“Thought” and “leader” don’t belong in the same sentence together. Giving credence to a thought leader makes one a thought follower - or more precisely an opinion follower. The whole idea of “leadership” is overblown anyway – the only “leaders” I respect are those who encourage people to think for themselves. Like Ayn Rand, for instance.

I just started to watch a series on netflix called: Black Mirror. It takes all the things tech that we like and over use and shows you the dark side.

This branding, "fake it till you make it" is what the first show of the first series is about...all this liking of everyone's stuff, their selfies, posts all being rated. Then treated according to that rating and how it goes toooooooooo farrrrrrr.

The image is better than the idea. The image sells, ideas don't. Knowledge use to be king, now it is a poor step child to image.
Thought leadership is a nonexistent commodity these days. It is not thought that counts but rather the image of thought leadership. If you look right you are right. If you look smart you are. The image is the reality.
'nuff said.