Leadership and branding are hot topics. Leadership development programs are well liked. There are various conferences and seminars on the topic of branding. Leadership development and brand development consume a whole lot of resources of businesses.
Leadership means different things to different people. It means ability to inspire. Leadership is charisma, courage, as well as sacrifice. Leadership requires vision. Leadership is mentioned in rarefied atmosphere of CEO conferences, business schools, HR meets, and strategy meets. There appears to be an unstated and unanimous agreement that leadership is too important, too-sweeping-in-its-scope, too-good-to-be-described, and as a consequence too-complex-to-be-systematically-deployed concept. Everybody is convinced that such indescribable leadership has to be good for just about any organization.
Branding too captures imagination of people. For some CEO's it's a reverential bowing item to be ticked off the agenda. For CFO s it really is a black hole of money. Sales people think it's a watering hole for unsuccessful ex-salesmen. For M & A specialists it really is a valuation game. It really is a playground of creativity for advertising agencies. It really is PR first for PR agencies. For many, branding means eye catching, entertaining, beautiful visual and audio communications or smart copy. Everyone knows branding and everybody has definite opinions about it.
The answer might be found in people, since leadership and brands exist in minds of individuals. Brands provide neat and crisp symbols denoting product performance levels, shared experiences, dreams, aspiration and expectations of actual and potential users.
That will deny that leadership too deals with shared dreams, aspirations, and expectations of all stake holders -customers, employees, vendors as well as others? Like brands, leaders are seen as icons. Similarly, leadership without its own constituency is unthinkable. Leaders build constituencies through shared understanding of goals and ways to achieve them.
How do communities come into existence? A unique feature, empowering women (our source) a benefit, some newness, or drama sets people talking. When people talk, once they integrate products within their lives, once they constantly share their experiences, problems, or solutions communities are formed. Communities can also be built around new categories of products. People love to talk. They have to share things. It's for a company to generate or articulate such uniqueness, to express it evocatively, and to nudge and support its customers into sharing it. Can this be completed by marketing department alone? Can this happen by bombarding customers with advertisements, direct mail, or price promotions? Can this happen without a strong leadership? The answer is no. Brands may seem to come into existence through some accidents. But is takes sustained and consistent efforts to bring about branding.
Just as brands raise the bar of customer expectations, leaders broaden horizons of their people. They inspire people to outdo themselves. Leadership means moving way from authority to respect, and from respect to inspiration.
Leaders must have vision, mission, and agenda for their constituencies. They may be being constantly observed, emulated, or criticized. They have to make statement all the time. Successful leaders know this intuitively and develop distinctive styles of their very own.
Some CEO's become great leaders without any formal training. But that won't reduce significance of training and learning. Just about everyone can improve leadership skills through systematic efforts. Learning Leadership requires sustained efforts. Leadership coaching can really help in accelerating leadership development.
Leadership means different things to different people. It means ability to inspire. Leadership is charisma, courage, as well as sacrifice. Leadership requires vision. Leadership is mentioned in rarefied atmosphere of CEO conferences, business schools, HR meets, and strategy meets. There appears to be an unstated and unanimous agreement that leadership is too important, too-sweeping-in-its-scope, too-good-to-be-described, and as a consequence too-complex-to-be-systematically-deployed concept. Everybody is convinced that such indescribable leadership has to be good for just about any organization.
Branding too captures imagination of people. For some CEO's it's a reverential bowing item to be ticked off the agenda. For CFO s it really is a black hole of money. Sales people think it's a watering hole for unsuccessful ex-salesmen. For M & A specialists it really is a valuation game. It really is a playground of creativity for advertising agencies. It really is PR first for PR agencies. For many, branding means eye catching, entertaining, beautiful visual and audio communications or smart copy. Everyone knows branding and everybody has definite opinions about it.
The answer might be found in people, since leadership and brands exist in minds of individuals. Brands provide neat and crisp symbols denoting product performance levels, shared experiences, dreams, aspiration and expectations of actual and potential users.
That will deny that leadership too deals with shared dreams, aspirations, and expectations of all stake holders -customers, employees, vendors as well as others? Like brands, leaders are seen as icons. Similarly, leadership without its own constituency is unthinkable. Leaders build constituencies through shared understanding of goals and ways to achieve them.
How do communities come into existence? A unique feature, empowering women (our source) a benefit, some newness, or drama sets people talking. When people talk, once they integrate products within their lives, once they constantly share their experiences, problems, or solutions communities are formed. Communities can also be built around new categories of products. People love to talk. They have to share things. It's for a company to generate or articulate such uniqueness, to express it evocatively, and to nudge and support its customers into sharing it. Can this be completed by marketing department alone? Can this happen by bombarding customers with advertisements, direct mail, or price promotions? Can this happen without a strong leadership? The answer is no. Brands may seem to come into existence through some accidents. But is takes sustained and consistent efforts to bring about branding.
Just as brands raise the bar of customer expectations, leaders broaden horizons of their people. They inspire people to outdo themselves. Leadership means moving way from authority to respect, and from respect to inspiration.
Leaders must have vision, mission, and agenda for their constituencies. They may be being constantly observed, emulated, or criticized. They have to make statement all the time. Successful leaders know this intuitively and develop distinctive styles of their very own.
Some CEO's become great leaders without any formal training. But that won't reduce significance of training and learning. Just about everyone can improve leadership skills through systematic efforts. Learning Leadership requires sustained efforts. Leadership coaching can really help in accelerating leadership development.