Brand Leadership Must Come From All

In 2009, I read, what remains one of my favorite business books, Built To Last. It talked about how leaders of great organizations build clocks rather than just tell time.  What this means, is great leaders, founders etc. not only tell time, aka innovate pushing their organization forward and driving demand, but they also focus on ensuring everyone in the organization is able to tell time just as well.  So that after those great leaders, founders, etc. leave, the organization will continue progressing forward and accomplishing its brand purpose - ensuring that it is truly built to last.

Recently, we've seen a couple examples, proving this out.

Unfortunately, Steven Jobs, Apple's co-founder, has taken a leave of absence due to poor health. And with this announcement came an immediate dip in its share price. No doubt because Jobs is seen as the quintessential ingredient to the company's success.

I mean when Jobs left Apple, back in the 80's, it completely lost focus on its brand purpose, to design technology for humans, which nearly destroyed the organization.  And it wasn't until the mid-90s, when he returned, that we saw Apple become the cultural phenomena it is today. So now the public think Apple is only successful when Jobs is running the show.

If Apple has been building a clock with proper succession planning and ensuring Jobs' vision is integrated into the corporate values and key KPIs, which the company's talent is measured against, then they could have done a better job featuring and drawing attention to the various team members who have contributed to the recent innovations that keep the brand in the spotlight. This would prove to the public that Apple's success isn't solely dependent on Jobs.

We saw a glimpse of this when Jobs took a leave of absence a year and a half ago for his liver transplant and Timothy Cook took on the daily operations of the company, which he has done again. In doing this, he established confidence with shareholders and employees that he could carry the organization forward, according to the New York Times.  Apple could have done more of this to prove to shareholders and consumers, alike, that Apple will remain the Apple we know and love today when Jobs inevitably steps down from leading the organization forward.

Unlike Apple, Google is making a big point of its recent management "shake up", where Eric Schmidt is handing the reins of the organization to its co-founder, Larry Page, in an effort to reinvigorate the corporate culture taking it back to its nimble entrepreneurial roots.

There are two things I like most about this:

1. Google is making sure its founding values and purpose remain instilled and perpetuated throughout the organization. This tells me that Google is equally devoted to building a clock as it is to telling time.
2. They are making it very public that they can transition leadership to better the organization, and that Google's success isn't dependent on one individual. This will prevent future market uncertainty, if successful, that Apple faces today.

It is examples like these that prove that it is not only essential for the operations of the organization to ensure the brand runs deep within its culture and values of its employees, but it also maintains trust and confidence in the brand from external parties like shareholders and consumers.

Everyone in an organization must be able to lead the brand, as it is not the sole responsibility of one or even a select few individuals.