Do your people sometimes confuse your behavior with your words? Do you feel like your team acts differently than they normally would when you are around? That goes is because of your leadership brand. In this article, I’ll share with you a practical Leadership Branding Definition and how it helps your business.

Whether you like it or not, your leadership brand affects the way people perceive you. The only question is, do you have a positive leadership brand that influences people? Or do you have a negative brand that repels people away from you?

Leadership Branding Definition

Leadership Branding communicates the way you want people to perceive you. It includes your everything from reputation and identity, to your values, skills, and behaviors. Your leadership brand is what’s left when you’re not present.

Whether you’re aware of it or not, you already have a leadership brand. Whether it’s a positive or a negative one, that is a different question. If you’re not intentional in building your brand, chances are people who don’t know you are doing it for you.

Worse, they are not doing a great job. Therefore, you need to develop your own leadership brand. When you do that, you can control how people perceive you. As a result, you will have better influence on them.

Can You Influence Your People?

John Maxwell once said that “Leadership is influence. Nothing more, nothing less.” The sad thing is that most leaders can’t influence their own team. Most business leaders are bypassed and not even heard because they lack the influential skills needed.

People follow them because of the authority they have, not because people are willing. They are scared of being embarrassed in front of others or losing their job. That’s why they comply instead of volunteering their knowledge, skills, and abilities.

I know how this feels like. I used to be a leader who exploited and took advantage of my title. I would scream at my employees and sometimes throw things at them. To say that I wasn’t a model leader is an understatement.

To my employees, the brand that I unconsciously built was “Terror.” In fact, they started calling me Abu Sayyaf behind my back.

But everything changed once I started working on my Leadership Brand intentionally. I wanted to be a leader who is authentic and inspiring. I want to influence people and make them follow not because they must, but because they want to.

From the time I did that until today, I’ve gathered lots of followers. I’ve been awarded by different associations and organizations. Aside from that, I’m voted to be on the board of directors of the associations I join.

Developing your leadership brand can make the difference between you becoming an influential leader or a forgettable one.

The Benefits For Your Business

Here are some of the benefits you’ll get from building your leadership brand:

You Earn People’s Trust

When you define your leadership brand and act in alignment with it, people will begin to see your difference with other leaders. They will see your integrity, consistency, and authenticity. As a result, they will trust you more.

Aside from that, the trust and relationship with your clients and customers will be strengthened. When that happens, they choose you over your competitors. Remember, people do business with people they trust. Building your brand makes you trustworthy.

Financial Growth

Creating a trustworthy brand keeps your clients and customers. As more customers trust you they will refer you to other potential customers. Why? Simply because it’s rare for companies and leaders to have an authentic brand.

Wherever we look, we see people who are in business just for the money. They take for granted the relationships they could’ve built with their customers.

When this happens, people become skeptical and they tend to trust less. However, when they witness how your brand serves customers, they will find themselves gravitating towards you. In the end, it results in financial growth for both parties.

Make People Feel Safe

In Simon Sinek’s book, “Leaders Eat Last,” this is one of his main points. Leaders are supposed to make their people feel safe. That means showing consistency with who you are and protecting them from any outside “dangers.”

It could mean economic fluctuations, market downturns, etc. Once people feel safe, you can rest assured that they will work with blood, sweat, and tears to make your business thrive. Especially during hard times.

Final Thoughts On Leadership Branding Definition

The question isn’t about “Do I need a leadership brand?” Rather, as a leader, the more productive question is, “What kind of brand am I communicating?”

Now that you know the leadership branding definition that works, it’s high time for you to decide what kind of leader you want to be. Do you want to be influential or do you want to be forgettable?

At the end of the day, only you can answer for yourself.