9 Tips For Brand Development Programs
Leadership and branding are hot subjects. Leadership development programs are very popular. There are several 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, and also sacrifice. Leadership requires vision. Leadership is discussed in rarefied atmosphere of CEO conferences, business schools, HR meets, and strategy meets. There seems 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 any organization.
Branding too captures imagination of individuals. 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 really is a watering hole for unsuccessful ex-salesmen. For Recommended Looking at M & A specialists it really is a valuation game. It really is a playground of creativity for advertising agencies. It is PR first for PR agencies. For many, branding means eye catching, entertaining, beautiful visual and audio communications or smart copy. Everybody knows branding and everybody has definite opinions about it.
The answer could 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 and others? Like brands, leaders are seen as icons. Similarly, leadership without its own constituency is unthinkable. Leaders build constituencies through shared comprehension of goals and ways to achieve them.
How do communities come into existence? A unique feature, a benefit, some newness, or drama sets people talking. When people talk, when they integrate products within their lives, when they constantly share their experiences, problems, or solutions communities are formed. Communities also can be built around new categories of products. People love to talk. They should share things. It really is for a company to create or articulate such uniqueness, to express it evocatively, as well as to nudge and support its customers into sharing it. Can this be completed by marketing department alone? Can this happen by bombarding customers with ads, direct mail, or price promotions? Can this happen without a strong leadership? The answer is no. Brands may appear 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 are 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 own.
Some CEO's become great leaders with virtually no formal training. But that won't reduce importance of training and learning. Just about everyone can improve leadership skills through systematic efforts. Learning Leadership requires sustained efforts. Leadership coaching can help in accelerating leadership development.
