Send to KindleI recently did an interview with Dana Woods for her Blog Talk Radio show, “Professional Scope.” Dana is a skillful interviewer and it was an enjoyable hour. She asked me a question though that I really hadn’t considered before. Should a leader brand themselves in their leadership role? Of course branding is a popular topic in the marketing world, but I’d never really considered it as a leadership concern. The idea makes sense though.
A leader develops a reputation, with two groups of people; one with superiors, the other with subordinates. (A third group, peers, could be considered as well, but would be very similar to superiors) That reputation becomes your brand as a leader and while one should be aware of it, managing that brand is better. Now, before I go too far, let me be clear that I abhor leaders who primary concern is managing their reputation which usually means kissing up to the boss. So how does a smart leader develop and manage a brand with superiors?
Become known as the person who isn’t afraid to take on the hard assignments. Yes, this will probably mean more than your share of the hard assignments, but successfully accomplishing these tasks will establish you as the person who can make it happen.
Maintain unquestioned integrity. Integrity is becoming a buzzword that everyone wants to apply to themselves. Unfortunately, it’s less common in actual practice. In times gone by, when writing wasn’t as common and every third person in the organization wasn’t a lawyer, a handshake was taken by many as a contract and a spoken agreement was considered binding. Such a level of personal integrity is less common today and will certainly get attention.
Know and understand your subordinates and your area of responsibility. Your boss will appreciate your knowledge of what your people can and can’t do.
That brings us to the second group; your subordinates. Is it important to be concerned about your reputation, or brand, among this group? Yes! This group is the one which has the greatest impact on your success. Interestingly, your brand identity with them is very similar to the first group.
Integrity is also important for this group. One of the quickest ways to fail as a leader is to develop mistrust among your subordinates. If they can’t trust you as a leader, they won’t be loyal to you.
Get out of the office and get to know your people. Depending on the size and scope of the organization you lead, you may not be able to develop expertise in all areas of your responsibility. That’s okay, but at least learn the language and get familiar with how the work is done. Doing this will help your brand with both groups as your boss will see that you’re willing to learn, and your subordinates will see that you’re interested in what they are doing and that you think it’s important enough to make the effort to learn.
While you’re out there learning about what your people do, learn about them too. Again, the size of the organization will dictate just how much you can know about the people in it, but at least strive to know some basics like what they do, what their experience is, and any problems or areas of serious discontent that might affect their ability to do the job.
These steps will help you begin to establish a brand for yourself as a leader. Just remember, as you work to establish that brand, it isn’t about you. The people you’re responsible for and the job they do for the organization is what’s important. Your brand should define how you support those people to accomplish that job.
