How the basic principles of my leadership coaching apply to marketing and branding (part 1)

Since I spent a good part of the past week with Emailvision, I have been thinking some more about my latest passion: “e-marketing and the art of storytelling”.  In fact, the more I think about it, the more I realize how much the concepts I use in leadership coaching apply to marketing, branding, or organization building.

Here are a few of my thoughts:

A leader must have, and express, clear ideas of what he stands for, of exactly what are his core values and beliefs.  As should leaders, brands and organizations must continually ask this question: “What do we want to stand for?” “What do we not want to stand for?”  “How successful are we at understanding and expressing exactly what we stand for?”

For an individual or for a brand or for an organization, understanding who you are, what you believe, and what you stand for—it all begins with self-knowledge.

The principal of authenticity is a sine qua non of leadership.  We must truly live the stories we tell.  Brands and organizations should live by the same rule.

True leaders engage those around them, with their concepts and with their passion.  They create movements.  Great brands and organizations do the same (think of Apple Computer).

More on this next time…