You may be the ultimate success story. You’ve scaled your business, sold it for millions, or launched innovative products and services that disrupted your industry. By all accounts, you’re successful.
However, you may not be considered an authority in your field — yet.
That’s because business success and authority are not the same thing. You may have achieved every objective you’ve set for yourself, but until others view you as the go-to expert in your field, your industry, your market, or town, you still lack authority.
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The Authority Gap
The authority gap is the difference between believing that you’re an expert and having other people see you as such.
This gap is what separates you from invitations to speak at national conferences or to join boards of directors. It flips the switch from you pursuing new opportunities to new opportunities being dropped in your lap.
Fortunately, there is a way to bridge this gap — by writing and publishing a leadership book.
Is writing a book the only way to shrink that gap? Not at all, but it is the most efficient.
Writing a book is one of the most effective marketing tactics for building authority because a book allows you to package your expertise as something tangible, to share what you know in its pages, and in doing so, to be perceived as a leading authority on that topic.
Public perception of you can shift based on the fact that you’ve added “author” to your list of accomplishments. The reaction is similar to how people perceive a keynote speaker or professor at the front of the room — the person at the front of the room is presumed to know more than those seated.
How Books Bridge the Gap
The biggest benefits of publishing a print book, versus an e-book, come from the credibility that author status affords you. This includes:
Permanent proof of your intellect. Yes, social media can shine a spotlight on you temporarily, but a printed book can serve as a permanent reminder of your expertise and authority. Even if the reader never cracks it open, your book’s existence is proof enough of your leading thinking.
Qualifying as the expert source. Being quoted in the media, in industry articles and reports, becomes so much easier when you have a book to your name. Many reporters are only permitted to quote organization leaders and authors. You suddenly qualify for media coverage you didn’t before.
Inviting new business opportunities. With a book to your name, many colleges and universities will consider you qualified for adjunct teaching opportunities. Your book can help elevate your visibility and lead to new career opportunities or business ventures.
Although books can’t guarantee these types of invitations, it’s almost a guarantee that these things can’t happen without one.
The Authority Formula
Many experts have different takes on how to build authority. Some say it requires expertise. Period. Others say you need a combination of expertise and influence, or trust and motivation. There is some disagreement about which is most important.
What they agree on, however, is that you need original insights to be both credible and memorable. A new idea that is a flash in the pan won’t result in long-term standing or authority. You want ideas and concepts that have staying power, because authority takes time to emerge. Once you have it, you don’t want it to fade away.
This is why it’s not enough to just rehash business strategies that everyone has heard before.
You need to share a unique perspective on a subject or situation, or to outline a particular methodology that you can prove works.
To do that, you’ll want to share your personal experiences running a company or leading a specific initiative, as well as case studies and success stories from other organizations. Saying that you were successful at XYZ Corporation is a great first step, but if no one else has come close to replicating similar results, you’ll face resistance to your ideas.
That’s counter to establishing your authority. So you need to weave together facts, figures, and stories that confirm your unique perspective or framework has merit.
Pre-Writing Research
If you’re starting to see how authoring a book can help build your platform and elevate your authority, do some research before you start to write to ensure your book has a positive impact on your authority positioning.
Among other things, assess:
- How are you currently perceived in your industry?
- Who are the current thought leaders?
- What are your personal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) as a leader?
- What have other leaders in your industry written? (Anything?)
- Where are the information gaps you might fill?
- Who do you want to influence?
Studying your industry and the publishing landscape within it can help ensure your book is seen as relevant to your target audience. If several other CEOs have written books about downsizing companies effectively, or incorporating AI without cutting jobs, then don’t follow in their footsteps.
Strategic Positioning
You want to write a book that distinguishes you from others in your field. That’s what will yield authority.
Your book can be a ticket to thought leadership and long-term industry authority only if you approach the process strategically.
As you start formulating your leadership book, make sure that it combines your unique ideas and insights based on your experiences, a framework you’ve developed to help others apply what you’ve learned, and plenty of stories that make your framework compelling and exciting for your reader.
Stop being the best-kept secret in your field.