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Tag: Leadership

Cultivating Empathy: Essential in Uncertain Times

Posted on by Tracy Lloyd

Empathy in Uncertain Times

These days, everything feels unsettled. We’ve watched travel discontinue, lively offices expeditiously shift to remote work, restaurants and small businesses shut their doors, cities still and quiet, as the landscape of our global economy shifts on a daily basis. Recognition that this COVID-19 state of living, working, and doing business will not be ephemeral is settling in. We’re seeing first hand as our clients are forced to quickly adapt—make swift decisions, innovate new solutions, and reimagine the way they’ve always done business.

It’s clear that the weight communications hold has heavied. Executives are reaching out to their employees, eager to instill both calm and action. Businesses are connecting with stakeholders aiming to secure trust. Brands are reaching out to customers, motivated to emotionally resonate with consumers’ current state of mind. These connections, big and small, have never been more critical. Empathy has never been more essential.

Getting Closer in a Socially Distanced World

Empathy is an innate human skill that is available to each and every one of us. As such, it is a talent that stands ready to be reanimated through leadership, organizational behavior, and brand behavior.

As your brand aims to re-create a collective sense of what truly matters to people, and responds accordingly, it has the opportunity to take on a new and more emotionally valuable role in people’s lives. Employees will feel closer to your organization if they feel it is working hard in favor of their interests. Customers will feel a sense of kinship if they feel your brand truly understands them. Now is the time to think about how the experience of your organization’s products, marketing, and support all confirm its commitment to putting people first. How do you ensure that people walk away from every communication feeling they’ve been listened to, that their needs (both emotional and rational) have been better met, and their fears have been quieted? That every connection means one step closer together?

Redefining Empathy

At Emotive Brand, we see empathy as something a bit more than simply “sharing someone else’s feelings or experiences by imagining what it would be like to be in their situation.” (the dictionary definition). To us, it’s more powerful than both sympathy and compassion combined. Empathy is two-fold: both understanding and action. It’s the ability to truly feel and understand someone else’s situation—their emotional state of mind, their needs, desires, and fears. To use that empathetic understanding and take action that is in tune with the person and their state—ultimately improving it.

It’s no secret that business has never been strong on empathy. The closest it usually comes is in consumer research, but that science often leads to inhuman numerical analyses of the human psyche. People are notorious for telling researchers what they want to hear and are often unable to articulate what they really want or need.

Empathetic understanding is not necessarily an empirical process. Rather it is an experiential one leading to deep insights and a profound understanding and appreciation of the lives of others. It is a way to feel the hopes, dreams, fears, and concerns of the people your business seeks to impact. It is a way to vicariously experience what they see and feel when they use your products, experience your marketing, and deal with your people. This informs you of how you can retune and refine what your business does in ways that better reflect the insights you’ve gained through empathetic understanding. This also leads you to new ways of doing business that is more aligned with today’s world and more resonant with where people are today.

It’s Time to Rediscover Your Innate Empathy Skills

The smallest children show empathy for others, but we tend to lose this skill as we enter the mainstream of life. We can, however, reawaken this valuable talent and put it to good use.

The first step is to turn up the dial of two other innate traits: curiosity and caring. Think of the people who your brand impacts as people you know, love, and treasure. Try to imagine the perspective they have on what’s happening, the attitudes and beliefs that drive their behaviors, and the emotional nature of their new daily realities. Give them permission to have values and needs other than your own. Don’t ascribe right and wrong, rather strive to find out more about what drives them, what fulfills them, and what brings them greater peace of mind.

Empathy Has Rewards

For leaders today, empathy might be your most powerful tool. By better understanding what makes followers tick, empathetic leaders can find ways to make their new ideas, messages, strategies, and dreams more relevant and emotionally important. This shifts the response from followers, not only in aligning them to your vision, but also energizing them to work better together, develop new ideas, and strive for the highest goals.

The rewards multiply for an organization in which empathy is a core practice today. More resonance, greater impact. More appealing, relevant, and differentiated products. More compelling, activating, and loyalty-building marketing. More innovation, collaboration, and spirit flowing within the organization and greater stability to underpin your business.

