Event Speeches & Presentations Archive

Return to search/listings

Leadership branding for women

Thursday, January 31, 2008

On stage, Sue Paish, chair of the Women's Leadership Circle Advisory Council encourages a lively, sold-out audience to network as the first Women's Leadership Circle™ seminar is about to begin  photos: T. Hadley

By Terry Hadley
Venue: The Coast Plaza Hotel & Suites, Stanley Park

"Can't you just feel the energy in this room?" speaker Tara Cree asks the audience

What product are you? A washing machine or a BMW? And how do you brand yourself – are you a Madonna, an Oprah Winfrey or a Martha Stewart?

"Whether you like it or not, you are a brand," senior consultant Tara Cree of Knightsbridge told the sold-out, first Women’s Leadership Circle™ seminar following The Board program’s launch last November.

Developing a leadership brand is especially important to women in business. In Canada, a survey of Fortune500 companies show only 15.1 per of corporate officers are women, with only 7.3 per cent holding "clout titles" such as CEO, president or COO.

"We’re here to find out about what we can do as women to bring about change," said Cree. "Organizations have not been effective yet; they haven’t been doing their job of moving women into the boardroom and into leadership roles," said Cree.

Sara Smith of HUB International gets the discussion going by sharing her own experiences during the discussion

Barriers still exist for women hitting the glass ceiling. Many corporate cultures are still prohibitive to women, believing in the stereotype of men making better leaders "which is simply not true," according to Cree. Consequently, companies still under the influence of these stereotypes do not objectively and strategically identify talented women early to develop their skills.

Flexible work schedules allowing the incorporation of family commitments are still hard to find and few women in leadership roles results in a lack of mentors, role models and a limited female network to tap into, leaving many feeling "isolated" and "out there."

Working against themselves, Cree said many women still commit the "seven deadly sins" of branding, which she listed as:

1. Wanting to be like versus being admired so they are often afraid of giving justified, negative feedback;
2. Settling for recognition versus reward such as a salary raise;
3. Being uncomfortable with conflict;
4. Lack of balance between always appearing as a team player versus self-advocacy (women are more likely to say "we" than "I");
5. Unwilling to take risks early and often in their career;
6. Unskilled in "bragging" about achievements and capabilities;
7. Lack of career ownership by not setting clear goals and career planning.

Board of Trade director Wendy Lisogar-Cocchia of Absolute Spa Group (left) and Gayle Hallgren-Rezac of Shepa Learning Company, join others collaborating on Cree's worksheet during the seminar

Cree described the trinity of a great brand. Basically, "Career Management = Brand Management." Everyone has a brand. It comes over in every phone call, email and how you handle yourself in business meetings. When you receive 100 emails and only open some, you make that selection on a branding choice. The trinity is:

1. Clarity: Know who you are and what you stand for – the cornerstone and most important element of your brand. And remember, know who you are NOT, and what you DON"T want.

2. Consistency: "Deliver the same value performance time over time over time." A brand creates an expectation of how you can perform.

3. Authenticity: A brand is not about being something you are not. Be true to youself. "Don’t be everything to everybody" and stick to your principles.

So what steps should women take to create a strong brand?

STEP 1.
"Know thyself" and be "self-aware so you can leverage that in your brand" by conducting a self-analysis through:

• identifying your values – what top three are most meaningful to you? What do you want to be remembered for at your eulogy? "Values are essential ; they are something you can’t live without," said Cree.
• identifying your passions – what gets you out of bed in the morning? And remember: "Your greatest chance of success is building your passions into what you do."
• identifying your talents and skills – these are "your brand’s distinguishing features" and it’s useful to identify your weaknesses at the same time.
• understanding your personality (a combination of all of the above).

STEP 2.
Define your brand. "This is what the best part of you is." And define this with a "brand statement" – just a paragraph summing up your brand. Thinking of a tag line can help, such as the one on Cree’s business card: "Turning potential into performance."

Make sure your brand packaging matches your performance and the way you live, so that it is authentic (don’t drive a Hummer to work if you publicize that you wish to leave a small environmental footprint). People know what to expect from a brand that is consistent and epitomizes someone’s personality. Strongly branded women like Madonna and Oprah "live their brands."

STEP 3.
Articulate your vision:

• Visualize where you want to be in five years time;
• Write a personal vision statement;
• Write a "core values" statement (and living by your three core values will help in making all major decisions).

Develop an action plan and remember all the above will need constant tweaking over the years as your circumstances change and some values get replaced by new ones. Your brand will also develop as you improve your knowledge of your target audience.

Finally, think of yourself as a product. What product are you and why?

Join the Women’s Leadership Circle and keep up-to-date with the program through our monthly newsletter. t's free and it's exclusively for Board of Trade members. Call Maria Braungart at 604-641-1224 or email Membership Services Manager Maria Braungart 

Sue Paish closes the event

See presentation

Return to search/listings

Copyright 1999-2009 The Vancouver Board of Trade. All Rights Reserved
Site Credits Privacy Policy