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In the world marketing, and particularly with the explosion of social media, no term is more overused than “thought leadership.” Yet the expression is often misunderstood. To illuminate why, I interviewed James Durham, a lawyer and chief marketing officer of McGuireWoods. I hoped he could help me demonstrate that although “thought leadership” is overused, the underlying concept remains essential to legal marketing.
Durham has been speaking and writing about thought leadership for lawyers for more than a decade. Before becoming a CMO, he had his own consulting firm, working with hundreds of law firms around the country. I hoped he could help me demonstrate that although “thought leadership” is overused, the underlying concept remains essential to legal marketing.
Thought leadership — which essentially means developing a reputation as a leading expert in a particular field — forces lawyers to highlight one specialty, and this can cause great discomfort. “Won’t my existing clients feel alienated if I market myself to a more narrow niche?” some might wonder. “Won’t it take me out of the running for all of the other types of work I do?”
Well, no.
“Becoming a thought leader in one area isn’t limiting at all,” Durham said. “You build exceptional credibility in one area because you are that good at it. It isn’t a stretch that you are probably good at other things as well.
“It’s always a mistake trying to sell the multiple things you do anyway,” he continued. “I’ve spoken to GCs who don’t like to hear firms say, ‘We have someone who does that.’ They want someone who is the very best. The benefit of having a thought leader isn’t just for that individual’s practice, but also for their ability to bring in work for other practices. Many of the top rainmakers at McGuireWoods bring in work that they themselves can’t do. It isn’t a leap for a company impressed by your thought leadership to assume these talents extend to other attorneys your firm.”
If attorneys can do ‘thought leadership’ marketing, you can too! Follow the ‘via’ link above if you want more or comment, call or ‘connect’ so we can talk about how this applies to your organization…
