I was on my laptop at Caribou Coffee in Royal Oak and I saw a friend
Eddie Lee (Detroit Young Professionals) and we talked for a minute and he mentioned the phase, ‘Thought Leader’ and this blog post was born. Thanks Eddie!

Are you a thought leader? We all have the potential to be one.

Thought leader is defined in Wikipedia as a buzzword or article of jargon used to describe a futurist or person who is recognized among their peers and mentors for innovative ideas and demonstrates the confidence to promote or share those ideas as actionable distilled insights (thinklets).

The term was first coined in 1994, by Joel Kurtzman, editor-in-chief of the magazine, Strategy & Business.

But now I ask you a question, what things matter to you? Does anybody care about your thoughts? What is important in your life? What are your interest and what do you truly care about? It is time to wrap your thoughts around something that matters and leverage the power of the new media, blogging, social networks, and microblogging- twitter to name a few. The voice of user-generated content is increasing and becoming more relevant. For me it is simple, my thoughts are wrapped around branding. Branding is an inexhaustible subject so there is never a shortage of content or things to talk about.

I believe a lot people focus on things they think other people want to hear versus creating relevant content that matters. Being a thought leader is not a title that you can anoint yourself with, so please don’t try.

What I believe thought leaders have!
o Vision. They see what others don’t see (and before others see it.)
o Innovate. They think outside the box.
o Focus. The concentrate on something that matters.
o Make the complex simple. Anybody can add steps to a process, can you remove steps and make the process better.
o Swagger. They have that something that draws you to them and makes you want to consume their thoughts and their content.

Thought leaders communicate passion when sharing their ideas. As a personal brand strategist I fight the ills of the branding world and unoriginally with my Apple laptop (I would say pen, but that is so 20th century) my blog, and my book. I am the world’s next superhero, just call me ‘Brand Man’. LOL

Are you a thought leader? Let me know your thoughts.

Two of the though leaders (social media/marketing) I follow in twitter:

@chrisbrogan
@SethGodin

Two of my personal favorites:
Kevin Carroll- www.kevincarrollkatalyst.com

TED(Technology, Entertainment, Design)- www.TED.com (Inspired talks by the worlds greatest thinkers and doers)

thoughtleader_tagcloud, originally uploaded by Hajj Flemings.

Did ‘The Brand YU Life’ book cover inspire the new NBA commercial (‘There Can Only Be One’) or the new Time magazine cover design with Hillary and Barack. Who knows? Nevertheless, all three are great designs.

After researching the design direction of the commercial I found the following statement from the NBA:
“There Can Only Be One” is designed to bring to life the dedication, desire, and sacrifice that create the intense emotions and drama of one of sport’s premier postseason events: the NBA Playoffs & The Finals.

When I saw the ads the first thing I thought about was the dedication, desire, and sacrifice required to operate in your purpose as a personal brand. The split faces represented to me the split personalities that most people have: one of a person trying to get a particular job and not being fulfilled and the other operating in their purpose and loving what they do.

My reason for being a personal brand strategist is that I was tired of just working a job and wanted to live my passion and operate in my purpose. Operating in your purpose is the highest calling of personal branding opposed to just getting a job. Positions can be filled, people can be replaced, but ‘There is only one’ who can fill your purpose.

There Can Only Be One, originally uploaded by Hajj Flemings.

‘The Brand YU Life’ is about creatively branding your life and re-thinking who you are though personal branding. It is a paradigm shift and a tool to help you create, define, and manage who you are, to eliminate the separation between you and your personal brand.

The above except is from a special online interview conducted by Catur PW because of his interest on the topic of personal branding development. To view the full-version of the article ‘The Brand YU Life = Personal Branding’ go to http:blog.caturpw.com.

The Brand YU Life Cover Originally uploaded by h_flemings