{"id":7435,"date":"2023-08-01T08:33:31","date_gmt":"2023-08-01T08:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/leadership\/how-one-ceo-is-transforming-a-brand-by-building-culture-from-the-inside-out\/"},"modified":"2023-08-01T08:33:32","modified_gmt":"2023-08-01T08:33:32","slug":"how-one-ceo-is-transforming-a-brand-by-building-culture-from-the-inside-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=7435","title":{"rendered":"How One CEO Is Transforming A Brand By Building Culture From The Inside Out"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sharon Leite is flipping the script on brand transformation.<\/p>\n

The CEO of Ideal Image is leading a refresh of the beauty aesthetics company. \u201cIdeal is going through a significant transformation,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s never really been talked about as a brand. And in this fragmented industry, the opportunity to create a world-class brand in beauty aesthetics is really profound.\u201d<\/p>\n

And while the traditional \u201cslash-and-burn\u201d style of leadership is familiar and often expected by many during transformations (remember Chainsaw Al? And Elon Musk?), Leite\u2019s approach is different. Her commitment to embracing her employees and company culture to fuel transformation is a great example of how today\u2019s executives can approach brand building in a more modern way.<\/p>\n

A Tale of Two Transformational Leaders<\/strong><\/p>\n

Look at the old-school leadership style of Ron Johnson who tried to turn around J.C. Penney. Within months of accepting the challenge, Johnson had fired all his top executives, thousands of mid-level managers, his ad agency and his public relations firm. He rebranded the company away from what his customers actually valued in a retail experience. Sales tanked, the stock plummeted and seventeen months later he was out of a job.<\/p>\n

Leite, however, shows us a very different, more inclusive, more effective approach to brand building. The former CEO at the Vitamin Shoppe (you may remember her as the CEO on Undercover Boss<\/em> who explained, \u201cI\u2019m going undercover because if there are problems on the frontline, I need to find them and I need to fix them\u201d) offers a truly modern playbook for brand transformation.<\/p>\n

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Her leadership style in her new role at Ideal Image is more about investing in and embracing her existing employees, empowering them to deliver the world-class experience her customers actually want and, importantly, building community around both her customers and her employees.<\/p>\n

The Power of People in Building a Brand<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cTruly understanding our customer and taking care of their needs first and delivering on that is the only way we can continue to really lead in this field,\u201d said Leite.<\/p>\n

So, how does a modern, transformational leader coalesce her employees and show them how to deliver a world-class customer experience? \u201cI\u2019ve always been a big believer that whenever you take on a team, the opportunity to experience something is a lot more effective than simply listening to someone talk,\u201d Leite explained.<\/p>\n

So, perhaps drawing on her Undercover Boss<\/em> experience, Leite gathered her Area Managers in New York City last month for what she described as a \u201cbrand walk experience.\u201d The group visited nine very different retail locations, from Starbucks to Dyson to Louis Vuitton, to really engage with the brands firsthand.<\/p>\n

Leite\u2019s goal was two-fold. First, to forge community among her employees. Despite working together for many years, her team had never actually met in person. \u201cI believe it\u2019s important to break down silos and foster new relationships across the organization,\u201d said Leite.<\/p>\n

And second, to learn what makes an exceptional customer experience and, importantly, what can ruin one. \u201cAt the end of the day in NYC, we compared what each store we had visited did particularly well in terms of brand experience, customer service, use of technology, merchandising, staff and product knowledge. We then discussed how we could apply those learnings to improve our own customer experience,\u201d Leite shared.<\/p>\n

Lessons Learned<\/h2>\n

Leite asked each of her managers to write down specific actions they would take to improve the customer experience or team dynamic at their own location. Leite calls these commitments \u201cI will\u201d statements and top takeaways include:<\/p>\n