Invest in tangible leadership training

He says: “Leadership rhetoric is plagued with fuzzy terms such as transformation, vision, aspiration, character, and empowerment. A leadership brand focuses on quantifiable business terms of customer share and market value.

“The ultimate return on a leadership investment should be a ‘return on intangibles' that shows up in a firm's stock price. When leadership brand connects to customer share or market value, the rationale for leadership investment is easier to make.”

Ulrich will be speaking live at a full day event in Johannesburg on August 8, where he will cover the latest developments in strategic human resources and his concept of the leadership brand.

Investing in leadership is a topic that was voiced by Trevor Manuel, South Africa's Minister of Finance, as being one of the driving factors of economic growth. He said: “Investing in people in an organisation is hard work. It requires patience, creativity and effort. And it is not cheap either. But surely the benefits outweigh the costs.”

In order to take advantage of South Africa's economic performance, Manuel stated that companies must “invest more in staff, through training, mentorship, rotation and greater exposure to diverse sectors of the business.”

Ulrich takes up the theme of making investment in training pay off in the bottom line.

He said: “Firms with a leadership brand win with investors because investors grant higher market value for similar earnings, often called intangibles. Quality of management or leadership gives investors confidence in the future, leading to a higher share price.

“Firms with branded leadership win with customers because customers have confidence that the leaders will respond to their needs in a consistent and appropriate way. And, firms with branded leadership win with employees. When a consistent leadership brand exists, employees know what to expect and the engagement-draining dissonance is eliminated.”