To be a thought leader, you have to have thoughts.

It is up there with other PR industry truisms, like to get in the newspaper, you have to have news. (Which isn’t always true, but you get the point.)

Over the course of my 20-year career, I’ve been fortunate to work with many CEOs and CXOs, and am often asked to opine on what their platforms should be, or what they should “talk about.” This inevitably leads to a discussion about authenticity, ownability of a topic and relevance beyond the four walls of the organization.

But the most important thing of all is authenticity….does the executive really care about the topic? Is it his or her point of view? That’s why I was thrilled yesterday when I asked a client, well what does (CEO’s name here) think about this issue? And without skipping a beat she told me, succinctly, powerfully and emphatically, what he thought. That’s a good day.

Achieving relevance and connections among all of the noise is difficult. And the world we live in is complicated…by the time you’ve figured out the rules, they’ve changed. The twitter-verse is filled with advice about how to apologize, how to tweet, how to, how to, how to…. And much of the advice is good. But sometimes, complexity’s best remedy is simplicity.

Just tell people what you think? Because a thought leader has to have thoughts.

Ahhh, the inevitable SPIN DOCTOR implication.

Let me say for the record, I am NOT in favor of SPIN. The best counselors in public relations may not agree on much, but we agree on this…you can’t “spin” negative news. I am actually astonished about this continued misperception in light of all of the discussion on trust and transparency.

And really, isn’t that what all of the hype about the Steve Jobs press conference is about? He didn’t follow the “rule book” and appear contrite and apologetic, then follow up with some attempt to put a positive spin on the fact that the iPhone drops calls every time you touch it? (A common complaint for previous versions of the iPhone, BTW.)

Authenticity is the buzzword of the day…that is what Steve Jobs gave us. Who he really is. He is not happy that the iPhone isn’t performing. He shouldn’t be whistling zip-a-dee-doo-da – this isn’t the iPad launch.

What did Jobs do?

He acknowledged that the new iPhone isn’t perfect. That he isn’t perfect. That Apple isn’t perfect. And promised to work to make customers happy, even offering a few possible solutions.

Isn’t that the transparent, authentic response we claim to want?

Mickey Mantle once said, “You never have to wait long, or look far, to be reminded of how thin the line is between being a hero or a goat.”

Maybe Steve Jobs isn’t either one of those things.