Research Paper By Taaka Awori
(Leadership Coach, GHANA)
Introduction
This research paper has been prepared in fulfillment of the graduation requirements of the International Coach Academy’s (ICA) Advanced Programme. It argues that having an effective personal or organizational leadership brand is critical for leadership effectiveness. It then posits that coaching, which has increasingly played a key role in leadership development, can be an important tool for organizations and individuals as they craft an effective leadership brand. In this respect, it demonstrates how coaching can:
Background
A new model of leadership has emerged to respond to an increasingly complex world: “Leadership is influence.”[1] In the past, influence was often seen as being about force and the exertion of power over another. In many parts of the world this is still the case, particularly with respect to political leadership. However, in today’s complex information- centered world, where innovation, creativity and knowledge determine which organizations, companies and countries thrive, a different model of leadership is required. In this model of leadership, “leaders must earn the ability to influence what people think about, what they value, and how they express those values in the decisions they make from day to day.”[2]
The growing importance of having the right leadership brand: It is in this context that the idea of a leadership brand is gaining in popularity and is becoming a critical means by which managers are defining the leadership style and approach they want to be associated with. A leadership brand can be thought of at two levels: at the individual level and at the organizational level. At the individual level, it has been defined as something that conveys your identity and distinctiveness as a leader.[3] At the institutional level, a leadership brand is a reflection of an organisation’s ability to turn out strong leaders and become a “leader feeder” firm.[4] These are companies who have focused not just on developing individual leaders but growing the organization’s overall leadership capability.
Leadership development has evolved significantly in the past 20 years. In the past, leadership development was centered on classroom learning with a strong focus on concepts and theories. Today it is more experiential and directed on addressing practical challenges that a leader is facing in the work place. Indeed, the current approach to leadership development has been described as being more about:[5]
Coaching has become a central part of leadership development. Coaching has gained prominence in leadership development as the latter has become more experiential. This is because the individualized approach of coaching has enabled managers to focus on the immediate leadership challenges they are facing and their unique learning needs. Additionally, coaching has enabled leaders to gain deeper self-awareness and develop specific skills. For these reasons, this paper describes how coaching can be used not just broadly for leadership development but for development of a personal and organizational leadership brand in particular.
Developing a Personal Leadership Brand
Defining what a personal leadership brand is. A personal leadership brand conveys a person’s identity as a leader and the value they have to offer. It captures the impact that a leader has on his or her followers and the emotional experience that comes from working with them. In this respect, a leadership brand enables a manager to focus their time and energy on what they want to be known for and what they have to offer. Not surprisingly, therefore, it has been argued that having a leadership brand is critical to becoming a better leader and having more impact.[7]
The key steps to developing an effective personal leadership brand. Everyone has personal leadership brand, however, the big question is whether it is the right one. Smallwood and his co-author David Ulrich came up with five steps to develop a personal leadership brand. They are:
In a similar manner, Price Water House Coopers (PWC) trains it women leaders to develop their leadership brand by:
Both the approach of Smallwood and Ulrich and that of PWC include a process of a leader defining what they want to be known for as a leader and ultimately aligning their behavior to this brand. This paper will show how coaching can support a manager to go through this process as they develop the right leadership brand.
Developing Organisational Leadership Brands
Defining what an organizational leadership brand is. As noted before, a leadership brand can be thought of at two levels: the individual level and at the organizational level. At the organizational level, a leadership brand is the ability of an organization to generate high quality leaders. They are able to do this because rather than focusing on developing individual leaders, these organizations focus on developing overall “leadership capability.”[9] As stated: “A focus on leaders emphasizes the personal qualities of the individual; a focus on leadership emphasizes the methods that secure the ongoing good of the firm, and in the process also builds future leaders.”[10]
The key steps to developing an organizational leadership brand. According to Ulrich and Smallwood, companies that have developed a strong leadership brand have followed five principles, which include:[11]
Coaching as a Tool in Developing Personal and Organizational Leadership Brands
Defining coaching. Coaching has been described in many different ways. The International Coaching Federation describes coaching as:
an ongoing partnership designed to help clients produce fulfilling results in their personal and professional lives. Coaches help people improve their performance and enhance the quality of their lives.”[12]
Coaching has also been described as: a methodology that allows us to work with change, on a personal level, on an organizational level, on a relationship level.[13]
The different ways coaching can be used to develop a person. The following sets out the different ways in which coaching can support a leader seeking to develop their personal leadership brand.
The different ways coaching can be used to develop an organizational leadership brand. Developing an organizational leadership brand is a much more complex and long- term process than creating a personal leadership brand. This is because it involves getting an entire organization or company aligned with a particular level of leadership effectiveness. In the same way coaching can be valuable to a manager to develop their individual leadership brand, coaching can be useful to an individual leader or team of leaders to develop and instill their organizational leadership brand. While the same core competencies would be required of the coach, the focus of the coaching in this case is much more on organizational impact. A few examples are provided below of how coaching could support a leader in this respect.
The Limitations of Coaching in Developing a Leadership Brand.
While this paper has sought to demonstrate that coaching can be a valuable tool for leaders to develop either a personal or organizational leadership brand, there are limitations. Not every leader is coachable and not everything about a leader is coachable. For example, it has been argued by one author that a leader’s cognitive skills, drive, ambition, integrity, conscientiousness and tolerance of ambiguity are not coachable.[19] Marshall Goldsmith, the renowned leadership writer and teacher states that there are four indicators to know that someone is not coachable[20]:
Some coaches use tools such as the coachability index, which is a simple tool to determine if a person is ready for coaching.[21] The tool examines:
Regardless of what criteria or tool one uses, what is important is to recognize that coaching may not appropriate or effective in all instances when building a personal or organizational leadership brand. It works best when certain conditions are in place. These include factors such as the leader’s receptiveness and desire for change, the chemistry and connection between the coach and leader, the competencies of the coach and an effective structure and process for the coaching.
Conclusion
In conclusion, developing a leadership brand has become a critical part of strengthening leadership effectiveness at both an individual and organizational level. At an individual level, leaders are recognizing the value of determining the type of leadership they want to be associated with and then aligning their behavior to that leadership. At the organizational level, organisations have learned to go beyond investing in individual leaders to investing in leadership capability more broadly. In all of this, coaching can play a critical role as it supports leaders with their self- awareness, enables them to gather feedback on their leadership effectiveness and supports them to drive organizational change.
Bibliography
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Norm Smallwood, “Leadership Brand in Five Steps,” Harvard Business Review, March 29th, 2010 at hbr.org
David Ulrich and Norm Smallwood, “Building a Leadership Brand,” Harvard Business Review, July – August 2007 at hbr.org
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Glen Llopis, Personal Branding is a Leadership Requirement, Forbes, 4/08/2013 at forbes.com
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RR Krishna : The Coachability Index: Are you Ready? Blog posted in International Coaching Federation’s website at Coachfederation.org 2015.