Guest post in our leadership series. Enjoy! – Kimberly
Shocking Ways Personal Brands Will Make You a Better Leader creates a thoughtful perspective on the future of leadership development.
After decades worth of studying leadership development and career advancement, there is a powerful truth that presents itself. Anyone in a leadership role that wants to be a better leader should understand this basic principle. Shocking ways personal brands will make you a better leader is the easiest way to command attention from a team regardless of how many people you lead.
Let’s look at leadership from two main perspectives. The first perspective is the individual perspective. This is otherwise known as a personal brand. The second perspective is the collective or team where each individual contributor adds to the greater whole. Somewhere in the middle is where it seems to go off the rails. Good leaders can get distracted when they need to keep it simple. The shocking truth is that being a better leader is easier when you focus on personal brands. Here’s how we do it!
The basic objective in leadership is to get the individual contributors to effectively and productively work toward the common goal with less effort. Turning this complicated task into a simple solution is easy. The right approach leads to simplicity. Let’s consider the shocking ways personal brands will make you a better leader by focusing on personal brands.
Shockingly Simple Ways to Use a Personal Brand to Lead
Anyone in a leadership position may already know the difficulty that comes when leading teams of individual contributors. The bigger the team, the more difficult the task. Using a simple approach repeatedly makes you a better leader.
There are many shocking ways personal brands will make you a better leader. Turning this complicated concept into a simple solution is like a breath of fresh air. Here are three shocking ways personal brands will make you a better leader.
Build a Strong Personal Brand with Leadership Essence
The act of building a strong personal brand for yourself is both motivating and inspiring. People get inspired to improve themselves by being around other inspiring leaders. Most people may not know where that inspiration comes from. Inspiration is contagious, plus it has intangible qualities that make it unstoppable.
Building a strong personal brand creates opportunities for success. Then you can translate that success into motivation and inspiration for others. In other words, lead by example. Once you have a strong personal brand you become an inspiration. Then you can use the motivation and inspiration of others to refuel yourself and your leadership becomes easy.
Leadership Essence
First, learn the three aspects of a strong personal brand. Take direction from Zig Ziglar with his quote. ‘It’s your attitude, not your aptitude that determines your altitude.’ Develop a daily habit of learning these three aspects of leadership known as Leadership Essence.
Leadership Essence is what makes a personal brand strong. A greater understanding of your attitude about your aptitude converts into a higher altitude. The better you know Leadership Essence the stronger the personal brand. The stronger the personal brand the better leader you are. Success becomes inevitable with less effort.
Make the inner strength of a strong personal brand match the outer expression of that brand. When you feel good you want to look good too. Leadership Essence infuses an intangible quality to your leadership style. Then your leadership becomes unstoppable.
Practice Leadership Growth with a 5 Step Framework
When you practice leadership you learn how to lead. Once you gain understanding of your Leadership Essence it is time to practice leadership growth. Making a commitment to your leadership development is an act of empowerment. Then you can capitalize on seeing leadership grow inside yourself.
In short, practice being yourself. Show others how to build a strong personal brand just by being you. In turn, you then influence others with a leadership style that inspires others to be themselves naturally.
Stay focused and avoid distractions. Your personal brand is top priority. Make sure it is authentic. The personal brand building cycle becomes a sustainable feedback loop that re-energizes you. Use ‘5 Natural Steps to Advancement’ as a framework. These five natural steps not only happen naturally, but they are easy to remember.
5 Natural Steps to Advancement
Dream
These five steps happen naturally because we dream and think about what we want in life. Then, use the image from your dream to create goals.
Discover
Strategic daily habits offer leaders the chance to discover more about themselves. Discovery leads to advancement naturally. Use a simple approach that is effective and repeatable. Then use a lead-by-example approach based on the success you experience.
Explore
Each day naturally invites new possibilities to explore Leadership Essence and practice growth.
Advance
Advancement happens when achievements are recognized. Use awareness as a mechanism to accelerate growth.
Sustain
The true objective is to create sustainability. Without sustainability, leadership requires more effort. With sustainability, leadership requires less effort. The best leaders have the confidence in themselves to build a strong team because they use a sustainable approach.
The best leaders continue to work on building a strong personal brand every day. These leaders understand the value of connection. They naturally rely on others to help them achieve their personal and professional goals. The best leaders are part of the collective.
Leverage the Collective of Personal Brands and Be a Better Leader
Grow your personal brand to better lead others. Others grow their personal brands because of your leadership example.
A team is made of individual contributors working toward a common goal. When a leader communicates the common goal while honoring the personal brands of the individuals a powerful synergy forms. Leveraging this synergy using personal brands makes you a better leader.
When you align the team working toward a common goal with the synergy of personal brands achievement accelerates. Create a sustainable leadership model as a result of this practice!
Shockingly Simple Ways Personal Brands Will Make You a Better Leader
Being the best version of yourself is the best way to lead. Building a strong brand with a focus on Leadership Essence allows growth to happen naturally. Use a simple and repeatable approach to grow leadership with ‘5 Natural Steps to Advancement.’
Notice the motivation and inspirations of strong personal brands all around you. You can be inspired by others as you inspire others. Seek a sustainable form of leadership to ensure a reliable path for progress.
The success of your leadership depends on the contributions of many individuals. Each individual contributes to the whole through their personal leadership or their personal brand. Personal brands become the source of your success.
The Kauffman Institute
Now there is a fun quiz to help with self-discovery.
Be a part of the future of leadership by joining an Empowerment Session here.
For deeper change and a greater personal leadership transformation schedule an empowerment session through a coaching consultation here.
Discover more about The Kauffman Institute go here.
Enjoy your adventures and journey responsibly!
Author Bio: Maria Kauffman
Engineer, Coach, Changemaker
Maria is a leadership expert who delivers high-energy presentations that challenge audiences to leverage their personal brands and pay attention to what matters most at work and in life.
Audiences love her ‘easy to remember’ and ‘quick to apply’ practical strategies. Leaders love working with Maria, often describing her as having a gift for sharing perspectives that stretch their open-mindedness.
Maria transformed her problems solving skills as an Electrical Engineer into a new adventure as a Leadership Coach. She earned her CPC and ELI-MP from iPEC Coaching.
Her strong background in overcoming obstacles in the workplace makes her the perfect fit for helping others through advancements in some of the most challenging environments.
Organizations hire Maria because her ‘Natural Steps to Advancement’ approach produces a simple and effective method for higher productivity and employee engagement.
Oh, did we mention that Maria is a podcaster? Why does that matter? Well, it means that she’s dedicated to helping others through the personal transformation process of an ‘Everyday Heroine’ so that everyone can live life like a superhero.
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