How to develop your executive leadership brand
The qualities women have traditionally brought to leadership – empathy, collaboration, authenticity, emotional resonance – have long been undervalued in the workplace. Ironically, while women are reportedly leaving their companies in record numbers, it’s those same qualities that are now in high demand and leading to major shifts in global workplace cultures.
Because of systemic messages that sensitivities and feelings don’t have a place in business, many women can have a hard time owning these attributes as strengths. Without a doubt, however, it’s empathy and authenticity in leadership and communications that can build deep resonance and meaningful relationships, regardless of whether that’s through public communications or strengthening trust within internal teams.
For women struggling to own their authentic voice and value, we’ve found one tool to be particularly helpful: developing their executive leadership brand.
What is your executive leadership brand?
Similar to a company’s brand, a leadership brand is your unique attributes and the look and feel of your leadership. It’s the resonance or emotional appeal that you have with your audience.
For an organization, the brand is what differentiates you from others, especially competitors. It’s the values that uniquely set you apart, perhaps in how you deliver your services or the quality of the services you provide.
For an individual leader, it’s very much the same. These are the qualities you uniquely bring to leadership. If you’re an entrepreneur, these qualities are often tied to the positioning of your company. If you’re leading an organization, these brand positions may be unique to your leadership, but they could shape and inform the values and voice of the company.
Why is an executive leadership brand important?
Historically, women have had to fight for a seat at the table and have been taught not to be showy or overly confident. An executive brand provides the opportunity to center in, instead, on what’s authentic for you, and what we define as a combination of your unique values and aspirations, expertise, and how others value you.
As a leader, you’re a visionary, bringing something new to the world, but that journey doesn’t come without its hurdles. Putting yourself out there means trusting in the value of your own voice, often in the face of naysayers or your internal triggers. Going through the process of developing your executive leadership brand can help you center yourself around what’s uniquely authentic for you — and then re-center around it when you’re fighting uphill battles.
The third component to your brand — how others value you — also provides an opportunity to get out of your head and to understand the impact you have on others. As women, we can often be pragmatic in listing our qualities. The perspective of our clients, coworkers, and community can provide depth and color, and it can help us acknowledge and absorb strengths that may be intrinsic but maybe ones we’re reluctant to really own.
A recent example…
Recently, a client came to Emanate after learning she’d been selected to become the first female CEO of a mission-driven organization. While she’d worked in several leadership roles within the company, she’d never been in the top position. Her voice and values have mattered internally, but in this role, they’d be inextricably tied to the direction and brand of the company.
In preparation for this transition, she wanted to be clear on what she stood for as a leader and to clearly and confidently deliver her vision to staff and clients. We took her through a series of exercises to help her get clear about her “why” and core beliefs, and to understand the needs of her audience and what they valued about her leadership. This led to the development of a leadership principle and narrative for her transition into the CEO role, as well as her thought leadership strategy.
While she was clear about many of her strengths and attributes, the most profound part of this process was digging deeper to get to the motivations and aspirations that have driven her throughout her career, which has been dedicated to serving the greater good in meaningful ways. Similarly, interviewing those who have worked with her in different capacities provided additional depth to her incredible leadership qualities.
Our goal is ultimately to aggregate this information and present a brand that deeply resonates with the client. It has the power to build connection and inspiration within the leader that emanates externally and connects in a deep and meaningful way with their audiences. In this example — as with many others — it’s powerful for us to also bear witness to the rising of truly authentic and wholehearted leader.
How to use your leadership brand positions
We’ve worked with both women in leadership roles as well as those who have launched their own organizations, and regardless of whether you’re seeking to inspire internal teams or external audiences, people rally around values and an aspirational vision they can believe in.
The process of establishing your leadership brand can be a mechanism for getting clear on what your vision is and what attributes you bring to that vision. Once you have it, here’s how you can use it:
Setting the foundation for your leadership
If you’re coming into a new role, having a leadership brand creates a foundation. In many ways, these attributes represent the beliefs you hold the strongest or value the greatest. There’s no such thing as perfection, but in striving to be the best leaders we can be, we’re putting these qualities into practice. It can serve as the narrative for what you’re aiming to create.
If you’re a solopreneur, your brand may reflect how you intend to serve the needs of your community — and the quality of the service you provide — but it’s also your vision for what’s needed in the world and why it’s important that you’re bringing this organization into existence.
Developing the tone and voice for your communications and thought leadership
While there are many powerful female voices, we realized early that many women — despite the depth and breadth of their experience — shy away from the word thought leadership. But being a “thought leader” is simply the sharing of original thoughts – your expertise and core beliefs – through spoken word, written word, video, social, etc.
Your leadership brand can inform the voice and tone you use, the topics you cover, and the feelings you want others to have when reading or listening to your communications.
Re-centering and grounding in your unique attributes
We also feel strongly that an established brand becomes a tool to help you ground and re-center yourself around your value, authenticity, and uniqueness. Whether you’re a solopreneur or a glass-ceiling breaker, this journey isn’t easy, and it can continuously bring up old patterns and triggers or challenges that we need to face head-on and move through. Reflecting and grounding yourself using your unique leadership brand positions can help you reconnect with yourself and your path.
Looking to create your unique leadership attributes and develop your brand? Let’s chat!
