soulsight®

This month I had the good fortune of sitting in on a lecture at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, for a class called Values-Based Leadership. The discussion was thought-provoking, and while I expected to glean some insights into how to be a better leader, what I didn’t expect is that I would also have some revelations about how brands can better position themselves to achieve greatness.

Start with the end goal in mind

In life this doesn’t mean being rigid and laser-focused on a career ambition; what it does mean is having an idea of what your ultimate goals and desires are (professionally or personally), and making sure that all your decisions are guided and evaluated under this lens.

When building a brand this means having the flexibility to stretch and evolve with your consumer and with marketplace trends, but keeping your brand’s core values at the center of everything you do. By focusing on your brand’s soul as the beacon to guide you forward, you won’t ever lose sight of the end goal -- fulfilling your brand promise to create trust with your consumer.

Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback

Professionally we want to know what we’re doing well, but more importantly we need to know what to work on so that we can improve. While this seems like pretty basic advice, many of us wait for someone to come to us with feedback, rather than proactively seeking it out. Good leaders are open to constructive feedback and provide their people with the same, in order to strengthen the team.

When it comes to brands, it’s important to listen to your consumers, whether in research doing concept testing hearing what your consumers do like, or when they are telling you that something you’re doing with your brand isn’t ringing true. If you can do this successfully and adapt to feedback while staying true to your brand, you will build credibility and loyalty with your consumers.

Follow your passion

We all do our best when we can get behind the work we do. When you’re passionate about your field, you want to constantly challenge yourself and find new, more creative or better ways to get the job done. And when you’re passionate about what you do, it’s that much easier for your team to get behind you and feel as though they’re making a difference in something that’s worthwhile.

The same holds true for brands. Just ask Richard Branson. He’s built a multi-billion dollar brand across many seemingly unrelated categories (transportation, telecommunications, media, etc.). Branson attributes his success to following his fundamental interest, which he realized was a passion for providing people with ways to have a good time.

If you apply these leadership principles to your brands (and to your own life, as I know I will), I think you will discover exciting new possibilities that you didn’t know existed.