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Effective Leaders2014/1/2Dave Ulrich & Norm Smallwood
 When we ask people, what makes an effective leader? Their response tend to cover the same personal attributes: setting a vision, having integrity, communicating well, being bold, making things happen, etc.

This approach is half right. Yes, leaders need to have effective attributes – but they also need to get results. In fact, leaders need to deliver five results for five key constituents 1) Employee: Leaders increase employee productivity by building competence, commitment, and contribution. 2) Organization: Leaders build sustainable capabilities that shape organizational identity; 3) Customer: Leaders ensure customer share by creating long-term relationships that delight target customers; 4) Investor: Leaders build intangible value (about 50% of a firm’s market value) by creating investor confidence in future earnings; and 5) Community: Leaders boost organizational reputation by becoming active community citizens. 

What must leaders know and do to make that important difference? We focus on the importance of brand as a metaphor for defining effective leadership. This draws on two conceptual shifts in leadership thinking:
-	 From a focus on leader as a person to a focus on leadership as an organizational capability. The metaphor of brand is more about leadership than about the characteristics of individual leaders.
-	From a focus on what happens inside the leader or firm to a focus on meeting customer, investor, and other external expectation. The metaphor of brand starts from the outside and focus clearly on business results.
This typology leads to four approaches to leadership:
1.	Competent Leaders: Determine and develop the knowledge and skills of the individual leader.
2.	Leadership Systems: align selection, development, compensation, and retention systems to reinforce desired leadership behavior.
3.	Celebrity Leaders: Recruit famous leaders who are known to customers and investors, and who help draw attention and resources to the firm.
4.	Leadership Brand: Develop leaders who are recognized by employees and customers and investors for their ability to deliver results in a manner consistent with firm brand identity.

By integrating the other three views leadership brand offers a robust definition of effective leadership. It translates customer expectations into internal behaviors so that leaders ensure employees deliver the desired customer experience whenever they touch the customer.

(From:Mar 2013, )