Writing Thought Leadership
Quick start
Collect or infer:
- •Author's area of expertise and credentials
- •Core thesis or unique perspective
- •Target audience and their current beliefs
- •Supporting evidence (data, experience, case studies)
- •Publication venue and format constraints
Then produce output using TEMPLATES.md. Validate with RUBRIC.md.
Workflow
- •Identify the author's distinctive point of view — what do they believe that others don't?
- •Define the audience's current mental model and where it needs to shift.
- •Establish the "tension" — the gap between conventional thinking and the author's insight.
- •Structure argument with opening hook, thesis, evidence, implications, and call to reflection.
- •Ground abstract claims in concrete examples, data, or named experiences.
- •Remove hedging language that undermines authority.
- •End with a forward-looking implication or provocation, not a summary.
- •Run the rubric check. Revise until it passes.
Degrees of freedom
- •Low freedom: Factual accuracy, attribution of claims, author credential representation
- •Medium freedom: Argument structure, evidence selection, example specificity
- •High freedom: Voice, rhetorical approach, opening hook style
Default: Match author's natural voice. Prioritize clarity of argument over stylistic flourish.
References
- •Templates: TEMPLATES.md
- •Rubric: RUBRIC.md
- •Examples: EXAMPLES.md
- •Argument structures: reference/argument-structures.md
- •Authority markers: reference/authority-markers.md