HR HotSpot Recap: How You Lead Becomes the Brand

By Jezabel Southard

Posted on June 1, 2018

"How You Lead Becomes the Brand," presented by Root+River Co-Founder, Justin Foster.
“How You Lead Becomes the Brand,” presented by Root+River Co-Founder Justin Foster.

Nowadays, HR has more influence on brand than the marketing department.

Brand, in this strange new world we’re living in, is the inside of an organization, not the outside image.

In last month’s HR HotSpot, How You Lead Becomes the Brand, Justin Foster, Co-Founder of Root+River, a branding firm, shared great insight on how leaders influence brand and offered 5 branding habits every leader should consider adopting in 2018.

Here are some key takeaways:

What is Brand?

Brand is the convergence of 3 things: culture, innovation and human experience.

  • Culture is the cumulative effect of everyone’s behavior and beliefs. If you have a great culture, you typically have a great brand.
  • Innovation is more than just a strategic initiative. It’s the daily behavior of an organization. It has enormous influence and can make an organization feel collaborative.
  • Human experience is the way the outside world sees and experiences what’s going on inside the world of an organization.

In short, how people feel about the culture is how they’ll treat everyone else and how they treat each other becomes the cultural habits that manifest in the human experience on the marketing side.

5 Habits Leaders Should Adopt

1. Be human.

Understand and accept that things happen. Embrace your humanity – and embrace who you are. Get rid of the construct of the “work you.” Lead from the front. Be YOU.

2. Be an original thinker.

Most leaders are not original thinkers. Don’t be afraid to take something and make it new.

3. Build a tribe.

When people like what you say and who you are, they begin to trust you. This moves you from boss to mentor.

4. Say “no.”

We are all trained to say “yes.” Many of us are scared to say “no” – especially at work. It’s okay to have healthy boundaries. If your heart is telling you not to do something, don’t do it.

5. Self-care.

It is hard to serve or care for others, if you are not taking care of yourself. Work on you. Invest in you. It’s a must.

Building a Reputation

Reputation is a result of the 5 habits mentioned above.

In this era of transparency, what people say about you when you aren’t around matters. And when you create a reputation for yourself as a new type of leader, you can create influence.

The Bottom Line

How you lead you is your brand. And when you spread your influence and get a group of people to think your way, it is transformative to a brand – and the business.

For a more in-depth look at how leadership affects brand, check out the full webinar!

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Categories: Employee Engagement Ideas, Staffing Tips & Recruiting Trends

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