70-20-10 Framework for Thought Leadership

You may have heard about the Pareto Principle (the 80/20 rule), but what about the 70-20-10 framework? Around 21 per cent of companies in all niches have formally incorporated 70-20-10 into their business practices, which is seriously impressive.

The framework says this:

●     70 per cent of a leader's learning at work comes from challenging experiences and assignments.

●     20 per cent of learning comes from developmental relationships.

●     10 per cent of learning comes from coursework and training.

The Center for Creative Leadership came up with the framework after reviewing how executives learn and grow throughout their careers. 70-20-10 developed from 30—yes, thirty years—of studying business leaders in the workplace, so this framework is something we should take seriously.

Despite knowing about 70-20-10 for years, we recently reread the Center for Creative Leadership's research, and it got us thinking:

How can we apply this framework to thought leadership?

I wonder if people who prioritize on-the-job experiences are more likely to become successful at thought leadership. What if you were to dedicate that 70 per cent to something else entirely? This framework is certainly something to consider when nurturing future influencers and authority figures.

70-20-10, Explained

The 70-20-10 framework relates to how leadership can be learned, primarily by overcoming challenging job-related experiences and assignments. In other words, leaders aren't born leaders but made leaders by innovating, solving problems, completing challenging tasks, reflecting on experiences, and taking on roles and responsibilities on the job.

The Center for Creative Leadership says:

"We believe that today, more than ever, a manager’s ability and willingness to learn from experience is the foundation for leading with impact."

We agree with that statement, but we would take it further. 70-20-10 focuses on regular leadership and talks about nurturing the business leaders of tomorrow. But it works when driving thought leadership , too.

The Link Between 70-20-10 and Creating Thought Leadership

Many leaders become successful at thought leadership (that's the 70 per cent part)—and, to a lesser extent, through developing relationships in the workplace (the 20 per cent part of the framework)—but not necessarily through formal training and coursework (the 10 per cent part).

Here's a good example. We recently came across several online courses that claim to help people become better at thought leadership. One said it can help you become an authority figure by learning techniques that "develop a compelling message, build influence, and track your impact."

We feel that this course misses the point.

Thought leadership is not always something you can learn in a course. Still, it happens through problem-solving, experiencing challenges, reflecting on successes and failures, and completing complex tasks in high-pressure roles. You can't formally train someone to become an influencer or authority figure . If that were the case, there would be more successful thought leadership content.

To quote the Center for Creative Leadership again:

"To adapt and grow, leaders must constantly be involved in new experiences and challenges that foster learning. Some new opportunities will come their way through new jobs, crises, or significant challenges."

Reimagining the 70-20-10 Framework

For a moment, let's ignore the fact that on-the-job experiences can help professionals become better at thought leadership. The other takeaway from the 70-20-10 framework is that learning leadership is more successful when devoting most of your time to something that works. You allocate the bulk of your effort—in this framework's case, 70 percent—to the most successful learning outcome, which becomes the foundation of your thought leadership strategy. 

Only some people become successful at thought leadership by spending 70 per cent of their learning time overcoming challenging experiences and assignments, 20 per cent of their time developing relationships in the workplace, and 10 percent completing formal training and coursework. You can allocate your 70, 20, and 10 per cent to completely different objectives. The point is that you should assign 70 per cent of workers' time to the most productive objective.

Take Coca-Cola, for example, which has turned 70-20-10 on its head. Seventy per cent of their investment is spent on established and successful programs (Coca-Cola calls this the "now"); 20 per cent goes to emerging trends gaining traction (the "new"); and 10 per cent goes to untested ideas (the "next").

Your 70, 20, and 10 per cent can be anything you want them to be, as long as you prioritize the most productive objective.

How Does This All Apply to Your Thought Leadership Strategy?

Every enterprise wants to develop new influencers who can command an audience on social media and become authority figures in their niche. After all, influencers can bring numerous benefits to an organization, including sharing their opinions in blog posts , guest-speaking at conferences, and fulfilling other objectives in a thought leadership marketing strategy . The problem is that these enterprises often prioritize the wrong learning outcomes.

What happens next is up to you. Your enterprise might want to incorporate 70-20-10 as-is into your organization and prioritize workers' time so they overcome challenging experiences and assignments. Or you might want to use the concept of 70-20-10 and prioritize a method that best suits your workforce. Like Coca-Cola, you could allocate 70 per cent of workers' time to the "now," 20 percent to the "new," and 10 per cent to the "next." You might even want to use a different formula for successful thought leadership. How about 80-10-10 or 90-5-5?

Final Word

70-20-10 is a tried-and-tested framework for leadership, and you can apply its principles to thought leadership, too. By prioritizing experiences and assignments, future thought leaders learn on the job rather than in conventional classrooms. You can also reimagine 70-20-10 by allocating resources to the most successful learning outcome for successful thought leadership.