If you want help embedding empathy into your executive and company communications during this time, please reach out.

Emotive Brand is a brand strategy and design agency in Oakland, California.

Why Business Leaders Must Address the Big Picture

Posted on by Paige Lansing Valle

Business Leaders, Caught in the Small Picture

It’s easy for business leaders to get caught up in the details of everyday business, assuming the role of micromanager, not leader. And because leaders may not be focusing on big-picture questions surrounding the vision, mission, and value of their business and brand, many leaders end up feeling stuck—trying to figure out how to implement strategies without any real framework to guide these decisions. As a result, employees and middle managers can often suffer.

Too often, big-picture questions are dismissed as important, but not necessarily urgent for business. But gaining a clear vision is the most important thing you can do to propel your business forward—with everyone aligned behind and empowered to make that vision a reality.

The Big Picture Demands Time

In the end, many business leaders ignore the big picture simply because they feel they lack the time. Repositioning, realigning, and rebranding all take time and resources. And building a big-picture mentality requires really looking forward.

Because many leaders are taking on too many priorities (many of which exist on a micro-level), it’s difficult for them to feel as though they have the resources needed to address big questions. And instead, they focus on aspects of the business that might, when it comes down to it, not really be their job.

In fact, business leaders may be so connected to the brand—a brand they’ve built, owned, and currently hold a lot of stake in—that they struggle to let go of their reigns and empower others to create change.

Leadership needs to focus on seeing the big picture before anything else.

These are the key macro questions that we believe need to be answered:

  • Why does your organization exist (what’s your purpose, vision)?
  • What does it deliver (what value do you offer)?
  • Why does what you deliver hold meaning in people’s minds and hearts?
  • And how will it bring its promise to life (how do you behave)?

In order for leaders to find the answers that will empower others to do their job, they need to:

1. Create Guardrails

Defining what you are not—what you do not strive for, what you do not deliver, and how you do not behave—helps gain clarity around who you are and why you matter. Creating guardrails forces leaders to think through consequences of positioning and the various trade-offs of a strategic decision. This kind of clarity can inform your brand and business moving forward—informing how you speak, how you look, where you’re headed, and how to make each decision down the road.

2. Think Strategically, Not Tactically

Big-picture thinking means strategic thinking. Brand strategy and business strategy are all about seeing the whole picture. Considering things in a silo never creates an impactful strategy. And often, leaders get hung up on tactical details that stall powerful, strategic thinking. Although it’s important to occasionally check validity by considering your thinking on a micro level—how actually would you implement this?—it’s important to think big.

3. Listen to Everyone

Often, seeing the whole picture requires widening your perspective. It’s not just about what the C-suite has to say. Everyone should have a voice. Listening is key here. Alignment demands good listening. Give everyone within your company the chance to have a voice and even consider involving an outside perspective that might help put it all into context, identify gaps, and change the conversation.

4. Focus on the Future

In the end, every leader is responsible for driving their business into the future. And there must always be something worth moving toward. A clear vision increases employee productivity and commitment. And being clear about what that future could hold has the power to fuel innovation and empower the people most important to making your vision a reality. It’s easy to feel caught up in the present, stuck in today, and unable to think toward tomorrow. But being a leader is all about the ability to look forward. Then you go back and rally the troops who will make that possible.

If you want your business to succeed, you must focus on the big picture. And a clear and acted-upon purpose that comes to life through consistent behavior is a requirement for brands today. So, take the time and dedicate the resources to taking a macro approach to your brand and business. Be a leader, not a micromanager. Think big and reap the benefits.

Emotive Brand is a brand strategy and design agency in Oakland, California.

Are the “Best Places to Work” Really the Best?

Posted on by Saja Chodosh

The Clout of the “Best Places to Work” List

Companies like Fortune and Glassdoor have been dedicated to naming and honoring the ‘Best Places to Work’ for more than 10 years. And these awards have gained more and more clout with time. Much like colleges treasure their rankings, workplaces hold these awards like badges of honor.

The ‘Best Places to Work’ emblem is hung from work walls, integrated into recruiting and new hire materials, pushed on social media, and celebrated by the press, employees, and company executives alike. Our work building employer brands with companies looking to attract the best talent out there has showed us first-hand how much businesses today really value these rankings.

