⏳ Pick & Complete
📍 Position to Win
🎓 Reteaching Your Brand
⏳ Pick & Complete
The trap so many leadership teams and entrepreneurs face is chasing too many good ideas at once.
According to research by Booz & Company, “As an executive team’s priority list grows, the company’s revenue growth in fact declines relative to its peers.”
The reverse is true too. Companies that focus on one to three strategic priorities outperform their peers.
Think of your business like an hourglass. ⏳ Major change initiatives and projects consume a lot of interdepartmental resources. Typically, you can only push one major initiative at a time.
One of Steve Jobs’ core principles was, “We have one team working on one thing.” From the iMac to iTunes and iPods to the iPhone and then the iPad, Apple brought each new line of business to scale one at a time.
This takes an inordinate amount of discipline. It’s easy to chase a bunch of great initiatives. Doing one thing really well and completing it is hard!
The irony is great brands aren’t built on great ideas or great plans. They are built on execution and delivering on their ideas.
Take this mantra to grow your brand: Pick and complete!
One Stat to Watch
64%
of executives report they have too many conflicting priorities. A survey of 1,800 global executives found that allocating resources to support the strategy is a significant challenge, especially as a company chases multiple growth initiatives.
📍 Position to Win
Brand positioning isn’t about making your brand more attractive than the competition. It’s about making your business more focused, and ultimately more successful, in a defined market.
Position your brand with 3 core questions:
- Where will you play?
- How will you win?
- How will you be known?
By clearly answering each question, you are making decisions that will not only shape your business strategy — they will develop your brand positioning.
It’s about making Strategic Choices:
- What your brand will be and what it won’t be.
- Who your brand serves, as well as who it won’t serve.
- How you will serve your customers brilliantly.
These are not easy questions or decisions. When you say “Yes” to one thing, you’re saying “No” to something else. That’s the point! Make choices to position your brand to win.
Here’s a quick tip: If you are struggling with your brand messaging and finding the words that stick, look at your brand positioning. Issues in brand messaging are often the proverbial canary in the coal mine indicating you need to make Strategic Choices on your where to play, how to win, and how you want to be known.
🎓 Reteaching Your Brand
“My number one job is to retell our brand story every single week,” says Jim Gilbert, CEO of Jim Gilbert’s Wheels and Deals.
Jim assumes his team forgets everything he taught them about the brand at the end of each week. It’s like someone hits the reset button on Friday at 5pm, and the job begins anew on Monday morning.
“Every week I have to go back to basics and reinforce the brand. I share our stories and why we do what we do,” says Jim.
Jim may feel like a broken record at times, but he is motivated by a core belief, “If I miss a week it costs me two, and if I miss two weeks it costs me four.” This means it takes twice as long to get your team back on track if you stop reinforcing your brand.
Jim Gilbert’s message really resonates with me. As a business owner or leader, you may be acutely aware of your brand and what it represents, but that doesn’t mean everyone in your organization feels the same way.
Your brand is in constant need of maintenance and development. If you don’t steward and maintain your brand, no one will.
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