Why Good Leaders Are Crucial for Great Brands, Now More than Ever Before

As we approach Q4 of 2021, it is an excellent time to step back, reassess, and outline how organisations could push their brand image over the next few years. The economic outlook has steadily improved between 2020 and 2021, making it essential for organisational leaders to take centre stage and guide their teams through what promises to be a bullish period for business endeavours. In this context, your leadership style could make a game-changing difference. The challenge for brand building is that the inconsistent brands and messages fail to make a lasting impression. For the same reason, the customers find it difficult to trust them or register what these brands represent. Therefore, brands must build consistency and become relevant to customers by developing recognition, credibility, trust, and loyalty. Consistency and Inconsistency are primary outcomes of the leaders brand perception by the stakeholders, and their association with the corporate brand is enhanced or diminishes they command. However, thousands of companies have spent millions on their corporate universities; yet most have failed to develop authentic leadership bench strength. In many cases approach of leadership training and development is detached. It is not consistent with what the firm stands for and its perception from the eyes of customers and investors.

In an article titled “Define Your Personal Leadership Brand in Five Steps in HBR dated March 29, 2010” by Norm Smallwood , “ A leadership brand conveys your identity and distinctiveness as a leader. It communicates the value you offer. If you have the wrong leadership brand for the position you have or the position you want, then your work does not have the impact it could.” Thus leadership brand building is vital as the stakeholders and touchpoints view the corporate brand from the leaderships action and outcomes.

Why the 2021–2022 period calls for exceptional leadership

With the pandemic’s beginning, most business leaders worldwide agreed upon a largely bleak outlook in the near and mid-terms. Only 17% felt optimistic about the global economy, 33% about the local economy, and 35% about the national economy. As of June 2021, these numbers stand at 53%, 76%, and 75%. A leadership brand attracts young talent and supports the development of exceptional managers with the distinct capability to fulfil the expectations of customers and investors alike. When companies develop leadership brands, they end up inspiring & augment the faith of their workers and leaders alike will make good the company promise.

Notably, just 56% of leaders were confident about their company’s performance last year. Now, that number stands at 88%.

These findings from JP Morgan’s recent pulse survey tell us two things:

● One, organisations have a real opportunity in their hands. They can gain from a favourable economic climate, an atmosphere of dynamic and relatively high consumer demand, and — most importantly — a level playing field after last year’s downturn.

● Two, the organisations’ leaders must guide them through this unprecedented period of challenge and opportunity. Historically, the world’s most memorable brands have always had exceptional leaders at the helm. However, we now stand at a moment in time when the next generation of leaders must step up.

The role played by leadership in brand building

If we survey the business environment spanning the recent few decades, there is an explicit equation between leadership and brand impact. Particular leaders and corporate brands are synonymous with each other such as Jeff Bezos and Amazon or Steve Jobs and Apple. However, the list will not be complete if we add Elon Musk and Tesla or Henry Ford and The Ford Motor Company or Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook or Estee Lauder and the eponymous personal care conglomerate. In India, Narayan Murthy and Infosys had one thing in common similar brand values. Narayana Murthy individual leadership style, philosophy, mindset, and ways of working influenced and guided the entire brand’s identity of Infosys.

There are several reasons for this:

1. Great leaders bring foresight and vision. Therefore, the trails they blaze shape product and consumer experiences in their company and across their entire industry.
2. All of these leaders exemplify a specific and identifiable type of organisational culture. The culture lives on even when the ladder steps down, a crucial element in brand building.
3. These leaders value the “soft” aspects of work like curiosity and artistic pursuit as much as its “hardboiled” elements like business outcomes, process adherence, and profitability. In the long term, this makes for brand-building products.
4. The brand promise is vital for customers, but it is equally crucial for employees and internal audiences. The brand promise sets the tone for how the company operates and the brand’s experience across all segments and contact points. Leaders are central in communicating the position but also living by the values espoused by promise. Therefore, the leader brand and corporate brand need to be aligned.

The bottom line?

A leadership brand, which according to HBR, conveys your identity and distinctiveness as a leader, is a sort of microcosm for the corporate brand itself. It determines your decisions, how you communicate, and the autonomy of empowerment available to team members. So while we move towards the fag end of 2021, leadership brand and corporate brand alignment or dissonance in your operations will matter besides concerns around customer experience, digital transformation and being relevant to your customer in low touch economy– matter more than ever before.

Thanks for reading! Let me know your thoughts at Arvind@AM-PMAssociates.com.