And for good reason – as a group of people who believe meaningful brands must be built from the inside out, we’re all for the pride. Focusing on culture and employee fulfillment, satisfaction, and happiness is key to building a business in the right way. The question is: What story do these rankings tell? Is it the whole story? And just because a workplace is deemed one of the ‘Best Places to Work,’ should recruits be jumping on the celebration wagon and signing contracts just like that?

First, Let’s Look at the Patterns

When you look at the companies who make the cut, yes, a bunch are big brand names you’d expect on the list. But many are less expected. So what ties them all together? Here’s what we noticed when we dug deeper.

1. They Lead with Purpose:

These are companies who are clear, aligned, and proud of who they are, what they stand for, and what they care about. Leaders have a vision for the future that everyone shares. The brands help employees live by the mission of the company every day – something we’ve always believed defines successful business today. Purpose-led companies who integrate purpose into their culture inspire and empower their employees to move the company forward in a meaningful and sustainable way.

2. They Offer Opportunity and Growth:

These are workplaces that celebrate employee accomplishments, foster a growth-mindset, work with employees to co-create the optimal work experience, and motivate employees to set high goals and help them actually meet those goals. This helps employees build a more meaningful relationship with their work along the entire employee journey. Above all else, employees feel as though they are invested in and valued – that people want them to grow, learn, be challenged, and succeed.

3. They Behave with Transparency:

Saying you value transparency is no longer enough. You have to live it – and not just externally. What ties many of these ‘Best Places to Work’ together is their leadership. Leaders don’t work in silos – they share challenges and successes with employees, hold open forums, have open door policies, and embrace honesty (even when it’s hard.) And it’s this kind of transparency that drives employee trust.

4. They Listen and Adapt:

The power of listening is huge. Being a good listener as an employer means you can better build empathetic, meaningful, and productive relationships with employees. This requires humility from leadership and openness to new ideas, perspectives, and opinions. And in turn, listening to employees creates more creative, innovative, diverse, and open work environments. Employers who not only listen – but act on what they hear – are able to flex to changing demands of employees, stay relevant and meaningful to the people who matter most, and never get stuck in past best practices.

It’s important to point out that what brings the companies in these lists together isn’t solely perks and benefits. Yes, a lot of the workplaces on the lists give out a lot of free food. Even free concerts, gym memberships, the most cutting-edge health benefits…But benefits and perks only get you so far. They have to tie back to employees – their purpose, their goals, what helps them grow.

Forget About Benefits and Perks, “Best Places to Work” Is About Something More

Because ‘Best Places to Work’ is often used in recruiting it’s important to remember that making any list of great places to work isn’t enough. Potential employees and current employees need to understand why you are not only great, but why you are a perfect match for them.

The employees who are going to drive your business forward not only care that you’re a great place to work (sure, that might be a plus), but they also care about connecting with you. A good fit means that they understand and admire what you do and why you do it. They feel aligned and connected to your business because it connects to their passions, expertise, and ambitions. Your purpose is a purpose they want to latch onto.

Yes, from 1984 to 2011, those that won ‘Best Places to Work’ outperformed peers on stock returns by 2.3% to 3.8% per year. But that’s because they did more than just display ‘Best Place to Work’ on their walls – they lived up to it. They committed to their unique workforce and their careers. They committed to their community. And they helped their community commit to their purpose with pride. In the end, those might be more worthy causes than any award out there. That being said, we wouldn’t be surprised if you made the list if you did just that.

If you need help evaluating your workplace and what you offer employees, give us a call and we can help you build a more meaningful workplace that will help you drive your business forward.

You may also want to download and read The Meaningful Workplace which has been downloaded more than 7000 times.

Emotive Brand is a San Francisco brand strategy and design agency.

The Business Case for Trust: How Leaders Can Unlock the Full Power of Trust

Posted on by Tracy Lloyd

Trust Pays Off

The business case for trust is straightforward and continues to grow. Each year, the data shows that companies with a culture of trust are more profitable than those without it. A culture of trust is not just a “nice-to-have.” It’s good business. Trust culture companies have outperformed the S&P 500 by a factor of three, and high-trust companies “are more than 2½ times more likely to be high performing revenue organizations” than lower-trust companies.

