One of the traditional markers of being a thought leader is being quoted in an article in a high-profile publication, providing commentary and context to the story. In the current issue of The Atlantic, however, Michael Kinsley sounds the death knell for this particular type of reporter-source relationship. For those needing to establish or maintain their standing as thought leaders in their fields, in other words, old strategies can no longer be relied upon.

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I started the New Year by seeing Up in the Air, the new George Clooney movie directed by Jason Reitman. While I didn’t think it was in the same league as Juno, Reitman’s previous film, one of its central questions—“How much does your life weigh?”—is sure to resonate with anyone whose business is built on relationships. It also turns out to be closer to answerable than most people think.  I discuss this in my Huffington Post blog on social networks in the news, which I invite you to visit.



Recently, the New York Times' Thomas Friedman wrote a column in which he told of how a marketing agency run by a childhood friend coped with today's smaller client budgets by leveraging a host of inexpensive online tools that allowed them to put together sophisticated advertising campaigns at a fraction of what they once cost. Friedman saw this as an example of what he calls the Great Inflection—the wide availability of low-cost, high-powered tools that is dramatically increasing personal and organizational productivity.

I had reason to think about that column—and some implications which Friedman doesn’t address—while preparing for the re-launch of the Athlon web site, the first complete redesign of our site in several years.

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