Pete Ashby Of asaleader.com Introduces Achieving Ambition: Defining Your Brand As A Leader

(Monday, January 14th, 2013) United Kingdom - Pete Ashby, top UK leadership coach who heads up asaleader.com says: "Isn’t it incredible how easily we can trip up over particular words. Take the word ambition.’

“Some people seem to believe that if you own up to being ambitious you’re admitting that deep down you’re out for yourself, egocentric and potentially disloyal.”

“How barmy is this. Someone might be all of these things and much worse besides, but why point the finger at ambition as the cause of their villainy?”

"Ambition fuels what is already in our being.’

“Or take the word behaviours. For some, it clearly stirs some sort of childhood memory of a stern rebuke for “bad behaviour” on their part. So they’ll say “I’m not comfortable with that word” in a way that sounds like a rebuke of their own!”

Host Pete Ashby then says: “Alongside ambition and behaviours there’s another word that I want to introduce, as part of this process of setting the background for the Windsor Castle May 2-4 event for top leaders on Achieving Ambition. That word is brand.”

"I think that every top performing leader needs a keen sense of their personal brand as a leader.’

At this point Ashby goes on to say: “One characteristic common to so many top leaders is their drivenness.”

“This is overwhelmingly a huge gift. But many are reluctant to acknowledge the downsides of their drivenness because of the tyranny of the “must be’s”.”

“We have a vast industry around leadership that constantly pumps out images of what a really good leader must be. We’re told that a good leader must be (among many other things) a great team leader and excellent at managing their Board.”

Pete, founder of the popular leadership styles blog states: “My experience has been that a lot of really driven CEOs are not very good at these “must be’s”.”

“In managing their Executive team they tend to be impatient and easily irritated whilst listening to views different from their own.”

“And they just don’t invest enough time in managing their Board because they’re already over-extended elsewhere.”

He then discusses how, “These are symptoms of one core problem:”

“So many Chief Executives are so keen to be seen as the CEO they think they’re meant to be that they justify themselves too much in relation to the “MUST BE’s” and don’t define clearly enough their own distinctive brand as a leader.”

“In practice, the “bad behaviour’ of a highly driven CEO is not their occasional impatience with their Executive team or cutting corners in preparing for Board meetings. It’s pretending that they’re great at these things even though they know they’re not as good as they’re making themselves out to be.”

Pete Ashby of asaleader.com then puts forward: "So, my contention at Windsor will be that one of the keys to top leaders achieving their ambitions is to sharpen up their brand as a leader.’

“This is because three very good things are likely to happen:”

1. “They are less likely to pretend to be what they’re not”

2. “They are more likely to ask for the support of close colleagues in letting go of unhelpful habits, and”

3. “Those around them are more likely to insist on championing their many gifts and virtues.”

"Through the event we hope that everyone involved will end up with a much clearer sense of their own particular brand as a leader.’

To read the full post, and learn more about leadership brand and team performance, please visit: www.asaleader.com/leadership-brand/

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