Why?

It turns out we come with an evolutionary hard-wired attraction to people we can trust and a visceral aversion to those we don’t.

People are drawn to and prefer to do business with organizations that have earned their trust, which results in greater productivity, higher sales and wider margins. Trust attracts and engages people, says David Rock who focuses on applying neuroscience insights to management. In SCARF: A brain-based model for collaborating with and influencing others published by the NeuroLeadership Journal, he lays out not just the benefits of trust within an organization but a framework for establishing and building it:

“Indeed, the ability to intentionally address the social brain in the service of optimal performance will be a distinguishing leadership capability in the years ahead…

The impact of this neural dynamic is often visible in organizations. For example, when leaders trigger a threat response, employees’ brains become much less efficient. But when leaders make people feel good about themselves, clearly communicate their expectations, give employees latitude to make decisions, support people’s efforts to build good relationships, and treat the whole organization fairly, it prompts a reward response.

Others in the organization become more effective, more open to ideas and more creative. They notice the kind of information that passes them by when fear or resentment makes it difficult to focus their attention. They are less susceptible to burnout because they are able to manage their stress. They feel intrinsically rewarded…If you are a leader, every action you take and every decision you make either supports or undermines the perceived levels of status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness and fairness in your enterprise. In fact, this is why leading is so difficult.”

Building Trust Starts with Behavior

In business, leadership behavior is what matters. The actions of leaders shape expectations. Each decision and action either reduces or builds trust.

We’ve consolidated the factors that build trust from a review of management literature. Through our analysis we found a consistent set of behaviors that trusted leaders demonstrate.

Clarity and transparency: People trust the clear, and mistrust or doubt unnecessary complexity. Be crystal clear about your purpose, expectations, and priorities. Tell the truth in a way people can verify. Be authentic and lean in on disclosure.

Empower with empathy: People learn to trust those that operate beyond their own self-interest; that show respect for others’ points of view, skills and expertise. People want to be great. Tune in to their abilities. Be the leader that lets others be great.

Consistently demonstrate integrity: People notice those who do the right thing for the right reason. Be true to yourself, your purpose, and your values.

Keep commitments and contribute: Few things build trust quicker than actual results. At the end of the day, people need to see outcomes. Empathy and integrity aren’t enough, unless combined with delivering on commitments. Be the most useful person in the room. Be consistent delivering results.

Keep current: People have confidence in those who stay up to date, relevant, and sharp. Stay curious and keep learning. Be an enthusiastic teacher and learner. Be known for seeking out new ways of doing things, ideas, and trends.

Be open and cultivate connection: Trust requires a relationship, and it is through its relationship with you that your team expresses its trust. Openness is essential to build these relationships. If people can’t get to know you, then they probably can’t get to trust you, either. With openness comes the requirement for a certain vulnerability.  Be available and present. Be the type of leader that ‘puts yourself out there’ and make the first move to make a connection.

Trust Takes Time

“Every action you take and every decision you make either supports or undermines the perceived levels of status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, and fairness in your enterprise.” – David Rock

So take it one moment at a time. Trust can’t be built overnight. It requires time, effort, focus, and consistency. Inspiring trust requires authenticity and effort. But if you think of these elements as skills to work on and challenge yourself to think of every action or decision as an opportunity to demonstrate one or more, you will be on your way to building trust that will drive results and improve both the top and bottom lines.

Emotive Brand is a San Francisco brand strategy agency.

Business Transformation: How to Drive Successful Change

Posted on by Tracy Lloyd

The Need for Change Management

There are many reasons why an organization might come face to face with the need for a business transformation. Increasing competition, new seemingly unattainable prospects, large growth goals, or not meeting the expected return on investment are among many of the most common we see. These reasons and warning signs are by no means mutually exclusive.

A business transformation generally involves large shifts that dictate change at every level of the business and brand – small and large scale. And managing a change of this scale is no easy task for businesses or leaders today.

Too Much with Too Little

Many business transformations fail. In a recent McKinsey Quarterly survey, only 38% of executives believed their transformation had a “completely” or “mostly successful” impact on business performance.

