Strategic communication exists to enable decision making and will only have a place in organisations if the leader recognises its value. Leading, through thought enables the co-creation of meanings. In a V.U.C.A. world, the companies' life is reducing, so it is mandatory to explicit the companies' purpose to survive and prosper. In the act of co-creation, this study finds the necessary grounds for relations, and structures the foundations of organisational strategy. This inductive and exploratory study, based on 64 qualitative interviews with management professionals in Portugal, aims to construct a conceptual model that ascertains the competencies of a thought leader and allows for the discerning of attributes related to the concept of thought leadership. The results demonstrate that skills, innovation, communication, intelligence, and charisma are the most mentioned characteristics that encompass the idea of thought leadership. This study is justified by the need for leaders to understand the competencies they must possess and develop to be more effective in the context of communicatively constructed organisations.

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Strategic communication,Thought leadership,Skills,Conceptual model

• Economia e Gestão - Ciências Sociais