By Mike Harris, Founder, Harris CMO Partners
Published August 1, 2026
Five thought leadership content pillars every tech executive needs in their fly box. I'll explain each one as a fly, what conditions it works in, what it catches, when to tie it on.
1️⃣ Fly #1: The Contrarian Dry Fly (Top water). Works in: calm conditions, when the surface is flat and everyone's saying the same thing. Catches: executives who are tired of consensus thinking. The pitch: "The thing everyone in [your market space] believes, and why I think it's wrong." Most powerful fly in the box. Most feared.
2️⃣ Fly #2: The Nymph (Under water). Works in: deeper water, when buyers are in research mode, not decision mode. Catches: hidden buyers, the people shaping the shortlist before your sales team knows they exist. The pitch: Educational content that answers the question buyers are AI-searching at 11pm.
3️⃣ Fly #3: The Streamer (Moving Target). Works in: fast conditions, breaking news, market shifts. Catches: executives who need to know what the moment means for them right now. The pitch: "What [industry event/trend/report] actually means for your company". Published within 48 hours.
4️⃣ Fly #4: The Story Pattern. Works in: any conditions; converts best. Catches: buyers who need to trust you before they'll evaluate you. The pitch: A specific story from your career (what you saw, what you did, what happened) with one transferable lesson. Personality is a competitive advantage.
5️⃣ Fly #5: The Framework (The Hatch). Works in: when the whole river is feeding, when the market is ready for synthesis. Catches: people who will share your content because it gives them language for something they already knew. The pitch: A named, proprietary model that explains something in a new way. (Like this whole fly fishing thing.)
In summary, most executives only have one or two of these five in their box. Usually the nymph (educational) and maybe the streamer (reactive). The flies that are missing:
→ The contrarian dry fly (opinion)
→ The story pattern (narrative)
→ The framework (proprietary thinking).
Those three are where authority is built.
What's in your fly box right now? I built an assessment that shows you exactly which pillars you're missing, and which ones your buyers are actually biting on. Two minutes. Instant results. Not gated, no contact info needed. Link in comments.
Discover Your Score
If you want to know where your signal stands before you wade in, I built an assessment for exactly that. It takes two minutes, it’s free, and no contact information is required. It will tell you which section of the stream you’re in — and which fly to tie on first.
Discover Your Score — https://www.harriscmopartners.com/#discoveryourscore
About Mike Harris
Mike is a tech CMO with 30+ years leading marketing at technology companies, from Fortune 500s to high-growth turnarounds. He now runs Harris CMO Partners, helping tech executives build the thought leadership systems that get them heard.
Mike Harris, © Harris CMO Partners 2026
Originally published on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/fly-fishing-method-executive-thought-leadership-mike-harris-kcxuc/
