How Visionaries Leverage Their Leadership Brand to Build Company Culture

Over the course of the existence of AirBnB, they had to make some tough decisions, like this one they now refer to as the ‘Plan-B Decision’ in order to live out their values.

When most hear the word “branding,” people think of a catchy tagline, a trendy logo, or a unique voice for your Twitter account. While that is true, what true visionaries have in common is their ability to harness their leadership brand to create company cultures that draw people in.

Leadership Branding Defined

Think of your leadership brand as the personality and values that leaders brings to work. You launch an organization to meet a specific need, and the way you lead tells the world who you are, what you want to accomplish, and who you want to be. Great organizations and movements can’t afford to be personality-run. Great leaders codify their abstract qualities into a clearly defined company culture, and shape how the world sees your business. Great customer experiences start deep in a company’s DNA, and a strong leadership brand establishes the foundation.

A truly successful brand isn’t built on one big personality alone, though. To stay flexible and scalable, you must be prepared to identify and protect the company culture as the organization grows. All employees, new and old, need a “line of sight” to their leader’s vision and purpose. When you take the time to build a strong company culture and leadership brand, your teams have the support they need to live into the vision, keep each other accountable, collaborate with a collective mindset, fail and learn, and see the impact they are making together.

Will the culture of design and engineering persist?

“I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what’s next.”

Steve Jobs

Apple: Pursuit of perfection

It’s hard to think of Apple without picturing Steve Jobs on the WWDC stage, dressed in a minimalist black turtleneck, introducing the next beautiful product that would change the world. His obsession with detail, secrecy, and perfection got him fired from the company before, but in the end, these same qualities transformed Apple from a niche tech company to one of the world’s most innovative and recognizable brands. 

It’s true that Jobs wasn’t known as the easiest person to work with or please. His tendency to sweat the details pushed his teams’ patience and deadlines. Yet, top designers and engineers wanted to work in his world, because they knew every contribution, seen or unseen, would be a valued element of amazing products. Almost a decade after his passing, Jobs’ legacy lives on in Apple’s innovation.

Brian Chesky, CEO of AirBnB, in an interview with Kara Swisher discussing the tough decisions he had to make at the company recently.

“When you are in someone's home, in their bed, you see the world from their eyes. You understand 'the other' is not so other.”

Brian Chesky

AirBnB: Empathy as a Superpower

AirBnB has disrupted the travel and hospitality industry as we know it, but first, the startup had to grow up. AirBnB started with the typical Silicon Valley approach: move fast, break things, and change the status quo. But the old model reached a limit in 2014 when the company sponsored the New York City Marathon, struggling against local laws and an aggravated hotel industry along the way. Unlike other big tech companies, AirBnB's leaders made a deliberate effort to rediscover their identity and values. Founders Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia looked to their industrial design roots to find empathy, the superpower of every good designer. Tapping into this humanity provided a necessary shift in posture, leading to respectful collaboration with local authorities, and an others-centered, community-driven approach to hospitality.

Even as the company faces tough times during the pandemic, they have continued to live their values by giving every laid-off employee a generous severance package and creating an online directory to help these employees find new work. And with travel down, they've found creative ways to keep going, like unique online experiences led by AirBnB hosts.

“Believe in your idea through and through, and if you fail, fail forward.”

Richard Branson

Virgin: Disruptive Fun

From a record label and music store chain to air travel and experiments in spaceflight, Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin has attempted it all, and some of that is owed to its founder’s playful, rule-breaking spirit. Branson found his first success in the music industry, starting with mail-order record sales and opening a record store. In the early 70s, Virgin Records, his first major success, was born. Branson once said, "There is no point in starting your own business unless you do it out of a sense of frustration,” and that mindset has driven massive expansion in a huge range of sectors. Virgin’s brand is a powerful picture of scalability and vision. The company’s secret is disruptive fun, creating better customer experiences in industries that have little incentive to change. And it all feels in line with Branson’s cheerful, rule-breaking personality. Today he has franchised his leadership brand into more than 60 companies worldwide in a wide range of industries.

Owning Your Leadership Brand

The good news about creating a leadership brand is that you already have everything you need, but you have to discover what makes your leadership brand stand out. Most entrepreneurs don’t slow down long enough to write down who they are and what they stand for. As you grow and bring on more people, you will need a strong vision and a clear culture so your team can make on-brand decisions.

Take the time to dig in and discover your superpowers. Identify your purpose, your values, and the unique gifts you bring to the table. Review your leadership brand every quarter or every year. Make adjustments based on the values you use more. Be true to yourself. As your leadership team grows, invite them into the process and mold it into your company's leadership brand.

Helping leaders define their brands is what we do! Contact us to get started with a free consultation.