Outside-in Leadership (page 4 of 4)

Ultimately (perhaps as in politics) we suspect this model would have little credibility or lasting impact.

Ultimately, the theme underlying this entire process is that leadership simply cannot be designed, created or promoted in a vacuum, and that the personal (inside) objectives must be carefully balanced with the contextual (outside) factors.

From theory to execution: Building an outside-in leadership program
Gathering all this information and insight is just the first step in the process of leadership development. Leaders must then blend and balance the various factors to develop a personal mandate or campaign program - including a defined identity and multi-audience communications plan that addresses the three original tenets. The public relations program -- whether focused on personal growth, achieving strategic objectives or introducing a new executive -- must be compatible with and pertinent to the leader's personal assets and objectives, the company's outlook and plans and finally the needs and expectations of key stakeholders, including the company's own employees and managers.

Leaders intent on ensuring their credibility and enhancing their reputation can follow a strategic checklist heavy on research, analysis and diagnosis, and lighter on personal emancipation and popular management mantras. Through our work in this area, we've identified six discrete but related steps in this strategic approach, with corresponding tactics and actions for each phase in the planning and implementation process: I. Research II. Diagnosis III. Strategy IV. Training V. Action VI. Evaluation.

The role of communications
Once a leadership strategy has been developed based on the personal and background factors outlined previously, the plan must be implemented. That is where communications, or more specifically public relations, typically plays a large role. Picking up on the metaphor of the leader as a brand, communication and marketing tools must be leveraged to define and promote the leader with key stakeholders and to support the execution of the desired leadership role and style. The actual vehicles and tools - much like in advertising and marketing - will vary according to the situation, but they collectively should help to clearly position the leader, and related company, as a distinctive brand. If nothing else, communication programs based on new or emerging executives should ensure that key publics become aware of "who" the leaders are, and what they stand for and/or aspire to. Whether they accept the positioning is a higher level of achievement.

Conclusion: More than just personal
An outside-in approach can help leaders, and their companies, develop and implement realistic, balanced, lasting and credible programs that link personal and corporate aspirations and benefits. The approach goes against the grain of many of the latest self-help management texts and leadership tomes that feature outsized personalities and focus on tips and formulas. But for leaders in training or about to achieve new positions, the ultimate focus must be on relevance and credibility.

In the final analysis, the prescription should help leaders not only determine the leader they are, and the leader they can be or want to be but also, most importantly, the leader they need to be.