Jon Gordon’s Blog | Developing Positive Leaders, Organizations and Teams

Stand for Your Brand

What do you stand for? I was asked this question last week and several words came to mind: service, faith, family, action and positive energy. As I drove in my car I continued to think about what I stand for and what it means to stand for something. I thought of people like Nelson Mandela and Bono and what they stand for and what this says about them. I thought of the company Chick-Fil-A and how closing on Sunday’s speaks volumes about what they stand for. I thought about Starbucks and how providing health insurance to employees reflects what founder and CEO Howard Schultz stands for.

I thought of Honest Tea, a bottled tea that incorporates Honesty into everything they do. Honest Tea is not just a name. It’s a brand that is backed by words, purpose, energy and action. They use organic tea. They use all natural ingredients. They have a company policy against saying anything negative about their competition. They are part of the fair trade campaign. Their CEO, Seth Goldman, is a genuine, humble, nice and honest guy. Honest Tea stands for honesty. I like that.

It occurred to me that each person, organization and team has their own brand and what we stand for reflects and reinforces this brand. More importantly when we take action that is in alignment with what we stand for we strengthen and reinforce our brand and solidify what we stand for. When you stand for something you don’t just talk, you act. You don’t just have whimsical thoughts or weak beliefs about it, you have conviction. You don’t just go through the motions; you get engaged with purpose and passion. The energy of your brand is being projected every moment by what you think, say and do. This energy is then received by your customers, employees, and the world.

One of the most important exercises any person, organization and team can do is to ask the following questions:

1. What Do I Stand For? What Do We Stand For? Make a list of what you truly believe you stand for.

2. Do My/Our Actions Reflect What I/We Stand For? For example if you say you stand for great customer service but you don’t call your customer back in a timely manner or go above and beyond to address their concerns then you really don’t stand for great customer service. Evaluate your actions.

3. Make a Stand for Your Brand. Take action on the things you stand for. Right now, write down 3 actions that you can take that will reinforce what you stand for then take action on them.

4. Re-Evaluate Often. This will help you be aware of whether your actions are in alignment with your beliefs. There will always be discrepancies. No one is perfect. We all fall short. The key is to be aware and have a desire to improve. Tools like this newsletter are meant to help with the process.

How will you stand for your brand? Join the conversation and share your thoughts here.

Stay Positive!
-Jon