What is my message?

By Larry Ackerman on November 13th, 2011

(Our guest blogger is Larry Ackerman, President & Founder of The Identity Circle, a consulting & coaching firm based in Westport, CT. He is the author of 2 ground-breaking books on identity including Identity Is Destiny: Leadership and the Roots of Value Creation & The Identity Code:The 8 Essential Questions for Finding Your Purpose and Place in the World.)

As a leader, what do you stand for? Maximizing profit? Driving productivity? Minimizing costs? When people look at you, what do they see? A powerful, go get’em executive? A thoughtful visionary? A game changer? What’s your message? Not the one you necessarily state; but rather, the one you embody, the one you live.

In our discussion so far about how a strong personal identity drives conscious leadership, we’ve looked at the first 6 attributes of identity strength – autonomy, differentiation, change, stewardship, potential and alignment. This post addresses the seventh of eight identity strength attributes, brand– the promise you make as a leader that shapes your relationships with all others.

The word “brand” is bandied about extensively these days in relation to individuals as well as companies and products. Developing and communicating your ‘personal brand’ is an increasingly common practice for people who want to stand out from the crowd. For those aspiring to be – and be seen as – conscious leaders, clarifying your personal brand is a pressing need.

Let’s be clear here. I’m not talking about sharpening your “look,” or polishing your image, or any other superficial interpretation of brand. I’m talking about expressing your authentic self in ways that reflect your distinctive, value-creating capacities – that reflect what you stand for.

My choice for this posting’s example of a conscious leader with a powerful personal brand is Steve Jobs. That wasn’t hard. Nor is it due to his recent and most unfortunate death. Jobs-as-poster-child-for-personal-brand does raise some interesting issues around the notion of “conscious.” Among the many recent articles about Jobs, one in The Wall Street Journal caught my attention – The Amazing Steve Jobs Story (http://on.wsj.com/p9uPJR), as it was Illuminating and personal.

Jobs, reportedly, was not a nice guy. He was tough and impatient. Sometimes, nasty. Which raises an intriguing question: Do leaders have to be nice to be and be seen as conscious? It seems that the essence of conscious leadership is to be a force for good in the world as well as a force for profit. Steve Jobs brought about so much “good,” (as well as profit) it’s hard to fathom. He led a bloodless, happiness-fueled social revolution that continues to this day.

So, what then is (not just was) Jobs’ personal brand? What remains his promise, his message? From where I sit, it comes down to this: Liberation. Jobs promised us liberation… from the seeming bounds of physical space (think stacks of CDs), from the costs and complexities of entertainment and communication, from, well, the very limitations of what we mere mortals believed was even possible. What does Steve Jobs stand for? Liberation; he was/is a liberator at his core.

How do you establish a powerful leadership brand? You declare yourself on the strength of your gift. That’s what Jobs did, even if he wasn’t aware of it (though, I bet he was.) Jobs’ “gift” was all about liberation and it’s been in place since he founded Apple in 1976. The gift I refer to is of course your identity – that unique combination of characteristics that reveals the contribution you’re capable of making to your organization – and the world. Crack the code on your identity and your personal leadership brand comes clear.

In my next posting, we’ll look at the eighth, and final, identity strength building block, sustainability, and what it takes to create a leadership legacy that’s as meaningful as your current performance.