Iconic Leaders

Iconic leaders are the kind of leaders that have been associated with a certain organization or brand. These leaders cannot be separated easily from their organisations or brands because of their "attachment" to their respective organizations and brands.

It is hard for most people to separate Bill Gates and Microsoft. In fact not many people associate him with the  the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in which he is currently actively involved. This is because during his days at Microsoft, Bill Gates became a "brand" of sorts and one could not think of Microsoft without Bill Gates. The same goes for Larry Ellison of Oracle, The late Steve Jobs of Apple and Donald Trump just to name but a few. 

In Kenya, for a long time people associated Safaricom with Michael Joseph. This was to an extend that some people thought that Safaricom would lose its edge if Michael Joseph left. Michael Joseph could not be perceived to be working anywhere else apart from Safaricom.

Such is the influence of iconic leaders in all spheres of life be it in politics, business, religious organisations and even in academia. 

Organisations that are run by these type of leaders should put in place a comprehensive and water tight succession plan. They need to guard the organisation against shocks that might come by at the exit of their iconic leader. This is because if not handled properly, the clients who are attached to the organisation or brand based on the leader might lose their strong attachment once the leader leaves. This therefore means that the clients should be informed of the pending changes long before it happens so that they can prepare themselves psychologically for the absence of their iconic leader. This will do well in maintaining client loyalty and opening up the clients' minds to the realisation that the organisation or brand is more than just the leader.

Iconic leaders are great for the organisation because of their attractiveness to clients. they can shore up profits and build the brand name of the organization. But care should be taken to separate the person from the organisation for continuity's sake.

At the end of the day, good employers will always attract good leaders who are able to propel the organisation from one glory to the next regardless of who is in charge.