My boss wants me to make him a thought leader.

28 Comments

1. AnonymousJuly 14,2023 at 9:09PM UTC

   Keep looking for a new job. He wants you to do the tough jobs he's afraid to do, then, if there is any glory, he'll take it. This sounds like a no-win situation for you.

2. AnonymousJuly 14,2023 at 9:16PM UTC

   I would tell him you do not have the skill to do this but would be happy to qirk with a PR firm when he hires one.

3. Rosa E HearnJuly 14,2023 at 9:34PM UTC

   Can you get some petty/office money from him. Use his credit card? Their our great resources like Fiverr, that the people who could write for you at reasonable prices and you can even use CHATGPT to help. Just a suggestion

4. AnonymousJuly 14,2023 at 9:37PM UTC

   You can't make someone a thought leader. It's impossible.

   Your boss is a poser. Don't take the bait.

5. sayantika mukherjeeJuly 14,2023 at 10:16PM UTC

   It sounds like you're facing a challenging situation in your career

   It's essential to evaluate whether the additional social media and communications work falls within your job scope. While it's common for responsibilities to evolve in small organizations, it's crucial to assess if this work aligns with your skills and expertise. If it goes beyond your capabilities or detracts from your primary responsibilities, it may be necessary to have a conversation with your boss about your concerns.

   Ghostwriting can be a sensitive issue, especially if it involves representing someone's thoughts and ideas. If you feel uncomfortable doing it or believe it compromises your professional integrity, it's important to communicate your concerns to your boss. Express your reservations about ghostwriting and find a way to address the issue while maintaining a respectful and open dialogue.

   While your boss may express that hiring a PR firm is not financially feasible at the moment, it may be worth discussing alternative solutions. Explore potential avenues to optimize limited resources or consider outsourcing specific tasks to freelancers or consultants who specialize in PR and communications. This could help alleviate the burden placed on you and ensure the work is handled by professionals.

   If you feel undervalued and underpaid in your current role, it might be worth considering your long-term career goals and whether they align with the opportunities available at the startup. Explore other job opportunities that match your qualifications and provide the compensation and growth potential you desire. Remember to approach your job search strategically, leveraging your experience and skills as an Executive Assistant.

   Ultimately, it's essential to have open and honest communication with your boss, expressing your concerns and seeking mutually beneficial solutions. Assessing your own boundaries and career aspirations will help guide your decision-making process. Hope this helps

6. AnonymousJuly 14,2023 at 10:47PM UTC

   Re-evaluate "your fit" at this company.

7. Mary PoolJuly 15,2023 at 12:36PM UTC

   "That sounds like a great idea! However, I am not the right person for the job." Repeat as needed.

8. Julie WozniakJuly 15,2023 at 1:18PM UTC

   Yep - this does work. If REALLY pushed, you may just have to prove you're not the right person for the job!

9. AnonymousJuly 15,2023 at 1:13PM UTC

   Poof, you are a thought leader?

   I don’t think to works that way - he would need to have some leading thoughts, on his own, within his field.

   There’s a book “Ready to become a thought leader?” Buy it for him, using the company credit card, and let him know that this is the extent of your understanding.

   The guy is a jerk, btw, if you didn’t know already. Sorry you are stuck with him for now! Keep looking for another job.

10. AnonymousJuly 15,2023 at 1:19PM UTC

    To get through the day - use AI to "write" his stories and to even compose emails about them to push and pitch to news outlets. Will take you about 15 minutes.

11. AnonymousJuly 15,2023 at 1:22PM UTC

    Some ego maniacs / narcissists are truly unbelievable. He WILL eventually be found out for the idiot he truly is.

12. AnonymousJuly 15,2023 at 5:44PM UTC

    Or become the president.

13. AnonymousJuly 15,2023 at 3:40PM UTC

    I fully agree with this approach. Request he send his random thoughts to you for the stories in an email as bullet points. Then use AI to write the stories by copy/pasting the bullet points and providing a good prompt. I would spend 10-20 minutes max per story. But definitely drag your feet on delivering the draft to your boss so it appears it takes a much longer amount of time.

14. Sarah BordersJuly 15,2023 at 1:35PM UTC

    Ask him questions about what his end goal is with this endeavor. Is it centered on building his professional clout (as you suspect), or is it about positioning the startup for another round of funding? Does he believe that building his professional clout will benefit the business? Brainstorm with him some other options that are not so far outside your purview (come with ideas you’ve researched ahead of time) that could achieve whatever his end goal is.

    You cannot make him a thought leader just by writing social media posts for him, and even a PR firm can only do so much. He has to do the work of engaging with and contributing to his industry and network, and he has to do it consistently. If he has something of value to add to the conversation, it will happen, but it will not happen overnight.

    Related but not directly to your current dilemma, IMHO, with or without the title or pay, you are a CoS, and separate from the above conversation, I would go over your list of duties with him and tell him that, when they next secure more funding, you expect your pay to double, at least.

15. Barbara ThompsonJuly 15,2023 at 1:45PM UTC

    I am new to the term “thought leader”, but I guess I naively assumed thought leaders would have their own thoughts.

16. Kristen SteinerJuly 15,2023 at 1:55PM UTC

    It's a term of art in Marketing. Thought Leaders write on current topics that "push the conversation further" (scare quotes). It is a production process that leans heavily on writers and marketers, not necessarily the persons being positioned as thought leaders.

