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Recently, I showed this community how to identify which industry challenges are worth an executive’s platform.

Next: how to develop a POV on those challenges that's actually differentiated.

I’m covering this because this is a problem most executives have: they identify a real challenge, one they're actively solving, one that's showing up across the industry. They have thoughts about it. They publish those thoughts.

And it sounds like everyone else.

Those aren't POVs. They’re observations.

A POV is what you think about the challenge. Not that it exists—everyone knows it exists. What you think should be done about it. Where you disagree with conventional wisdom. What framework you're using that others aren't.

That's what makes flagship content work. And that's what most executives skip.

Here's what happens:

The executive identifies a challenge. Marketing interviews them. "What do you think about [challenge]?"

The executive gives a thoughtful answer. Marketing writes it up. It reads well. It's smart. And it's accurate.

But it's not differentiated. Because the interview process pulled out their general observations, not their actual point of view.

A differentiated POV doesn't come from answering "what do you think?" It comes from answering harder questions:

Those questions surface differentiation. "What do you think?" surfaces commentary.

Not all differentiation looks the same. Here are the three types that work:

The executive disagrees with conventional wisdom. They think most people are solving a particular challenge the wrong way. They have evidence (from their own experience) that a different approach works better.

Example: "Everyone says you need to hire fast to scale. I think that's wrong. We deliberately hired slowly, and it's why our culture stayed intact while competitors' cultures collapsed. Here's what we did instead..."

This works when executives are willing to stake out a position that's unpopular or counterintuitive. It's risky. But when they’re right, it establishes them as someone who thinks independently.

The executive develops a way of thinking about a challenge that others aren't. A mental model. A decision-making process. Or a set of principles.

Example: "Most companies treat [challenge] as an execution problem. We treat it as a prioritization problem. Here's the framework we use to decide what to build and what to kill..."

This works when an executive can articulate their thinking in a way that others can adopt. Frameworks are shareable. People reference them. And they spread because they're useful.

The executive deals with a challenge in a context most people haven't. Their experience gives insight others don't have.

Example: "I've built remote teams in three different companies over 15 years. Most advice about remote work comes from people who did it for two years during the pandemic. Here's what changes when you do this long-term..."

This works when an executive’s experience is genuinely rare. Not just "I've done this," but "I've done this in a way most people haven't." The differentiation comes from depth or context, not just the fact that you have an opinion.

Here's the process:

You've already identified it (using last week's framework). You're actively solving it. It's showing up across the industry. Now you need to figure out what the executive actually thinks about it.

Don't start writing. Start thinking. Ask the executive:

Write down the answers. Don't worry about how they sound. Just get all the thinking out.

Look at what you wrote. What's the most interesting thing? What's the thing you believe that you're pretty sure most people don't?

That's your angle. That's your differentiation.

If you can't find it, you're not ready to publish yet. Keep thinking.

Before you commit to this POV, run it through these tests:

If the POV passes all four tests, you're ready. If it doesn't, go back to step 2.

Let me show you the difference.

"Hiring is challenging in today's market. Companies need to move fast to attract top talent. Culture fit matters, but so does speed."

"Everyone's obsessed with hiring fast. I think that's how you destroy your culture. We hired one person in Q1 when we had budget for five. Best decision we made. Here's why slow hiring is actually faster..."

"Remote work requires new management approaches. Communication is more important than ever. Leaders need to be intentional."

"Most remote work advice is about tools and processes. That's not the problem. The problem is trust erosion. Here's the framework we use to build trust at distance: visibility, consistency, and reciprocity..."

"Customer expectations are rising. Companies need to deliver better experiences. Personalization matters."

"I've run CX teams at three companies—B2B SaaS, B2C marketplace, and enterprise. The advice that works in one doesn't work in the others. Here's what I learned about when to personalize and when to standardize..."

See the difference? The observation states what everyone already knows. The POV takes a stance, offers a framework, or draws on specific experience to say something others aren't saying.

Contrarian POVs work when they're rooted in your actual experience and evidence. They don't work when you're just trying to be provocative.

If an executive doesn't genuinely believe their contrarian take, people will smell it.

"We need to rethink how we approach [challenge]" isn't a POV. It's a vague statement.

Be specific. What exactly needs to change? What’s the exec doing differently? What's the framework?

"I think maybe we should consider that it's possible some companies might benefit from..."

No. If there’s a POV, state it. You can acknowledge nuance without hedging an entire position.

