We assume leadership is General George C. Patton directing military tanks through knee-deep mud in World War II Sicily, Oprah bringing thousands to their feet in euphoric applause for her latest “cause” or one of our high school coaches who rallied the team during halftime.

Notice, all of these illustrations were glued to an “action.”

There is another expression of leadership which is strictly cognitive. “Thought leadership” is the prelude to taking action. Thought leadership is one’s ability to sequentially rearrange the mental maps in the minds of the followers.

Thought leadership works this way.

First, the thought leader cognitively “sees” what the followers are missing.

This skill requires the leader to “advance the scene” by months or even years. The thought leader has a “long view” of an organization and can see the approaching challenges, necessary interventions, successful coalitions, changes in product, funding resources, etc.

Notice the thought leader does not get bogged down in the minutiae of the moment. This person is constantly “looking over the horizon” and then communicates a preferred future.

It is important to exclude in this first characteristic someone who has a “wish list” or is known for constantly nibbling at “pie in the sky.” Rather, thought leaders carefully and logically answer this question, “What will this organization look like in twenty years?”

Second, thought leadership will regularly spin off enticing, unconscious mental maps that become irresistible.

The pending Nissan Leaf, an all-electric car, is a great example. Years ago the thought leaders of Nissan saw the inevitability of very expensive fossil fuel which would force consumers to consider abandoning fossil fuel as a way to get from Point A to Point B. Work on the all-electric vehicle began years ago by thought leaders who knew they had to not only envision “the car of the future” but make the idea so attractive the general public would “anticipate” its arrival.

Third, thought leaders never deny the opposition.

How many times have we sat in meetings which were constantly punctuated with, “That will never work, we tried it 12 years ago and it was a dismal failure” or “You have to be kidding me, the people in the ivory towers will kill that idea before it sees the light of day.”

Instead of arguing with those statements, thought leaders respond with “You know what, you are exactly right…there was no support for this idea in the past...if you give me a minute here are the factual reasons why the environment has changed.” Notice the words, “...here are the factual reasons.”

Thought leaders do not argue over emotionally-driven verbal drivel which requires no thought. They admit to opposition and then offer logical alternatives.

Finally, thought leaders always lead to the...end.

Finality is a goal for thought leadership. The logical, thoughtful, well-reasoned “process” of any endeavor has to have a defining “pay day.” The thought leader has the cognitive ability to describe the preferred future and then pushes for completion.

If you have ever worked for a thought leader, you know this characteristic. This is the mission commander in Apollo 13 who lead his team through all the options (which included the iconic Duct Tape), sent clear instructions to the three men in peril and then pushed for completion.

It is important to note thought leadership is built on the assumption creative ideas and sequential planning are not enough to solve the most perplexing challenges in our workplaces today. It takes a smart leader who also knows there has to be some “skin” in this game. There is a moment when cognition moves over for the “affect” to take over with words like, “We have all worked hard to get this right and now it is time for just some hard work and determination to make this happen. I am expecting nothing less from all of us.”

The end product of thought leadership normally has to be wrapped in an emotional management moment.