Successful thought leadership often starts with thinking about the downsides. In my last post, I brought up the common concern that many lawyers have when faced with the prospect of creating thought leadership content: will publishing regularly diminish my reputation? When we hear this sentiment, we've come to expect great content will soon follow. Skeptics often become the most successful thought leaders. There's a psychological concept called "defensive pessimism" that explains why.

To be defensively pessimistic means to think about the pitfalls before beginning an endeavour, therefore decreasing the chances of any of those negative outcomes ever coming to pass. Writing poor quality content can, in fact, decrease your reputation. Those who are hyper aware of this go out of their way to ensure their content possesses real value. 

As I described last week, professional service providers are well-positioned to deliver valuable content due to the specialised nature of their knowledge. This doesn't mean, however, that they can just write about anything. How does one ensure their content will be valuable? By focusing on what others need, not merely their own knowledge, expertise, or interests. 

Valuable content first and foremost comes from listening. This decision—to start with the needs and questions of your clients—frames the entire content creation process. It also demonstrate the ethos of your business. There's no quicker way to irrelevance than self-absorption. 

Accomplishing a goal (to become a trusted advisor and generate more business) requires thinking realistically about the obstacles (people are short on time and are constantly deluged with endless amounts of information claiming to be important). Being intentional about the value your content is adding is showing respect for your clients and potential ones. To write a high-quality and impactful post, start by thinking about the obstacles. Even better, start by thinking about your clients' obstacles.