ARE YOU REAL?

Since brand drives culture, and the two must be fused, there is no hope of success for either individuals or corporations if the brand isn’t clearly communicated – and more importantly, fused into the culture of the organization and modeled by leadership. You cannot expect your employees to deliver the best customer experience if they don’t believe in the brand or culture themselves. People buy into ‘why’ you do what you do, more than how. Individuals want authenticity, and the only way a brand can show authenticity is to demonstrate that they actually are who they say they are through operations, customer experiences and a shared vision. If you align your brand and culture, you are on the inside what you say you are on the outside – this is a winning combination. People buy brand, and your brand propels them to buy your products or services. Your people must be fused to each other through the common thread of brand that is represented in all that they do inside of a winning culture.

Don’t believe me? Ask Jeff Bezos. He reminds everyone that Amazon is staying committed to the core values they set at the inception of the company – He says, “This year marks the 20th anniversary of our first shareholder letter, and our core values and approach remain unchanged."  He is steadfast to the culture – through good times and bad — and 20 years later he is #winning.

Great leaders model brand and culture, speak it, redefine it and don’t allow employees to ambush it. Most leaders believe their people know the culture and believe in the company or business priorities. Inc. magazine asked executives at 600 companies to ask their workforce to name the company’s top 3 priorities. They thought about 64% would know what they were – they were more than surprised when they found out that only 2% could name them.

What does this mean? Stop assuming your people know your priorities, brand and culture expectations. Believe that your brand and culture must be fused together as one. It all begins at the top.