26 Ways to Build Thought Leadership in 2026

Merry Christmas Eve!

Maybe I’m crazy for sending this on a holiday (don’t worry—it was pre-scheduled), but given how much I preach consistency, I couldn’t skip a week so soon after starting. Showing up matters. And if you’re here with me, whether you’re reading right away or saving this for the New Year, thank you. I’m genuinely grateful you’re spending even a sliver of your holiday time here.

Today I’m sharing 26 tips for building thought leadership in 2026 — Part 1.

These can be implemented anytime, in any order. But I did write them with the idea that you could tackle one every two weeks throughout the year, in the order they’re written. If you do that—and actually follow through—I’m confident you’ll see meaningful results next year. Even if you only implement a few, I think you’ll be surprised by the payoff.

Alright, let’s get into it—otherwise this is going to be a very long newsletter.

Let’s start the year with a simple recognition: thought leadership, even when done well, is not hard.

You know what is hard? Starting a company. Pitching investors. Leading a team toward a shared goal.

If you’re a CEO, founder, or leader, you’ve already done very hard things. Building thought leadership won’t be one of them.

Every time you read an article that’s relevant to your industry, and genuinely interesting to you, keep a note of who wrote it. If the same names keep popping up, look for their contact info. It’s often linked in their author bio, or on X, LinkedIn, Substack, or similar platforms.

That’s it. No outreach yet. Just collect names. Aim for 10 to start.

Yes. That’s the whole tip.

Just start posting. About anything. Your dog. Your dinner. Your day. All that matters right now is posting.

If you’re doing customer discovery (and you should be), add one question at the end of every conversation: “What do you read to stay up to date in this industry?”

Trade publications. Substacks. Blogs. Podcasts.

Then start consuming the same media—and add relevant writers to your list from Tip #2.

By now, you’ve posted a few times. While your audience may enjoy seeing what you had for dinner, it’s more useful for thought leadership to focus on what you actually want to be known for. Take 15 minutes and write down 3-4 (total) of the following:

Hint: one of these should absolutely be your company. Congrats—you’re already a quarter of the way there.

From Tip #3, you probably heard a few trade or industry organizations’ publications come up. Pick one of the organizations and join it.

These groups not only help you stay informed, but can spark content ideas and create opportunities for future tips on this list.

You’re consuming relevant media, you know what you want to talk about, and you’ve started posting. Now it’s time to capture ideas.

Your content bank can live anywhere - a notes app, emails to yourself, or a ChatGPT databased (that’s where I keep mine).

The tool doesn’t matter. Having ideas ready does.

I can’t say this enough: take photos.

Photos are invaluable content. You can never have too many. Industry events, coffee meetings, team outings—take a picture. Ideally, post it. But even if you don’t, you’ll be glad you have it later.

AI gets a bad rap on LinkedIn, and I get why. People want to connect with people.

But if the choice is using AI or not posting at all, use AI. You have my permission (not that you need it).

If you’re stuck and posting just isn’t happening, do this instead: leave thoughtful comments. Find posts where you can add something insightful or helpful. A good comment can travel farther than you think.

Do you know what your best post this year was?

Most founders don’t. Posting is good. Posting what works is better. Look at your analytics and learn from them.

What’s the next best thing to a founder posting about the company? Employees doing it.

Employee posts often have huge ROI, and open your business up to new networks. So ask your team to jump in the game. If you haven’t been posting, seeing their work might be the inspiration (aka kick in the pants) you need.

By now, you’ve either found a rhythm on LinkedIn, or fallen off entirely. Either way, create a Reddit account. Join a few industry-relevant subreddits.

Do not use your company name as your username—make it personal.

Reddit is becoming increasingly important in the thought leadership ecosystem (especially with LLMs), and just like LinkedIn, being a real person wins.

If any of these tips resonate, or frustrate , or raise questions — hit reply and let me know. And come back next week for Part 2 (Yes, it’s New Year’s Eve, yes, I’m scheduling it to post in advance. Maybe.)

See you next week,
Megan