How do we define “thought leadership,” or more specifically, how should the term be applied to the retail automobile industry? According to Wikipedia, the term “thought leader” was coined in 1994 by Booz Allen Hamilton, a Fortune 500 corporate consulting firm, and it was used to describe individuals or firms that introduced business ideas that “merited attention.” Without question, thought leaders tend to be the most successful people or organizations within their respective fields. However, I believe the definition needs to go far deeper than that.

There seem to be many definitions of the term. It would probably be worthwhile, for both you and me, to try defining just what a thought leader is, or maybe more importantly, what a thought leader is not. I think what differentiates a thought leader from any other knowledgeable individual (or company), is the recognition from the outside world that the thought leader deeply understands his business, the needs of his customers, and the broader marketplace in which he operates. I believe thought leadership requires a spirit of unselfishness…the sharing of one’s time, intelligence, and knowledge (even if these things are often provided at a profit). I understand that thought leadership is the “buzz term” for expertise, but I think the most important descriptors of a thought leader are innovative and ground-breaking.

Some of you may consider NCM Associates to be a thought leader, but that’s not the main goal of our three primary operating divisions, 20 Groups, Retail Operations Consulting and theNCM Institute. Our combined priority is to provoke thought by identifying opportunities within your dealerships; by seeking and recognizing the next practices your dealership must employ to capitalize on those opportunities; by communicating those practices; by documenting them as written processes; by training those processes; by helping you implement those processes; by asking the “hard questions” about why you aren’t habitually performing and flawlessly executing those processes; and, by assisting you in enhancing those processes.

At NCM, we provide thought leadership in this important area: the assimilation and communication of that next practice information—what we call actionable intelligence. It’s what today’s leading automotive retailers must use to compete at the highest levels and sustain their dealerships for long-term success. This is exemplified by our industry-leading data management expertise, our Benchmark® metrics, and by introducing ground-breaking applications for data presentation, as evidenced by our partnership with Reverse Risk and our newly-announced axcessa™ web-based business intelligence software tool.

Personally, I’ve identified a number of thought leaders who have influenced my professional development. Early in my retail career, F. Lee Galles (Competitive Edge) and John Williamson (Key-Royal Automotive Group), as well as Clint McGhee (GO, Inc.) and Lew Whitehead (Automotive Service Consultants), with whom John had partnered in their consulting firms, were definitely some of my thought leaders. Today I consider Dave Anderson (LearnToLead.com), Dale Pollak (vAuto), Chris Saraceno (DealerELITE.net), and Jared Hamilton (DrivingSales.com) to be several of my thought leaders. Of course, many other industry thought leaders have had—or will have—significant impact on me, as well.

Either as I define it (or as you define it yourself), when you think of the term retail auto industry thought leader, who comes to mind? I’d like to know, and I’m sure the other readers would, too.