Visionary leaders and meaningful brands?

How do you translate strategy into people's behavior?

Imagine that one day you are appointed as CEO of a large organization. And that you have been given the assignment not to maintain the status quo, but to transform the organization. You suddenly stand at the top of a company in change. The helm needs to turn. You feel the pressure from shareholders and supervisors to quickly implement changes, something about the notorious first 100 days. Meanwhile, your organization is confronted with digitization, AI, blockchain, globalization, blurring of markets, shifts in regulation and talent drain. The competitive advantage has been under pressure for some time, the many newcomers are faster, more exciting, younger and often sexier as a brand. Ouch.

What can you do, how do you approach something like this?

As CEO, fortunately you're not alone. With your fellow directors, you first retreat to the heath for several days. Getting to know each other. Winning trust and forging bonds. Under the guidance of an experienced advisor, the many analyses and even more PowerPoints follow. You're dizzy from the figures, KPIs and discussions about core competencies, consolidation, focus, and new growth opportunities. A good starting point then seems to first agree with each other on the mission, vision and core values. Nowadays we often talk about the 'purpose' of the organization. An inspiring claim that determines thoughts, provides direction and should connect people. During those days on the heath, you have this discussion with your fellow executives. You collect their input, try to understand their thinking and maybe you even succeed in agreeing on the right sentences and precise words.

Ordinary people don't work for a mission, vision or core values.

This is often the moment when we are called in, by the head of marketing and sometimes by the CEO himself. A briefing follows about activating the mission, the purpose, the corporate story, a rebranding. "There's a new vision for the organization from management, how do we now get this into employees' hearts and how do we translate it to the outside world?" Regularly we are then told that we can't really change the formulation anymore, smart people have already thought long and hard about this. So preferably not. But occasionally we get the space to see it more as directional, as a basis for a broader dialogue, with room for improvement on parts. Within frameworks. Because something imposed from above arouses resistance, leads to frustrations, incomprehension and even inertia. And especially when it comes from above, it is viewed very critically and distrusted. People often think, it will be my time, I'll be here longer than the new CEO anyway. But precisely that friction makes it interesting and that might as well be sought. It gives reason for discussion, internal dialogue and if that happens well and carefully, something could start to grow, land and change.

We usually put the management team's piece aside, we 'park' it. And we work on the brand piece. We deliberately name that as something else. Something that does come from people's hearts and touches their feelings. Something that speaks to everyone's imagination and incites new behavior. But it remains somewhat regrettable that the mission, vision and values work of the CEO and his top team doesn't do what it could do.

Visionary leaders approach it differently.

Of course, visionary leaders have a clear vision of the future and have strong ideas about how the organization needs to be adjusted. But they don't scatter those top-down over people. In Anglo-Saxon and strongly hierarchical cultures, that was still the custom until recently, but in Western Europe there are now really better ways to get the organization moving and transform.

Transformation through adaptation of brand and culture

Your organization's culture 'hangs' on the brand, it's directly connected to it. If the brand evokes feelings and associations that have been formed and fed for years by conventions, behaviors and realities from the past, then that same brand will stand in the way of the desired transformation. Only when people within the company implicitly start changing their behavior will the culture change and can the brand change. Explicitly naming a mission, vision and behavioral values that don't align well with the existing culture will mainly lead to mental short-circuit, amazement and can even lead to inertia. The current brand then maintains the status quo, while discussion about the desired future brand could actually accelerate the necessary transformation.

What should you do as CEO? How do you get people on board?

As a CEO, in my opinion, you'd do better to make very clear what the organization's growth strategy will be. Which product-market combinations have priority, in which business units and technology will be invested and why? These are the hard business economic frameworks and realities within which the organization must work. The leadership team is expected to be clear about this and ensure the necessary focus. And radiate trust.

The question the leadership team should ask the organization is which culture values, behavior and brand strategy will best accelerate the desired transformation and growth. On this, you should especially resist the temptation to want to give all the answers yourself. Maybe you can give 'input' to this question. But you'd do best to ask employees, suppliers and customers how they see it and what they would want. You'd do well to start a process where the organization indicates what kind of brand they want to become. What they want to stand for and go for. And what behavior, culture, belongs with that. Leadership then means that you facilitate the process and stimulate mutual dialogue. With larger organizations, that's a process that often takes years, for which patience is needed. People need to 'get used to' that new reality and context.

What brand strategy and culture is needed to accelerate transformation?

As a CEO, you can therefore better position yourself somewhat more vulnerably by inviting and encouraging people internally and externally to think along about this question. You'll be amazed by the creativity and willingness to change of your people. Most people want to work at an organization with a dynamic, driven and positive culture. Most people want to belong to an attractive brand. People are the brand.

You'll therefore have to accept that such a process needs some time. Awareness, engagement, reflection and internalization don't happen automatically. You should also try to prevent the urge to agree with each other as quickly as possible. Precisely the friction indicates that there's something there. Sometimes it needs a year or longer before people start embracing the change. Time that's also needed so that defenders of the old can leave the organization, and be succeeded by believers in the new.

The brand as mirror of your identity.

A rebranding is ideally suited to introduce new elan and energy. Dusting off an old identity, updating and making it future-proof. It's about the feeling the brand evokes. Internally and externally. It's the new symbolism that a new and positive wind is blowing. The new brand expression is then the physical hook on which everything can be hung. The strategy, the purpose, the culture; the feeling and behavior.

There you stand as CEO. Everyone expects you to have all the answers in substance. That's what you were appointed for. While you should actually ensure that the answers come from the organization. Arise from and align with the collective intelligence of the whole, internally and externally. You probably think you're expected to be decisive, fearless and sometimes even directive, while through vulnerability and empathy you actually achieve much more. Being a CEO, it remains one of the most difficult jobs and I'm glad I personally don't have that responsibility. In a small organization like ours, it all works very differently, organically and through self-management. But by now we have gained the experience in our work to support CEOs and leadership teams well. To understand what's at play and how we can contribute to a successful transformation through a smart and co-creative rebranding process. Touch the brand, and you touch people's feelings. I wish every CEO facing such a challenge much wisdom, patience and success.

Alexander Koene

Amsterdam, April 12

About BR-ND

BR-ND is a boutique consultancy specialized in brand strategy, brand portfolio issues and organizational development. We help (medium) large organizations develop attractive brands and positive culture. Our premise is that people are the brand and that behavior is largely influenced by emotions.