- | 9:00 am
Why leaders should walk the talk of their brands
This brand guru says the behavior and day-to-day actions of founders and CEOs have to match the aspirations they have for their colleagues and organization.
From determination to communication, passion and ambition, there are many traits that make a good leader. But for brand founders and CEOs, there is a fundamental requirement that trumps them all, yet is so often neglected: the need for conviction. Keeping that deep-held belief at the heart of every decision, and living this out through every behavior, whether physical or virtual, personal or professional.
Our behaviors are proof points of our beliefs, and too often leaders don’t realize the importance of this central driver—meaning that over time, their own behavior can deviate from the brand and that conviction gets lost.
PEOPLE DEMAND MORE FROM LEADERS
Seventy-seven percent of consumers believe a company’s leader should embody their brand purpose and mission in their personal life. Today’s world of global citizens, with access to news at their fingertips and awareness of the impact our collective humanity has on the world, demands that leaders lead by example. After all, behavior proves the authenticity of our beliefs.
This is not about chasing causes, greenwashing, or virtue signaling. But it is about knowing what you believe about the world and designing your behavior and your entire business model around it.
For example, Davis Smith, CEO and founder of outdoor gear company Cotopaxi, witnessed firsthand the glaring hardship that stems from unequal access to opportunity while growing up in Latin America.
He has since dedicated himself to developing business models that use their influence to address the problems he witnessed as a child. The company is transparent about its supply chain and sustainability initiatives. It also launched a collection entirely crafted from remnant fabric and dedicates a percentage of its revenues to non-profits. But even more important, Smith is constantly living out his conviction.
For example, his personal social presence is dedicated to outdoor pursuits with his young family and lifting the lid on how Cotopaxi is giving back and inspiring other businesses to be a force for good in the world.
Douglas Taylor, meanwhile, is the CEO of Bruichladdich Distillery. The brand is focused on sustainability and pushes to limit packaging and other forms of waste, and recently attained B Corp status. But just as important, Taylor is a constant driver within the business and has a demonstrable personal passion for outdoors, healthy ingredients and sustainability.
THE COST OF GETTING IT WRONG
Not realizing the role that behavior can play in this way opens you up to disruption. People look to leaders to validate the truthfulness of the world view they’re claiming. So, someone leading a fitness company should pursue a healthy lifestyle, and the founder of an organic food company cannot get away with eating cheese fries for every meal.
Otherwise, everything, from purpose to brand vision to mission, will quickly come across as manufactured or dishonest. Brands that lose that trust are more likely to revert to being an “er-brand”—resorting to cheaper, faster, stronger thinking about features, benefits, cost, convenience.
Such loss of direction is when companies start to fail, get pulled in different directions, copy what others are doing, and generally take their eyes off their North Star. Arguably this played a part in why Gap veered off course or why Skechers’ BOBS shoes didn’t fly.
REDEFINING WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE
True entrepreneurial success shouldn’t be about having convictions and then selling out to the highest bidder, but about living them out no matter what.
That’s the success leaders should strive for—and the best ones do. Think Patagonia’s Yvon Chouinard, Warby Parker’s Dave Gilboa, or Dr. Bronner’s CEO David Bronner, who grew his family company from $4 million in annual revenue in 1998 to $120 million in 2017. He was one of a small handful of top U.S. executives who voluntarily capped his salary out of commitment to fair labor principles.
Great brands don’t just sell products; they sell belief about what the consumer is becoming, informing their ideas on personal potential, purpose, and even destiny. Belief is the real magic consumers are buying. The stronger brands throughout history have always understood that they needed to stand for something bigger: The oft-cited Apples and Nikes, but also the Fords of this world, all recognize that business is not just about the products and services they provide.
Founders and CEOs would also do well to look at branding in a different light. Many decide to rebrand, typically only thinking of the veneer of their brand. You can change your clothes all day long but unless there’s some form of internal transformation, you’re going to remain the same.
All of them are opportunities for brands to prove what they believe through action. With, of course, a leader who fearlessly lives with conviction, and guides others by their example to build an impassioned following.
