The reputation of a team is dependant on the branding done by the leader. Some leaders have mastered the art of communicating. They socialize their group in such a way that the organization has a good understanding of what the team is doing and where they are going. And yet other leaders are excellent at telling a great story. However, when you look more closely, it becomes apparent the team isn’t producing or functioning well at all.
Speaking overly positive about your team and glossing over difficult questions could indicate you are trying to generate an illusion. Doing so can create a loss in trust and will bring the leader down like a house of cards. A leader who creates an illusion does so because they are less concerned for the team than they are their recognition.
A well-run team that consistently performs reflects well on everyone involved but especially on the leader. However, it only matters if people know and believe those things to be real. And that is why team branding is critical.
Three Key Areas a Leader Uses to Brand Their Team:
Effective team branding starts by communicating where your team is today. Furthermore, the results, lessons learned, and their aspirations. Communicate these things in a way that reflects well on the group. Even more, you need to do it authentically.
Successes
Your team works hard to deliver, and it is essential to celebrate and let the organization know when that happens. Socializing the team’s achievements also provides an opportunity for sharing individual accomplishments. Because work is interdependent with other groups, acknowledge any outside help your team had in achieving success.
Progress
Progress happens in stages and as a result, needs to be shared as such. Speaking about progression and validating it is critical to team branding. Updates on milestones, improvements in performance or customer satisfaction or any other measurable result should be socialized.
Key Learnings
Failure will happen, and this has never been truer than now, in our move quickly and break things culture. Two rules help you fail better. Fail fast and learn something. But failure is better when you are open about it. By being transparent about failure, you control the story and eliminate speculation. Proactively describe the circumstances, how the team addressed it, and what was learned or changed as a result. Demonstrating ownership, awareness, and accountability inspires confidence in your leadership.
To get started with team branding, assess the current state. Identify the prevailing strengths that can be socialized now. Similarly, identify how the team wants to be known. Knowing the gap helps you put processes or development plans in place to close the gap, on top of communicating a lot about the progress.
In addition to communicating the progress, enlist others by soliciting feedback to gauge improvements. Asking for feedback gets people to think differently. Talking through feedback helps you ask questions that will help people better see the improvement. As a result, it increases the likelihood they will speak more favorably about the team. Most noteworthy, asking for feedback demonstrates you are actively addressing concerns.
Being the leader of a team who makes a successful turnaround, or a well-regarded team will naturally strengthen your leadership brand. You will become known as excellent at leading successful groups of people. And this is better as a natural by-product rather than your main agenda.
Last updated on August 8th, 2020 at 07:35 am