Our observation is that when a transformation doesn’t deliver the expected results, it’s often because leaders take on too much with too little – too many initiatives with too few resources and not enough commitment to back them up. The transformation isn’t productive in the long term because support for it can’t be sustained, energy dwindles, and things are left undone.

Deciding where to focus energy is always a challenge. While some businesses find themselves trying to focus on too many initiatives at once, others place all focus on one initiative that, in the end, simply isn’t powerful enough to drive the entire transformation forward.

Transformations are dynamic, long-term processes, and it’s easy for the process to feel chaotic for those involved. Creating clarity and maintaining the momentum needed to create and manage long-term change is hard work. And it demands strong leadership and a rigorous process.

In order for a business transformation to be successful, leaders need to manage change through:  

1. A clear and deep understanding of the reasons for change:

Explaining the context for change is key to any transformation. In order to get everyone on board with change, you need to build a strong case about why it’s necessary and how it will pay off for the business and each individual within it. Especially at the early stages, metaphors, analogies, and illustrations can help.

In order to build trust, be transparent as leaders about why things need to change and how change can drive a larger transformation that positions the business and its people for success.

Make it a story and tell both sides –  emotional as well as rational. Being humble and credible as a leader goes a long way when trying to build context. Questions like – Why change? What will change? Who will change? How will we change? – are all crucial questions that help build a critical foundation of shared understanding.

2. A purpose for everyone to believe in:

Articulating the aspirations of a transformation has a lot of power. When people have a purpose they can believe in and a larger goal they can work towards together, they feel inspired and more connected. Defining the aspirations from the outset makes them more attainable. Everyone aims higher, thinks bigger, looks wider, and moves faster.

Constantly re-articulating these aspirations is key. By redefining them, you can put your greater vision in different contexts. Defining the payoff of the business transformation in terms of profitability and market value can also help make it real for people.

Other times, creating smaller aspirations that lead to a greater vision help make the long-term vision seem closer and more realistic to people. Creating small markers that gesture to the larger vision helps drive people to work with more ambition and feel more excited about the future.

3. Leadership that creates energy and champions change:

As a leader, you must be a consistent model for change. Behavior trickles down and building alignment at the top is key to ensuring your team gathers maximum momentum moving forward.

In order to create real energy, you have to make the transformation personal and exciting to people. When employees gain clarity about how their work might change today, tomorrow, and years down the line, it feels empowering. Clear direction creates energy and mobilizes people. And strong, focused leadership is key to reducing the anxiety around change and letting the positive excitement take over.

As we know, positive energy is hard to maintain and sustain, and as a leader your role is to manage the process. Creating a pace that builds momentum and moves quickly can help keep energy up and people inspired. Building reinforcement systems and a well-articulated timeline can also help sustain momentum.

Focus on change management to guarantee a successful business transformation. Powering the right kind of change in the right kind of ways can position your business to thrive in the short-term and long-term future. 

Emotive Brand is a brand strategy and design agency.

Good Leadership Character Leads to Good Brand Character

Posted on by Tracy Lloyd

Tough time call for strong leaders

As recognition sets in that the COVID-19 crisis will not be short-lived, companies must respond appropriately by communicating in ways that are empathetic and relevant, contextually aware, human and sensitive. Leaders, brand stewards, and their teams must be extremely focused, keep up with the new normal of uncertainty, and have the ability to rapidly re-evaluate what their company stands for, how it communicates, and why this matters now more than ever.

Leadership Character

An excellent post at IMD.org speaks to two attributes that the writers, Professors Stewart Black and Allen Morrison, believe are necessary for leaders of global organizations today: emotional connections and integrity.

I think this advice is great for any business leader, not only those operating at the “global” level. Here’s the section on emotional connections that talks about being sincerely interested in others, genuinely listening to others, and understanding different viewpoints.

Emotional connections

Global leaders need to establish personal, empathetic relationships with people from all backgrounds inside their company, and in the broader community. Doing this requires three distinct abilities: sincere interest in other people, a heightened ability to listen, and a strong capacity for understanding different viewpoints.

