“The debate over the contemporary relevance of hybrid threats does not include any subtext concerning the future of gorilla warfare.” – A conversation between zoo animals in an early Doctrine Man comic
Around 2007, I was parked in my cubicle in Root Hall on Fort Leavenworth, preparing to launch a daily email that included an edition of a comic that would eventually become Doctrine Man. I put the finishing touches on a snarky note and clicked send. Within a millisecond, the email bounced back as unsendable. Apparently, there were limits to the number of recipients you could include on an Outlook email, and I had surpassed that figure.
That was the also the day that the comic launched on social media.
As I established a presence that would grow to a quarter million followers, it was more than a daily comic. I shared important professional articles, opinion pieces, and a variety of forms of media: videos, images, and even memes (before they were officially “a thing”). But there was a method to my madness. If it was going to have any impact, something that brought true value, it had to be more than a daily cartoon.
There Was an Idea
From the outset, the comic was meant to tell a story. It captured the inane and often mundane moments of military life that typify our service; moments we all recognize, told through the exploits, gestures, and attitudes of characters to whom we could all relate. From the ubiquitous reflective belt to the smoking poo barrel, from the floating skull of Clausewitz to Buzzword Bingo, every comic was a little more than meets the eye.
The comic itself was the draw. The content had to keep the audience engaged and coming back for more. It needed to be a space for thought leadership.
As someone who had always been a believer in professional development, engaging others in meaningful conversation was a longtime personal goal. Thought leadership – using your voice to drive insight, spur innovation, and shape opinions – was the secret sauce to achieve that goal. In a 2023 Forbes article, Ron Carucci observed, “The best leaders don’t keep their insights and knowledge to themselves. In fact, knowledge sharing is viewed as a competitive advantage.”
More importantly, using Doctrine Man as a vehicle for thought leadership allowed me to reach a wider group of people, to engage people I’d never even met in productive dialog (and unproductive dialog here and there along the way). Thought leadership carries the added benefit of being contagious. As you influence talent and spur knowledge sharing, people take your wisdom and ideas with them.
All in a day’s work for a snarky collection of stick figures.
Pulling the Threads
In most cases, thought leadership is a means to an end, not an end itself. The focus on the tangible benefits – increased visibility, career advancement, personal branding – typically outweighs the intangible. Thought leadership can be decidedly self-promotional, a proven way to network, collaborate, and influence your way ahead in life.
But for someone who spent his formative years in culture rooted in selfless service, thought leadership meant something else entirely.
A recent Forbes Coaches Council article emphasized the value of the intangible benefits, a rare opportunity to flip the script on thought leadership. Of the 14 reasons offered, 10 of them captured my personal philosophy on thought leadership and reflected the impetus behind my own efforts.
1. Allows you to reflect on your ideas.
I’m an iterative thinker. A lot of my ideas are not fully formed when I release them into the wild. As a result, I often initiate conversations to help them find shape and meaning.
2. Helps begin conversations.
Increasingly, we need to have conversations but don’t know how to get them started. Thought leadership is about launching those conversations.
3. Attracts thoughtful and meaningful dialog.
The 95% Rule applies here. Most people engage in thoughtful and meaningful dialog, which helps spur the exchange of ideas. The other 5%… well, they’re just going to troll their way through life.
4. Creates space for diverse perspectives.
This is probably the toughest aspect of online thought leadership, but the greatest benefit. If you can build community trust, it widens the aperture for participation. The other 5% will have a vote, though.
5. Sharpens thinking and sparks opportunity.
Personally, I learn a lot from the exchanges and discourse. And, as I’ve learned over the years, so do others.
6. Builds genuine connections and trust.
Earlier this year, I recorded a podcast with a good friend of mine who I first met in the Doctrine Man forum. His opening gambit: we’d never met in person. I had no idea; that’s how strong our connection was.
7. Stimulates deeper thinking and audience engagement.
Thought leadership is an avenue for critical thinking – always a principal reason for the forum – and engagement. Give people a voice and challenge them. They’ll respond in kind. So will the other 5%, though.
8. Offers real value up front.
In business, the term is value proposition – what unique value do you bring to the table? If your audience finds value in your voice and your ideas, they’ll come back. And they’ll bring their friends. That’s how communities are built.
9. Builds intellectual trust.
Being a selfless thought leader signals that you’re not selling something but providing a service that offers shared value. That matters to people.
10. Plants seeds for long-term impact and growth.
Once you’re an established thought leader, you have a rare opportunity to shape the next generation, to plant the seeds that spawn new leaders in other professions. Your reward is seeing them succeed.
Leveraging a comic to spur thought leadership was a unique approach, to be sure. And not everyone recognized it for what it was. One senior leader – someone who fashioned himself a thought leader in his own right – took great offense at the comic and could never look past the sarcastic storytelling to see the big picture. He was not alone.
But he was never my aim point; from the outset, my target was always the 95% who could see the forest for the trees. And if stick figures and the Forever Wars could draw them in, then thought leadership would do the rest.
