One of the cornerstones of the McConnell Leadership Group’s approach to leadership and management development is focusing on an individual’s “brand,” which represents his/her reputation in the workplace.
Many managers do not realize that, like a consumer product, they have an image and value proposition that represents who they are and how they are perceived.
In order to achieve this awareness, we provide an overview of what traditional branding is and the importance of how a brand defines a “product.” By discussing the reputations of a number of well-known products, services and people, managers become aware of how the public’s perceptions can positively or negatively impact a brand’s reputation (e.g. Toyota, Starbucks, Oprah Winfrey, etc.)
We then transfer this awareness, and the principles of branding, to an assessment of the manager’s own strengths, behavioral styles, and values. These dimensions of an individual’s persona provide the manager with a profile of themselves and how they come across to employees, customers and their boss.
These core foundational insights allow the manager to then successfully continue to the next three steps in our four step process for leading and managing – Define Roles & Goals, Plan & Implement and Coach & Give Feedback. This process is outlined in more detail in our “Uncase Study – 4 Steps for Leading and Managing Begins Here!” (link to The Uncase Study page here). Understanding yourself and your “brand” is the key to becoming an authentic leader and manager.
