The problem of being a brand

A coaching client, lets call her AD, has taught me most about the problem of being a brand. AD is a successful founder and CEO of her own law firm, leading a pre-eminent brand in her sector. To the outside world, she operates the controls of her role as if she is fully in charge. From the inside, however, it is the inner critic in AD’s head that is wielding control. AD is under the command of the voice inside that tells her she does not belong where she is, that her team members are ultimately after her job, and that it is only a matter of time before she is found out. This hijacking of her brain alters her course to a path of self-gratification. AD seeks personal recognition for the successes of the firm, publicly promotes her accomplishments, and generally micro-manages her team to exert control of outcomes. In short, at surface level, she maintains a successful legal brand through a strong leadership brand, but what lies beneath is a darker reality. People do not trust her leadership brand.

Brand perception

Naturally, AD must focus on how her leadership brand is perceived by the market. Brand perception - how a person is perceived from the outside – will correlate with a person’s ability to generate revenue and attract top talent to their team. This is built through two complementary strategies:

·        Building brand recognition – articulating recognisable features that identify a person as belonging to a certain high standard. When the brand is identified by markers that are commonly known - Legal 500 and Chambers listings, for example - the perceived brand value is higher.

·        Building brand awareness – focusing on what a brand stands for in terms of values, competencies, passions. This can provide a level of familiarity or connection that attaches positive perception in the mind of potential clients or new recruits.

 Brand interaction

But the perception of our brand is only as good as our ability to deliver on it. The people around us must experience our brand in the way it has been portrayed to them. We must put our energies into brand interaction – how we behave with the people around and the impact it has on them - to avoid brand confusion or conflict.

 Working on brand interaction means:

·        Working on quality – constantly improving levels of performance indicated by impacts such as quality decisions, approach to ethics, leadership qualities, type of culture created.

·        Working on alignment - in behavioural style, beliefs, and values.

·        Working on experience – prioritising how we make people around us feel. If we listen, ask questions, and show patience and compassion, the impact will be positive. If we shout, have angry outbursts, or shame team members in public, the negative impact can be long-lasting.

Nourishing and maintaining leadership brand is principally about making our relationships thrive. We often put our energies largely towards brand perception – promoting wins, awards and accolades - as these elements are tangible. But we derive the most return through nourishing the intangible; focusing on what others are experiencing as our leadership brands. Moments of negative behaviour, such as acting out in anger, betraying confidence, or excluding a team member from decision-making, can have damaging and lasting impact on our leadership brands. It can destroy trust, erode respect, and create resentment.

When we are mindful of the experience of our leadership brands, we realize that being a brand takes constant attention to building who we are from the inside out.

 If you are seeking to up-level your leadership brand, reach out to engage in C-Success Coaching at https://www.kiranscarr.com/coaching.