What is Your Leadership Brand?

What is your leadership brand and why is your leadership brand so important? … It’s important because your leadership brand is all about your reputation as a leader. When it comes to your reputation as a leader, there are only two types of reputations…good ones and bad ones.

Your reputation is the perception of how people see you and talk about you when you are not in the room. What this means is you need to create a positive vision for your leadership reputation and then manage your brand. If you don’t manage your leadership brand, then others on your team and in your organization will manage your reputation for you.

Henry Ford was dead wrong when he said, “You cannot build a reputation on what you are going to do.” You can actually build a very strong, although negative, reputation of what you are going to do when you do not make decisions, resolve conflict, produce results or meet your goals.

So how do you build a leadership brand and your reputation as a leader? Your reputation is built by the actions you take each day. This means that your leadership brand is not built by your values, your intentions, your education or even your brilliance. People cannot see all those qualities that make you the person you are. They can only see your actions. Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best when he said, “Your actions speak so loud, I cannot hear what you are saying.”

What are the actions you need to take to build your leadership brand and reputation as a great leader? Below are eight actions that will build you a positive reputation as a leader:

Create a Compelling, Positive Vision for Who You Want to be as a Leader: A vision is a fancy word for a clear mental picture, described in words, of the outcome you want to create. Your vision then serves as the picture on the cover of a jigsaw puzzle box top of what actions you need to take to make the picture a reality. For example, if you want to be a leader who is vision directed, customer focused, and who serves and supports team members well in getting the job done, then you know what actions you need to take. Different actions may be needed if you want to build a reputation as an innovative, creative leader who works well as a cross-departmental team player and produces extraordinary results.
Lead by Example: Think before you act. Know the “why” behind what you are going to do. One guiding principle to build your reputation is by doing the right thing and operating with integrity at all times. Being a great leader because you want to be promoted is not the right reason to take action. Being a great leader because it is the right way to treat people and everyone accomplishes more and feels better is an excellent reason to build your reputation as a great leader. If you consistently do the right thing, even when it is tough to do, or it costs you to make the right decision, you never have to look over your shoulder and worry that people are going to question your positive reputation as a leader.
Be a Caring, Servant Leader: Great leaders know that they have one job; to continuously improve their people, their team, or the organization. To improve your people, team and the organization, you have to really care. You have to take actions each day that demonstrate you care. Check in on your team members. Ask, “How are they doing today?” or “What projects are they working on and do they need any support from you?” Recognize to be a great leader, you need to ensure team members are clear on the goals, and then serve team members to ensure they have the skills and resources to be successful in their jobs.
Collect and Act on Feedback: Since your reputation is all about how others think and talk about you when you are not in the room, you need to know what people are thinking and saying. Even if you don’t like, or agree with the feedback, it is important enough for you to know. And, if you hear the feedback from different people or the same person on multiple occasions, you might consider that they are right. As my dad once said, “If twenty people tell you that you have a tail, you might consider turning around and take a look.” If two people tell you that you need to talk less and listen more and your vision is to be a leader who is a great communicator who values and respects all people, this would be great feedback to act on.
Admit Your Mistakes and What You Do Not Know: When you find yourself in a hole, the fastest way to get out is to stop digging. Admit your mistakes and ask for help. Most team members want to go out of their way to help you when you are able to say, “I screwed up and I need your help.” On the converse, when leaders defend what they have done wrong, they place a target on their back that whole groups of people love to aim and shoot at from behind the scenes. Leaders who can admit their mistakes and admit that they do not know something, are able to build trust with others. Great leaders know that admitting mistakes is a sign of strength, from which the leader, and the team, can more quickly move forward.
Be a Continuous Learner: Great leaders are continuous learners who help others to develop, learn and grow. It is impossible to maintain a reputation as a great leader and stay stagnant or stationary. Great leaders do not maintain the status quo.
Follow Through: Leaders with great reputations do what they say they are going to do, when they say they are going to do it, long after the feeling to do so has moved on. It is easy to tell someone you are going to do something in the moment. It is a lot harder to execute when you leave the immediate moment of commitment and then all of your other priorities in life take precedent. Great leaders put systems in place so they are able to honor their commitments.
Be Grateful: The greatest need almost everyone has is to be valued and appreciated. For many leaders who did not grow up getting a lot of praise and recognition, they find this skill hard to practice. The easiest way for me to be genuinely grateful is to visualize your world without your family or your team members there to support you.

Warren Buffet is right. Reputations can take years to build and, in today’s world, social media can destroy reputations in a heartbeat. Put these eight actions to work. Your leadership brand is all about defining your leadership identity that describes your reputation…and how others can depend on you to behave and deliver, consistently and confidently in every situation.