Brand Leadership for Leaders

This article comes kindly from Lim Leong, of INGENS. 

Leadership is part of the core entity for many brands today, and especially so in the corporate world and with many good reasons. By building an aspirational role model by the leader for employees and customers, brand leadership is a tall mountain but one not impossible to scale. Leadership can be interpreted in many ways. In a myriad of interpretations, here are some of the attributes which leaders can associate themselves with.

Creativity

A competent leader who uses Divergent Thinking to solve problems.  Divergent Thinking is about possibilities thinking. It’s about creative thinking. Creativity was rated to be one of the top attributes for a successful CEO. Ahead of integrity and global thinking. See the full report here. Famous examples of business leaders who pride themselves using creative thinking are Steve Jobs and Richard Branson.

Purpose comes first

Leading with a purpose is the leaders themselves explaining the reasons why tribes are formed in the first place. This is before telling what followers are going to do and get Successful organizations are built on this basis of purpose driven leadership that sustains a business and flourished by dedicated followers. High turnover at your company? Simply ask if the purpose of the business has been pronounced, communicated and successfully sold in. Purpose can take some time to sow in but also bountifully harvested later.

Setting a style

There are a couple of styles which leaders take on. Innovation Branding is about constantly striving employees to think creatively and innovate. 3M leaders are known for rewarding their staff for coming out with new innovations. Iconic Branding is about building icons that customers can identify with. Apple is known to take on such a role with products like  iPOD as an icon for mp3 players.

Leading with love rather than fear

Love rather than fear in running an organization. Building a culture where staff respect and love each other is rare today. Why? People are too occupied in ‘covering their behinds’ and not take risks. They are instilled in a work culture of fear rather than love. As John Hope Bryant in Love Leadership puts it, “What you do not love, you fear.” Leaders who brand themselves with love are often more interested in the inwards development of an employee above everything else. Employees give back to their leaders through dedication and passion through their work. Everyone wins.