Leader of the Brand

Brand development has been a significant chunk of my career.   Simply put, brand is the personality of the entity.   Just as simple:    the leader of the work group greatly persuades how the brand is presented.

My observations, especially in the retail realm, have been that no store goes anywhere without the leader taking them there.   That goes for both the good. . .and the bad.

Recently I was in a store that I admire. . .and I greatly respect the manager of the store.     The manager's mark is all over the store;  it runs so well it virtually makes its own kind of music.  My last visit, however, found the store to be less vibrant.    Small wonder that when I visited with the manager, I found the manager to be stressed and tired.

As leaders, we may chose to believe that our day to day actions have little impact on the whole.   The opposite is true.    Daily, our actions, our cues, our moods and our attitudes sway the workplace.  We are, then, the leaders of the brand.

The temptation is to get so into the numbers, to execute the routine and check off every list. . .that we minimize the impact we have just by the way we present ourselves.    Telling you what, if we are not energized, the team we work with will not have energy.   If we don't like what we are doing - the team will probably dislike what they are doing.

If, however, we approach our work positively, the team will be positive.   If we are creative with our own work, the team will be creative with that they are assigned.   If we believe in ingenuity, the team will drive ingenuity.    If we embrace customer service, we will be working with a strong customer service team.

Every member of the team is, in fact, the brand.   As leaders, it is our responsibility to assure that we are setting the example for what we desire the brand to represent.

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My book "Courageous Questions, Confident Leaders" is available for PCs, e-readers and tablets on Amazon Kindle.