CEOs as Thought Leaders Reinforce Brands

A CEO, chief executive officer, owner, entrepreneur, chairman/woman/person, director, boss or anyone with a desk nameplate that reads “The Buck Stops Here” today is entrusted with more tasks than just running the company, paying attention to growing business, harnessing the best ideas to improve the business, driving sales, tending to quarterly profits, keeping tabs on competition, satisfying staff members, ensuring the longevity of the institution and others.

If those aren’t enough, today, the leader of a company, corporation, small business or nongovernmental organization (nonprofit) must also serve as an ambassador – the person who stands at the summit; the beacon that attracts others.

Karen Tiber Leland, a branding expert, elaborated this role by designating the CEO as the chief brand ambassador regardless if he or she wants the title or not.

One of the reasons for this direct correlation between the CEO and the business or nonprofit is that public and other stakeholders view it as such. Industry research has shown that 49% of a company’s reputation is attributed to the CEO’s reputation. You are your company and it is you.

Consequently, the CEO must maintain his or her official reputation on a blameless level while building a leader’s image separate from but connected to his or her occupation. Some have called it a symbiotic, parallel brand.

 “All CEOs have the daily opportunity and obligation to build their personal brand in service of their own and their corporation’s reputation,” observed Leland.

A recent survey by Meltwater Outside Insight titled “Fast Food Brands, Trends, Influences” is the latest study that highlights this valuable and important dual role of the person in the corner office.

“A company’s CEO is sometimes cast as the human representation of the brand. When Starbucks makes a commitment to values, Howard Schultz addresses the public with conviction and doesn’t shy from the camera. He reminds us that even the most noble set of corporate values and initiatives needs a person backing them up, not just a logo. As a result, he enjoys rock star status with his audience,” the report noted.

Among the clamor of corporate declarations, those that add a new perspective to the discussion, rather than disrupting, can be considered thought leaders – the holy grail or golden fleece of leadership. In a complex business or civic world, in which many things are considered at lightning speed, providing true thought leadership can be as valuable to a brand, company or NGO as the products, services or mission it is promoting. The thought leader sets the company or NGO apart and paves the way so that colleagues and subordinates can fulfill the mission statement or plan.

Establishing an individual – CEO, chair or director – as a thought leader requires consistent, diligent effort. Thought leadership success is based on a cumulative effect. Although thought leadership can and should have tactical elements that reveal the evolution of an idea from concept toward implementation, all thought leadership should be strategic at the onset. Thought leadership should be about a big idea that changes how people perceive the institution and world.

The following name should strike a warm chord in your memories. Walt Disney was a brand ambassador of historic proportions before digital technology. His name personified the company that he formed even after he stopped drawing his memorable cartoons. Disney became a thought leader about wholesome, family entertainment.

Leland, author of “The Brand Mapping Strategy,” opined: “All CEOs have the daily opportunity (and obligation) to build their personal brand in service of their own and their company’s reputation. In addition, many companies are beginning to realize that their executives need to have polished personal brands that highlight their expertise and knowledge to an outside audience.”

The personal brand can be the institution’s reputation, products, logo, image, sustainability plans or health policies, multicultural ideas, etc. The personal brand may not have anything to do with the institution’s primary business or reason for existence but it should be a concept that is valued by the audience or marketplace.

Being a thought leader, quite frankly, is a bestowed rank – the possessor earns it. CEOs and directors may aspire to be thought leaders, but the consumers of their speeches, rhetoric, writing, interviews, tweets and posts ultimately determine if they are or not. Organizations, be they civic, public or private, retail or Rotarian or nonprofit, need to have thoughtful leaders. Because of their positions, individuals creating perspectives and content have a leadership role and what they choose to do with their platform defines how they are viewed by consumers.

The most important commandment of thought leadership is “Thou shall not sell anything except ideas.” Selling during a thought leadership presentation, discussion, tweet or post is the number one sin, and conversely, not selling is the number one virtue. The latter leads to success and to being regarded as an expert by peers, marketplace, competitors and other stakeholders.

Other considerations are:

Thought leader is a person or firm that is not only recognized but also who profits from the recognition of authority.

According to Forbes, “A thought leader is an individual or firm that significantly profits from being recognized as such.”

Thought leader is an individual, company, or organization regarded as an expert in a specialized area or industry.

Thought leader is recognized by colleagues, competitors, customers, prospects and other stakeholders as having progressive and innovative ideas and as having been successful in effecting change.

Thought leader is one you think of first. The “go to” person.

Thought leadership should be an entry point to a relationship. It should help start a relationship where none exists, and it should enhance existing relationships.

Thought leadership should intrigue, challenge, and inspire even people already familiar with the company.

Thought leadership is simply about becoming an authority on relevant topics by delivering the answers to the biggest questions on the minds of your target audience.

Thought leadership should be about a big idea that changes how people perceive the world.

To achieve such a vaunted status, the CEO must devote time to scouring the internet, searching for relevant issues or ideas, joining conversations, initiating new conversations, inviting others to join the conversation, and offering new ideas – but not polemicizing.

Making the CEO’s idea viral, that is enveloping the world or at least the marketplace at lightning speed, is the goal of those that want to become thought leaders. As the Meltdown survey noted: “A viral conversation is like lightning. You don’t know where it’ll strike, and it rarely strikes in the same place twice. If you want to capture it, your gear needs to be optimized and ready to shoot, because it’s not a subject that’s going to stop and pose just for you.”

Leland elaborated: “Any time day or night, you need only turn on CNN or check out Twitter to see how wildfire-fast information (and disinformation) can spread. As the lines between company and CEO reputation blur, and increasingly ridiculous amounts of information on individuals become readily available in just a few clicks, CEO reputation management is a mandate.”

Linda Forrest, another branding expert, alluded to social media’s important role in this process. Leaders of startups that evolved into well-known leviathans of today did not enjoy the benefit of social media. “The difference is that now, with social media so pervasive in both our personal and professional lives, it’s more important than ever to appreciate that business partners, shareholders, prospective customers and investors could be watching. Today’s indiscretions or meltdowns could be tomorrow's headlines. Or even headlines years from now,” she said.

Leland urged all CEOs and directors that have chosen the path to thought leaderships to participate in social media. “In our continuously connected, always-wired world, customers, employees and shareholders have a constant hunger for – and access to -- information about a company and its executives. Being a social CEO is a necessity for any leader who doesn’t want to get left in the online dust,” she wrote.

In the digital age, thought leaders must be involved in all traditional outreach venues as well as cyber ones, such as Twitter, Facebook, websites, etc., with their names prominently featured in the titles and URLs. They must be prepared to post, tweet and creatively retweet their ideas several times a day in order to boost the chances of reaching as many followers and soon-to-be followers as possible.

CEOs of corporations and corporate-type NGOs have the luxury of staffs to assist with this important task. Other entrepreneurs, owners or activists must add to their daily troughs this essential assignment.

Something to consider for your New Year’s resolutions.

For additional advice, I’d like to invite you to visit my Thought Leadership website:

http://thoughtleadership.yolasite.com/