Sincere interest in others

Our research found that effective global leaders actually like people – all kinds of people. They enjoy talking with people and being around them. They care about people and want in some way to make their lives better. All of these attributes help them to form better business relationships, which are a critical part of doing business in many countries. “International customers buy a relationship, not equipment,” David Janke, Vice President of Business Development at Evans & Sutherland, told us. “We’re not selling equipment: we’re selling somebody’s career, because she’s got her neck on the line. She is buying something and making a large investment,” he said. “If it doesn’t work, everybody points the finger at her, so she wants to deal with a company and people…that she trusts.”

Genuinely listening to people

Being interested in people is not the same as genuinely listening to them. As one executive recently told us, “It can be too easy when you are in a leadership position to do all the talking.” Yet, for others to feel understood, leaders must excel at picking up verbal and non-verbal communications. They must also overcome the “everyone thinks the same” assumption, which suggests a superficial understanding of the aspirations, interests, and feelings of other people.

Understanding different viewpoints

Understanding people requires leaders to relate personally to the lives of their employees, customers, and others who are relevant to the business. It means understanding context and, more specifically, how to provide appropriate leadership within it. For example, how a 40-year-old American expatriate manager delegates to a 35-year-old Japanese subordinate with a U.S. MBA should differ significantly from her delegation to a 55-year-old Japanese subordinate with no U.S. experience. To succeed, the American manager should pay much greater deference to the 55-year-old Japanese subordinate.

Effective Leadership

Establishing emotional connections is an essential part of effective global leadership, but this is not the same as “going native.” Leaders who are interested in people, who are excellent listeners, and who are familiar with local conditions and traditions do not have to become like the people they are with. While they need to keep an open mind, they should never forget who they are or what they represent.

When leaders have character, their behavior influences people throughout the organization. This impacts on every aspect of the business, including the way its brand behaves. When the organizational culture is built around character, a new way of being emerges that is far more appealing to people, both inside and outside the business.

To sum up: When you bring empathy to your leadership style, you win. When your leadership style makes your brand more empathetic, everyone wins.

Emotive Brand is a brand strategy firm.

How to Make a Business and Brand Transformation Successful

Posted on by Tracy Lloyd

Emotive Brand hinges itself on the power of business transformation through brand strategy, and brand strategist, Jo Schull adds a honed strategic mind to our team. By working directly with clients to help understand the true essence of their business, she uncovers the necessary internal and external strategies needed to transform the potential of their brand into a reality. In this interview, Jo offers her thoughts and expertise on how to make a brand and business transformation successful.

People are always talking about business transformation – what does that mean?

Business transformation can mean different things to different people. Some leaders see business transformations as bold, quick moves meant to shake things up. Others look at business transformation as the start of a change – a process that starts with purpose, strategy, and vision, and then takes shape through a series of changes to the business.

When or why should businesses attempt a transformation?

Many businesses wait too late to ‘transform’ themselves. They wait until they’re in trouble. They wait until competitors have encroached on their territory, until employee morale is low, until recruiting is difficult, until share prices are down. They wait for when the business is stuck in a downturn. These are all certainly good and necessary reasons to attempt a business transformation, but smart businesses are always looking ahead. These leaders know that the best transformations anticipate and head off crises.

What’s an example of that?

Smart businesses are constantly thinking about what’s next.  They ask themselves: what’s the next phase of their evolution? For some, it might be about a product expansion or moving into other markets. For others, it might be about refining their customer experience: how can their offering become the best and most beloved brand for their core customers? In the end, it all comes down to honing in on the business’s purpose — understanding and communicating clearly why you exist as a business. From this, the business can be intentional about its future, who you serve, and why you want to serve them.

What are the essential components of a successful transformation?

  • The business must have executive-level participation and ownership. The leaders of the company have to be an essential part of the process. They set strategy, make business and brand decisions, and are responsible for the company’s overall performance. They lead the change.
  • The process must be inclusive. All cultures are different. Some are top-down, and others are more inclusive and democratic. The most successful transformations are those that feel authentic. And the best way to achieve authenticity is by including many voices in the process. As much as it’s important that leaders lead the process, it is equally important that the process involves perspectives and participation from across the organization. This includes different divisions, different geographies, different functions, and different levels within the organization. Many top-down transformations have failed because leaders did not understand the day-to-day realities of the business.
  • The transformation must be true to your brand and business. There’s nothing worse than attempting a brand and business transformation that is misaligned with your brand or business position. Your employees will be the first to see the disconnect and your customers won’t be far behind.

