HR the Architects to Build Their Organisation’s Collective Leadership Brand
Architectural advice from Professor Dave Ulrich for HR professionals to build their organisation’s collective leadership brand and inspire investor confidence.
LEADERSHIP VS LEAD-A-SHIP
Leadership is not about one single charismatic individual leading an organisation. That could be called “lead-a-ship”. A mighty “tug boat” can, single-handedly, indeed lead an organisation, in the same way that a tug boat manoeuvres a large ship by towing and pushing it along, but collective leadership inspires more investor confidence with less reliance on a single individual.
BUILDING BLOCKS FOR COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP BRANDING
- Organisations with strong and effective leadership at all levels achieve superior business results.
- Organisations with inconsistent leadership achieve inferior business results.
- Leadership Brand represents the identity and reputation of leaders throughout the company.
- Leaders demonstrate a brand when they think and act in ways that are congruent with the desired product or brand promise.
- Leadership Brand results are determined by how customers and investors perceive the value delivery.
- Leadership rhetoric is not about fuzzy terms such as transformation, vision or aspiration; it is about quantifiable business terms of customer share and market value. Leadership ROI show up in a firm’s stock price.
- A Leadership Brand pushes leaders to move from generic leadership to targeted leadership.
- Brands are reinforced by sustained choices in design and delivery. Leadership Brand is no different; it is reinforced by dozens of decisions about relationships, resources, strategy etc..; Leaders are branded when the array of decisions they make on a daily basis reinforce and support a clear identity.
- Leaders who do not reflect the firm’s leadership brand must be identified and upgraded or removed.
- Leadership Brand must not be tied to one person, no matter how charismatic or talented. It must be embedded throughout the organisation.
- Leadership Brand efficacy occurs when employees, customers and investors believe and see that promises made, at any level, are promises that are kept.
- Leadership Brand is about an organisation’s capacity to develop future leaders.
- Leadership Brand final advice. Leaders need to make sure that where they are saying they going is achieved. This is how they build trust with employees, investors and customers.
Source: Leadership as a Brand – Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood.
In 2014, BRG & GIBs will present Dave Ulrich – Live and in Person: The 13 Milestones for HR to transcend the way they deliver measurable value to their organisations. Become architects of talent, culture and leadership for 21st Century Organisations. … both in the Private and Public Sector.
Professor Dave Ulrich has consulted and done research with over half of the Fortune 200. His honours exude a consistent track record of global influence and authority in human resources and business management. His research is based on collective feedback from over 60 000 line managers and HR professionals on the competencies required to improved business performance.
An accomplished and celebrated educator Dave is sought after the world over to present his findings and educate businesses. He has published over 200 articles and book chapters and over 25 books which he has co-authored with numerous fellow thought leaders.
Follow Dave Ulrich on twitter: @dave_ulrich
