You have a beacon that helps provide sound direction for everything good that you do. Your company’s guiding principles stem from this guiding light.
You have the choice to trust your God-given light and remain true to it or let cultural and societal winds blow your business practices around in their chaotic and whimsical directions.
Jeffrey Immelt or Elon Musk?
Think about the completely different leadership styles of Jeffrey Immelt, the CEO who stepped down from the floundering behemoth General Electric, and Elon Musk, the ever-optimistic dreamer who never runs out of blue-sky opportunities. Mr. Immelt ran GE according to conventional power models, i.e., cozy up to establishment power. While he has his share of shortcomings, Mr. Musk has his vision and sticks to it no matter what and hasn’t looked back. His firms are literally skyrocketing regardless of his many critics and conventional wisdom!
What does your brand stand for? Is your brand strategy foundational and integral or is it temporary and easily manipulated? Will your brand promise and core message be firm and familiar or soft and unrecognizable after the next wave of political, cultural and economic disruption?
Run your own business!
I’m seeing recently thriving businesses die unnecessarily of fear and dependency. I’ve witnessed great local brands let politically charged narratives kill them because the owners focused their attention on daily media reports instead of their customers. I’ve seen other businesses in the same industry and market thriving and growing at the same time as they say, “we’re not going anywhere. Watch this!”
Is your brand on solid ground? Do you need to pour some concrete and drive in some pilings so it has a foundation you can stand on no matter what comes along next?
What do you stand for anyway?
