“It’s the people behind the brand who make the brand,†says Diana Shaheen of Procter & Gamble (I worked on the Tide detergent account, packaging and early online, in the mid-90s). “The employer must define what (the) business needs from employees to deliver the brand promise to customers … if your internal and external branding messages aren’t aligned, the front line will not deliver on the promises.†Her quote is from “Brand from the Inside: Eight Essentials to Emotionally Connect Your Employees to Your Business,†which I reference frequently. Even the title is a useful distillation of a viewpoint I share. If employees do not at the base level believe in what the company (through them) does, success can remain elusive.
Still, they have to be “empowered†to act on their motivations to deliver upon the company’s mission – ultimately, to make decisions, embrace their responsibilities, achieve results and go from “good to great,†as best-selling author Jim Collins puts it. So it is important that managers effectively articulate and live by the company’s mission to lead by example in empowering employees. And while I’m quoting some highly-accomplished peers, Yamashita and Spataro, authors of “Unstuck,” insist that “everyone must be a keeper of the vision – responsible for delivering on your purpose. Meet. Talk. Publish your vision for everyone to read. Create symbol and stories within your company culture that remind people of what you’re doing – and why. Don’t leave out a single person.” Amen.
Posted by: Colin Mangham