What would you like people to think and say about you or your organisation when you are not in the room? Got it… Now think about all the things that you do and don’t do that would make that true. Grab a piece of paper and write down the first five...
Malcolm Gladwell famously alerted us all to the 10,000 hours of practice it takes to get really good at something. And I don’t see why building a brand is exempt from that rule. Brand is not an event, it’s a result. It’s a result of the constant doing of things that...
The estimable Peter Drucker once stated that “culture eats strategy for breakfast”. Not sure about the eats part, but the fact that it plays a critical role in building a strong, resilient, competitive organisation is accepted wisdom today. From where I sit, culture is the active face of your brand. Brand...
There’s a clear line between the things you need to do to build a brand and the things that are nice to do. Where and what you spend your time and energy on can be the difference between being a Zappos, Patagonia, Apple (or any of the brands that I like...
Here is a different business approach that has the power to transform your organisation and, as a result, your brand: be generous, with your time, your knowledge and your praise. The idea first emerged to me in an article by Stefan Einhorn in the Intelligent Optimist – one of my favourite magazines. Sadly,...
What makes you care about an organisation and their brand? It’s a good question to ask yourself because your customers are just like you and the things that make you care will probably make them care as well. So put yourself in their shoes for a bit and you’re sure to get...
I know, I know. Lots of people will tell you that you do. Big companies everywhere keep ditching the old for no good reason and putting in the new (yes, I’m looking at you Yahoo!), so why would I be saying the opposite? After all, a bright, shiny new logo...
For many years I’ve practiced yoga. And in our practice we spend a lot of time looking at the little things and their impact on the whole. How is your weight distributed over your feet? Are you bending forward from your waist or your hips? Are your inside elbows facing...
An article on Inc.com caught my eye last week. It talked about some time spent by author and teacher Jim Collins at the United States Military Academy at West Point and the things he learnt about leadership during that time. Collins made the following observations: “If you want to build a culture...
I was moderating an event last week for The Churchill Club about forming a disruptive hypothesis. And after the discussion was finished and people were mingling and talking it occurred to me that every day with my clients, and every week with you, I talk about my version of a...