Three Thought Leaders Every Young Professional Should Follow on LinkedIn
By: Stephen Mostrom
Tags: LinkedIn, Thought Leadership, Books, Business, Careers

Three Thought Leaders Every Young Professional Should Follow on LinkedIn

Let’s be honest. LinkedIn probably isn’t the first app you reach for when looking to digest some juicy content. There are precious few cat videos to be found, and a lot of the posts on the platform are, well, stuffy.

But if you’re a young professional who’s looking to learn and grow, don’t write off LinkedIn just yet. There are some fantastic writers dropping knowledge bombs on the world’s largest networking platform.

You just need to know where to look.

The trick with following thought leaders on LinkedIn is to find someone whose posts are consistent, interesting, and relevant to today’s work conversations. These three individuals have a ton of insight about their particular fields and provide top-notch resources, making them a valuable addition to your feed.

Adam Grant

Adam Grant’s LinkedIn bio reads, “organizational psychologist at Wharton.” If you don’t immediately know what an organizational psychologist is or does, don’t worry. Grant is, simply put, a student of human behavior.

He’s also an expert content creator and curator.

His original work includes a number of fantastic books, including my personal favorite Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy, which he co-authored with Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg. Option B’s release followed the sudden and tragic death of Sandberg’s husband, and the two authors dive deep into the topics of grief and adversity.

Beyond hardback covers, Grant can be found in numerous other video and written formats. He has a pair of great TED talks, his personal podcast (WorkLife with Adam Grant) is a delight, and his LinkedIn page regularly posts infographics, book lists, and much more.

Adam Grant’s Spring Book List. To help fill your Audible account with the good stuff.

Grant also has a knack for finding other people’s content on LinkedIn and cross-promoting it. It’s great to see Grant highlight talented and insightful thinkers, and his followers get exposed to ideas they wouldn’t otherwise have run across.

All-in-all, if you’re interested in understanding yourself and others better, expanding your knowledge base, and growing as a thinker, Adam Grant is a must-follow.

Angela Duckworth

Another university professor (UPenn), Angela Duckworth first came onto my radar in 2018 when her book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance was storming the bestseller list.

Grit may be one of my favorite business books of all time, with its approachable tone, personal stories, and spot-on insights. Without a doubt, Grit redefined the way I think about work and performance.

It’s no surprise, then, that Duckworth’s LinkedIn page is a treasure trove of information. She has led the Character Lab for years and posts often about the intersection between psychology, education, and diversity.

Angela Duckworth’s #tipoftheweek always contains a nugget or two.

She’s also recently teamed up with Steven J. Dubner (of Freakonomics fame) to produce the podcast No Stupid Questions, where the duo tackle mailbag questions from listeners as well as questions that pop up in their own personal experiences. Duckworth’s recent experiment leaving the sugar out of her coffee (which she chronicles in professorial detail) had me asking all kinds of questions about willpower and enjoyment and mindfulness.

I’m a huge fan of Angela Duckworth’s approach to life and career, and always perk up when her content shows up on my screen.

Allen Gannett

A few years ago, I had pretty much given up finding anyone interesting to follow on LinkedIn. I connected with work colleagues and checked LinkedIn every now and then, but most of my consumption was taking place elsewhere.

Then, Allen Gannett started showing up in my feed. LinkedIn had recently launched video capability, and Gannett (a tech entrepreneur) was taking full advantage of the new feature by putting out his #AllenAsks series.

Brilliant in its simplicity, Gannett’s video series focused on asking leaders of all shapes and sizes a single, personalized question. At the start, Gannett would pull up his phone at a networking event and hit record. Later on, he began reaching out to thought leaders he admired.

The format of a single question led to micro-insights and videos that, at 1–2 minutes in length, were oh-so-easy to consume. Gannett went on to land minute-long interviews with Mayor Pete, Daniel Pink, Ann Handley, and many others. He also expanded the series to include live sessions.

#AllenAsks simple (yet challenging) questions to founders and leaders.

Gannett is still very active on LinkedIn. You can find him sharing personal discoveries, discussing the process behind his recent book, The Creative Curve (a must-read, by the way), and promoting creativity research.

One of the most human accounts I’ve ever followed, Allen Gannett is an inspiration and one of the main reasons I keep returning to LinkedIn.