes, insights with the smartest smart-asses in your industry (cue Kessler again).

So yes, Jason Miller is indeed a thought leader — but he’s thinking bigger than himself, and including others in the conversation.

For more on how you can lead your industry’s conversation, see our interviews with
Andy Crestodina
Margaret Molloy
Brian Walker

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About the Author
Chuck Kent, the Chief Conversation Officer at Lead the Conversation, is a writer, brand strategist, content creator and expert interviewer. He is also a Contributing Editor for Branding Magazine, where he created and moderates the monthly Branding Roundtable (which keeps him in constant conversation with business leaders from around the world).