By Mike Harris, Founder, Harris CMO Partners
Published Jul 28, 2026
Plenty of thought leadership stays invisible even when the content is excellent:
Why? You covered one arc. From the bank.
In fly fishing, we cover the water. I work a systematic arc from my current position, every point in the reachable stream, and then I wade deeper. Two steps. New position. The same arc, from a new place, reaches water I couldn't touch before.
Amplification in thought leadership works the same way.
First arc (from the bank):
→ Organic LinkedIn posts
→ Organic X threads
→ Email to your existing list
→ Website blog
Second arc (one step deeper):
→ Promote a top-performing post to new audiences
→ Guest post on a publication your buyers read
→ Repurpose the article as a podcast appearance
→ Co-create content with a partner who has adjacent reach
Third arc (deeper still):
→ Speaking at conferences where your ICP gathers
→ LinkedIn Thought Leader ads targeting specific company lists
→ Original research distributed to media and analyst contacts
Every step deeper requires that you've covered the previous arc first. Amplifying content you haven't fully distributed is like wading to the middle of the stream and casting back toward the bank.
Where are you wading right now?
Most executives I talk to are in the first arc, wondering why the catch is light. The answer isn't a better fly. It's taking two steps deeper.
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.
Mike Harris 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/
