Christian Davies, FCSD is Chief Strategy Officer at Bergmeyer, the Design Collaborative with offices in Boston, Columbus and LA.
There aren’t many things in life that are as simultaneously complicated and simple as business.
You probably know tons about the complicated part and, as a business leader, likely deal with it every day. The fickle and slippery tastes of your consumers, the intractable pitch and yaw of global markets, and the complexity surrounding supply chains and bringing goods to the market.
But I’m not here to talk about the complicated part. My area of expertise is the other side. The simple bit. Or at least the seemingly simple bit. The essence bit, the emotional bit, the experiential bit. The heart and soul bit at the core of all brands.
Who are you?
As a leader, this is a question you might initially scoff at. I promised simplicity. But this simple? Seriously?
“Sure,” you say, “I can answer that. In fact, the answer couldn’t be easier.” Ridiculously so, right? What business doesn’t know who they are?
And then you realize it’s been a while since you actually asked this question of yourself. And because you’ve been so busy working on the complicated bit, it turns out it’s been ages.
And so, you take a beat, and you do ask this question. And it makes you think. Sure, you can remember last quarter’s marketing campaign, or this summer’s product launches. But beyond that? The things you built this business on. The beliefs, behaviors and principles that made you so different from the competition. Can you still name them? And are you living those ideals? Every single day? Or any day?
This reflection is an important one, because sometimes the response to this question is, “Our original values don’t apply anymore because times have changed.”
But I’m here to tell you that’s weak tea. And exactly the kind of response that leads businesses to try and just evolve, operating in a state of partial attention as they chase bright, shiny new thing after bright, shiny new thing, with one eye constantly off the ball.
I understand the rationale. Because this approach feels, on the surface, like action. But without a focus, this is doomed to fail, potentially leading to rounds of new products that miss the mark, waves of new innovation that feel rudderless, and supposed new thinking that elicits nothing more from consumers than a collective shrug.
Recognize these are just the symptoms not the disease. The disease is far more systemic. And like the original question, simple.
That too many brands today have forgotten who they are.
If this sounds a little like you, rest assured all is not lost. I have a sneaking suspicion that nothing is. Take comfort in the fact that you aren’t alone. In fact, you are in good company, most likely including those aforementioned competitors.
Realize that reclaiming your sense of self isn’t as difficult as it sounds; it’s actually right under your nose. And you’ll find that you’ll rarely have as much fun as you will reclaiming turf. Because you’ll be taking back something that was already yours.
Is retreading this ground really the best way forward? And will the end result be worth it? There likely isn’t a brand who is killing it today that struggles to answer the question we started with. And for the ones who are truly killing it? It’s a question they can answer without a moment’s hesitation.
Here are three things you’ll need to begin the journey of reclaiming your sense of self:
1. Your Self Awareness
Socrates, one of the earliest proponents of knowing thyself, coined the phrase (under rather unfortunate circumstances) “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
Examine yourself. Look inside. Ask yourself why you are the kind of business you are and what you believe in. Because it might not be as dramatic as a life not worth living, but without this knowledge, anything you build will be without a foundation.
This is the place where you start. The path you began on. And the same one you’ll begin on again.
2. Your Uniqueness
Once you’ve landed on your foundation, it’s time to examine why your version is unique. Leaders don’t start a business to repeat what someone else has done. The best businesses are started because there’s something missing. A void. An absence. And they fill it.
Drill deeper into these differences, because these perspectives are the ones that give you your unique “Why.”
3. Your Expression
What businesses say matters. How they act matters. What they do matters. How they behave matters.
It’s one thing to talk the talk. And believe me, that’s important. But then you have to use that sense of self to influence how you conduct your day to day. Every aspect of it.
First, know thyself. And then? Be that.
The good folks at McKinsey wrote something that resonated with me: “establish a distinctive business model and then scale it.”
Go remind yourself of your own greatness. You’ll be amazed what you can do with it.
Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
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