"Here's what we're doing. It's working for us. It might not work for everyone, but here's why I think more companies should try it."

An executive’s POV should be clear in the first three paragraphs (first 2-3 lines on LinkedIn). If readers have to hunt for what the executive actually thinks, they'll stop reading. Wouldn’t you?

Lead with the position. Explain it. Then back it up.

Sometimes the marketing team and executive identify a challenge and realize there really isn’t a differentiated take yet. You’re still figuring it out. You don't know what you think.

That's okay. Just, please, don't publish.

Not every challenge needs to become flagship content immediately. Some challenges need more time. You need to try things, learn, develop your thinking.

It's better to wait and publish a sharp POV later than to publish a mediocre take now just to fill your content calendar.

Your executive platform isn't about volume. It's about quality and differentiation.

If you're struggling to develop a differentiated POV, ask yourself: If I had to convince someone to do the opposite of conventional wisdom on a challenge, what would I say?

You might not actually believe the opposite of conventional wisdom. But forcing yourself to argue against it helps you see where conventional wisdom is weak, where it's incomplete, where it's context-dependent.

And that's where differentiation lives.

If you're working on a piece of flagship content right now, here's your action plan:

Don't publish until your team has a POV worth sharing. Every piece you publish either strengthens your positioning or dilutes it.

Choose carefully.

Thought leadership often describes what’s happening in an industry. A POV, or point of view, explains what you believe should be done about it and why. A strong POV takes a stance, introduces differentiation, and helps decision-makers think differently. Without a POV, thought leadership becomes commentary instead of a driver of change.

Execs develop a differentiated POV by grounding it in real-world experience, not trends. That means pulling from current initiatives, pricing decisions, sales cycles, failed experiments, or GTM trade-offs they’re actively navigating. The POV should reflect how they make decisions when stakes are real, not theoretical.

Because most POVs are created through surface-level interviews that ask, “What do you think?” instead of forcing deeper decision-making. Without pressure testing assumptions, surfacing trade-offs, or challenging conventional wisdom, the result sounds identical to what every other senior leader is posting on LinkedIn.

A valuable POV helps a decision maker do one of three things:

If it doesn’t change how someone thinks, prioritizes, or acts, it’s not a strong POV.

Yes. A clear POV often shows up most clearly in pricing models, value-based positioning, and sales conversations. When execs articulate why they price the way they do or how they think about value, sales teams gain language that shortens sales cycles and builds trust with stakeholders.

A differentiated POV gives sales teams something more powerful than features. It gives them:

Instead of reacting to prospects, sales teams can lead the conversation.

Metrics help validate a POV, but they shouldn’t create it. Metrics support differentiation when they explain why a decision worked or failed. The strongest POVs connect metrics to judgment, trade-offs, and decision-making processes that others can learn from.

No. A POV should travel across formats. Strong POVs can show up in:

The POV stays consistent even as the format changes.

A POV builds trust when it:

If stakeholders feel the POV reflects lived experience, trust follows.

A unique POV is one that only your exec could credibly hold because of their role, context, or experience. It matters because it’s the fastest way to differentiate in crowded SaaS markets and long sales cycles where buyers hear the same messaging everywhere.

Yes. Publishing without a POV dilutes positioning. It’s better to wait, test ideas internally, gather follow-up insights from sales calls or customer conversations, and refine the POV than to publish something generic for the first time just to maintain momentum.

A clear POV aligns senior leaders, marketing, sales teams, and stakeholders around a shared way of thinking. It influences workflows, prioritization, GTM initiatives, and even how new hires are onboarded. Over time, it becomes part of how the company operates, not just how it markets.

Yes. In fact, startups benefit the most because they’re often closer to the problem. A strong POV helps startups punch above their weight by articulating a clear methodology and making a compelling business case early, before competitors define the narrative.

Treating the POV like a writing exercise instead of a thinking exercise. The job isn’t to polish language first. It’s to extract judgment, pressure-test assumptions, and surface how the exec actually makes decisions in complex, real-world situations.

Yes. A simple POV playbook looks like this:

If it passes, publish. If not, keep working.

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Johnathan Silver helps executives turn judgment and experience into effective thought leadership. Through The Thoughtful Executive, he works with senior leaders and marketing teams to build thought leadership programs, sharpen executive voice, and create content that earns trust over time. His work sits at the intersection of leadership communication, content strategy, and executive decision-making.