Good leadership is all about branding

When we think about brands, we often think about products but we can also have people as brands.

In fact, some of the world's most successful business and political leaders are individuals who have a clear personal brand.

Think of Prof Wangari Mathaai, Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi; they had strong personal brands which reflected their philosophies and beliefs and aligned strongly with their values. Their brands enhanced their leadership status in the society.

The mood for the 2017 General Election has already been set. As our leaders warm up for the elections, they have an opportunity to make a turnaround of how they are perceived by the society.

Leadership branding is about making a full-time commitment to the journey of defining yourself as a leader and how this can shape the manner in which you serve others.

It is important for leaders to view their personal brands as a trademark which they must protect while continuously molding and shaping it. They need to know what people consider them to be, and fix any issues which affect their reputation.

The easiest way of creating a positive personal brand as a leader is by being perceptive to people's abilities and responsive to their needs. Leaders should be willing to take up high personal risk, incur high costs and engage in self-sacrifice to achieve the vision that proposes a future better than the status quo.

At the end of the day all of us have to answer the question on whether we have critically played our roles effectively to improve our country.

We must sell a national brand where every Kenyan sees other Kenyans as countrymen, rather than from a tribal perspective. Let us support the Government in its projects. We can do great things in simple ways.