The Thoughtful Executive is a weekly newsletter for marketers on thought leadership, content marketing, and strategic messaging for executives. Delivered on Wednesdays.
Welcome—or welcome back—to The Thoughtful Executive!
Most executives and comms/marketing leaders I talk to aren’t struggling with having a point of view. Their content is usually emotionally intelligent, grounded in real challenges, and broadly aligned with what their audience cares about.
But where it falls apart is the part that comes next: what, exactly, should someone do after they’ve read it?
A CEO I worked with for over a year had a simple standard.
He wanted people to walk away from his pieces, turn to their teams, and ask: “Why aren’t we doing this?” or “What is our opinion on this?”
The bar wasn’t “Did they enjoy it?” It was “Did this start a conversation and drive action in the next 10 minutes?”
That’s where a lot of thought leadership goes soft.
The POV is clear enough. The take is maybe 50/50 on being unique. But the calls to action are vague or nonexistent: “Something to think about,” “Curious what you all think,” “Follow along for more.”
The reader leaves nodding, but with nothing to pick up and use.
A simple standard you can steal: if this lands, what should my reader do differently in the next 10 minutes?
Forward it to one person with a specific note.
Ask their team one sharp question in the next meeting.
Double‑check an assumption in a plan they were already going to approve.
If you can’t picture that change, the piece probably isn’t finished.
You don’t need to bolt on a cheesy CTA to fix this. You need one concrete move that lives in the reader’s world, not yours. That often means:
Swapping “we” for “you” where it counts, so the action belongs to them.
Anchoring your ask in time: “this quarter,” “before your renewal,” “in your next board prep,” “on your next customer call.”
Using one explicit line to name the next move:
“If you only do one thing after reading this,…”
“In your next 1:1, try asking…”
“Before you sign off on that plan, check whether…”
Your audience is already thoughtful. They don’t need you to explain their world back to them. What they actually need—and remember—is the sentence that quietly shifts what happens in the 10 minutes after they close the tab or swipe away.
From the archives
Executives, nobody wants to read your book report – On why summarizing isn’t enough, and how to focus on the one idea that actually changes what your reader does next.
Most companies struggle with internal clarity – On how fuzzy language and half‑decisions show up in everyday comms—and what clear writing unlocks for teams.
Is your exec’s voice coming through in their content? – On how to spot when something sounds like “corporate” instead of a real person, and how to fix it without rewrites from scratch.
That’s it for this week.
If you experiment with the “next 10 minutes” test on something you’re shipping, I’d love to hear what changed. DM on LinkedIn.
Until next time,
Johnathan