Have you ever felt this way? You’ve worked hard to build your leadership brand, but the negative perceptions remain.
You’ve been “all in” to prove and improve yourself as a talented, people-centered leader, but no one can get past the stories…that one time (okay maybe seven times) you lost your cool, stole credit for an idea, or were _________ (enter your old frustrating reputation here).
You can improve your reputation and your leadership brand with this proactive approach.
What is a leadership brand?
Simply put, your leadership brand is how others would describe you in one sentence.
Imagine a meme or billboard on the freeway describing your leadership. What would that mean?
And most importantly, what if this sentence had to include “but”…
When managing your leadership brand, the “buts” matter. If the hard work you’ve done on your “but” isn’t paying off, maybe it’s time to address these perceptions.
7 steps to start changing perceptions
- Define your aspirational brand
- Ask brave questions to understand perceptions
- Let others know what you’re working on and why
- Stay consistent and ask for help
- Be interested and generous
- Admit when you screw up
- Do not give up
1. Define your aspirational leadership brand
Just like anything else you want to achieve, it’s essential to define what success looks like.
Complete this sentence: “I want to be known for _________. Alternatively, I want to be remembered as a leader who ________.”
For example, we want to be known for practical and sustainable leadership development for people-centered leaders.
Everything we choose to do (or not do) works to enhance or diminish our desired brand of leadership. What we want on our “billboard” affects the clients we choose to work with and the commitments we accept; the books and articles we write (and read); The guests we invite to us Shows; and how we design each leadership development program and keynote address.
An important part of this aspirational brand exercise is to consider what is important in your current culture. Consider the characteristics of the brand you are building as they relate to the leadership characteristics valued and encouraged where you work.
For example, if your aspirational brand is “accountability and results,” and you work in a high-clarity culture with strong expectations and clearly defined goals, this is a fantastic fit. There is a match between how you want to appear and what the culture values.
Conversely, if your leadership brand is “empowering and developing people,” and you’re working in a push-and-pull culture where “nobody has time for that stuff,” you’ll have more of a culture fit problem than a brand problem.
Next, identify strengths you can build on Improve the reputation you want. Then look at your biggest opportunities for growth as you build your aspirational leadership brand.
2. Ask brave questions to understand perceptions
Once you know how you want to perform, the next step is to ask people for their honest perceptions of your leadership brand.
If you have a big grief, it’s better to know.
It’s helpful to ask these specific, humble questions in pairs… one strength to build on and one opportunity to improve. for example,
- What is one behavior that you think helps my success as a leader? And what is it that undermines my success?
- How does my current leadership style positively impact the team? And in what way is my current leadership style getting in the way?
3. Tell others what you’re working on and why
It takes time to change perceptions. If you let people know what you’re working on and why it’s important, they’re more likely to notice your change in behavior.
Below is a short excerpt (90 seconds) from ours Interview with Marshall Goldsmith, World renowned executive coach and author/editor of forty leadership books. You can also watch a longer version here.
It explains how people see our behavior in a way that matches their previous experience of you, and they look for behavior that will reinforce that image. When you let people know you’re working on a change, you set them up to see it better.
4. Stay consistent and ask for help
Another benefit of letting people know you’re working on a behavior change (even if you think you’ve already changed it), is that you can ask for help.
You can say, “I will really appreciate you when I do __________. Can you please notice when you see me doing it well, or struggling with it?”
5. Be interested and generous
One big mistake that can damage your leadership brand is appearing too needy or too focused on your career. It’s good to ask for help—and it’s just as important to appear interested and generous to support them.
Avoid the “I’ll help you if you help me” approach.
Being known as an interested and supportive leader who cares about others and comes across as consistently helpful will help your leadership brand and build trust while you work on the other aspects of your leadership and reputation.
In our leadership brand workshops, we call it “Country within and:” being an interesting expert and an interested author.
6. Admit when you screw up
“I’m sorry, I really screwed this up,” are powerful words when working to build trust. Don’t hide it and don’t pretend the slip didn’t happen. Your team already knows when you make a mistake or slip back into unwanted behavior.
A quick and sincere apology goes a long way in building your trusted leadership brand.
See also: How to break bad news to your boss.
7. Don’t give up
Changing negative perceptions takes time. Stay focused on doing the right thing consistently. Even if you can’t reverse your damaged reputation in your current situation, investing in your leadership brand will serve you well no matter what you do next.
Related Articles on Managing Your Leadership Brand
Executive presence in a virtual world: what matters now
Managerial courage: 7 practical ways to be a little bolder
How to be less negative – and still be yourself
your turn
What advice do you have for someone looking to overcome an outdated reputation or negative leadership brand?