17. LenaJuly 15,2023 at 9:25PM UTC

    Right! Lol

18. AnonymousJuly 15,2023 at 2:57PM UTC

    I disagree with some comments here. People can become thought leaders even if they aren’t in reality. I work with someone who BS’d her way by hiring very smart people who have built her brand over the years and she is actually considered an influencer and thought leader. She doesn’t read a thing about the space in which we work and never takes a stand on any topic for fear of being confronted because she knows she won’t be able to defend herself. Though she really can’t afford to do so, she hired three ghostwriters who do ALL her thinking for her and she presents herself like it’s okay for her to know nothing because her ghostwriters know it all for her. Sometimes I feel embarrassed for her. There are awkward moments when people at our company come to me to tell me how shallow and fake she is and they don’t understand how she has built such a well-known reputation given she is a know-nothing individual. Not to get on a soapbox, but I often feel that her behavior and attitude sets women back in our push for equality and respect.

19. Sarah BordersJuly 16,2023 at 6:26PM UTC

    That must be miserable! One of my best bosses claimed her secret to success was hiring people who were smarter than her, but she would *never* claim our work or expertise as her own. That said, she wasn’t trying to become an influencer or industry expert. She was 100% committed to the job.

20. AnonymousJuly 16,2023 at 8:00PM UTC

    She thinks she’s untouchable.

21. AnonymousJuly 15,2023 at 5:42PM UTC

    This is an independent film waiting to happen. You're clearly underpaid and being exploited. I've worked with and for several self important ego maniacs. Stroke that ego like it's your job until you find something better. BS and make stuff up and smile and nod until you are free. And when you leave he'll be shocked and not know what hit him.

22. AnonymousJuly 15,2023 at 7:16PM UTC

    Thinking on who would play OP!

    And the advice isn’t half bad either. Play his game better, and find a company that will appreciate you!

23. AnonymousJuly 15,2023 at 9:47PM UTC

    This is great advice. I worked with a similar colleague. They never worked and didn't create any value at our tech startup.

    They spent all their time trying to get other people to promote them, build them up and do all their work for them because they said they were there at this particular company because of raw talent and their innate "wisdom ". I played into it and in private compared them to Steve Jobs. Constantly agreeing to do their work then "suddenly" getting pulled onto my own projects and never having a moment to dedicate to their work. This literally went on for a year. They honestly believed I was the only one that recognized their genius.

    The last time I ran into them they were assistant manager of a Foot Locker where I was trying on shoes. I now run my own consulting business.

24. AnonymousJuly 15,2023 at 6:11PM UTC

    Is this your start-up? Is your name on the building? Are you a partner? I'm guessing not. Don't suffer for someone else's dream. You don't stand to benefit from any of this wacko's delusions. It's time to put a stop to these narcissistic men who think their Executive Assistants are their work wives and willing to be the woman behind the man for pennies. How many men have taken credit for women's work over the past century? It's criminal.

25. AnonymousJuly 16,2023 at 1:10PM UTC

    This is on point, I totally agree. Dealt with this multiple times before I felt comfortable speaking up about my ideas and work. If it's something you want to learn and can do it there then ok if you're comfortable with the circumstances. Otherwise, I would be sticking to my role. Either way, sounds like you need to keep on with the job search and vacate as soon as you can.

26. AnonymousJuly 15,2023 at 6:14PM UTC

    well, you could turn his mess into your message. Perhaps take on the things you don't really want to do and add them to your resume for the next awesome employer. He is in a self serving way stretching your skill set which may in the long term benefit you. Take it as a bonus and use that for the next step up and out of being someones gofer girl.

27. AnonymousJuly 15,2023 at 11:26PM UTC

    A thought leader........hilarious!

    What a tool!

28. Barb HansenJuly 16,2023 at 10:46PM UTC

    Most really small startups can't afford a PR firm, and if your boss/founder doesn't know this, how much does he really know about the startup world?

    Many founders want to be known as a thought-leaders, that's just part of the territorial game that founders play - "I have a great idea. I'm going to found a tech startup. The world needs to know how smart I am b/c I am smart or b/c I want my potential customers to be aware of my brilliant ideas."

    Clout is the name of the game in tech startups. I'm assuming that when you say you work for a startup that you mean a tech startup and not a newly formed business. There is nothing wrong with a founder wanting to tell the world about their idea and their startups, and many of those articles are written by someone else on staff but usually those writers have experience or a desire to do that sort of work.

    So what can you do:
    -There are only so many hours in the day. If your boss wants you to write an article, here is what I would say, "That's a great idea for an article. If you want me to write a draft for you, I can try, but writing articles for X isn't something that I have experience in so it's going to take me a lot longer than an experience writer would take. It's going to take me a few days to write a first very rough draft. I'm not able to write in your voice, as an experienced writer would, even after a first draft is written, you'll need to edit for content, voice and style. I'll need to clear all other projects off my plate so I can focus. Does that work for you?

    Alternatively: "that's a great idea for an article. As you know, I don't have any experience in writing business articles, but I know there are freelance writers available on Fivrr and other services. I'd be happy to find a few possible writers for you but I'll need to clear some tasks off my plate today and tomorrow so I have time to focus on finding some possible writers for you. Let's find some time later this afternoon to review my task list and you can let me know what tasks can get pushed back"

    Edited to add: You can just say no. :)

    Side note: I write all of the articles for my boss (founder of a small startup) but writing is in my wheelhouse, and when I joined this company, I offered to write articles as no one was and creating content is important for most early startups. I'm not in PR or marketing, I've just written a lot in the later days of my career, so writing isn't stressful for me now. But earlier in my career, I would have been frozen if someone asked me to ghost write an article for them. I would not have known where to start.

    I hope you're able to find a path through this situation.