How do you work with leadership teams to create alignment during a business transformation?

We start by getting the leadership team clear on three things:

1) Why does your company exist in the first place?

2) What’s the next big problem you can solve for your customers?

3) Where are the biggest threats and opportunities?

Ideally, leadership teams are aligned on these questions. But occasionally, they are not. Either way, it’s important that when going into any sort of transformation that leadership teams are aligned about these questions. A transformation will get them on the same page about why they exist, what they are trying to do, and where the next opportunities lie.

How do you rally employees?

When we talk about rallying employees, there’s no one right way to do it.

You may ask: Is this a course correction, or a 180° shift? What’s the state of employee morale? Will this come as a shock or has the leadership of your company been transparent and brought employees along the journey? How large is the company? There are always many factors at play, but here are some guiding principles.

  • Inspire: To many people, ‘rally’ implies large events where leadership teams unveil big visions and strategies to employees. Those events have their purpose – especially in large companies where leaders need to reach hundreds or thousands of employees at once – but a one-time event isn’t enough to create sustainable change.
  • Demonstrate: What’s equally important, if not more crucial, are the actions of the leadership team every day following those large inspirational events. Employees need to see evidence of change – both progress toward goals and examples of new ways of working.
  • Involve: If employees have been involved in the process, they’ll already have a stake in the transformation. They’ll understand the reasons for change and will believe in the vision for the future.
  • Reinforce: Examine internal systems such as messaging, reviews, rewards, and recognition to make sure they’re supporting and reinforcing the change you want to make, especially when dealing with culture change. Nothing erodes employee trust more quickly than policies and procedures that are at odds with a company’s stated values and beliefs.
  • Communicate: Keep the new strategic direction top of mind. Build it into employee communications and presentations. Bring it into areas where employees will see it. Highlight a section of the strategy and focus on it for a month or a quarter. But whatever you do, don’t let your new strategy languish in a drawer.

Emotive Brand is a San Francisco brand strategy firm.

Building the Perfect Team? Is it Even Possible?

Posted on by Tracy Lloyd

A recent New York Times Magazine article, “What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team,” went viral and became one of the most emailed and widely shared stories for days – for good reason, in our opinion. Building a good team is a difficult task for most companies, organizations, agencies, classrooms, and families alike. And building the perfect team? That often feels impossible.

So why do some groups thrive? Why do others falter? Is there a key to team success? These were the questions Google set out to answer. Here’s our spin on what Google discovered.

Teams = Teams

The best teams are teams and not just collections of individuals. A team is bigger than the sum of its part – at least it should be.

Oftentimes, when people are placed in a team, they enter the group with already well-established boundaries and preconceived ideas about hierarchy, roles, and regulations. When this happens, the team focuses more on meeting deadlines and goals and their interactions become less collaborative. Of course, deadlines and goals are important for any organization, but the purpose of a team is much more significant. Teams should be focused on collaborating in pursuit of creativity and building new ideas. The best teams are the most collaborative ones.

So, try starting a team effort with a different mindset: collaborative, respectful, and honest. Think of your teammates as people who are on your side working towards a common good. Try to take advantage of their strengths, opinions, and experiences that each individual brings to the table, instead of trying to compete with one another, outperform another teammate, or simply please your co-workers or leader.

Empathy and Emotional Intelligence Matter

In their research, Google unearthed what separates good teams from dysfunctional ones, and the answer surprised them. It’s all about how teammates treat each other while working together.

When team members treat each other with respect and exhibit empathy and compassion, the overall intelligence of the team increases. When people are socially sensitive – for example, when they notice subtle signs of how others are feeling, such as tone of voice, facial cues, and body language – teams excel, producing better results.

In team situations, it’s important to take time to set aside your personal or professional motivations. Instead, notice the other people in the room. How are your co-workers feeling? How are you making them feel? How can you be more empathetic to their needs and desires? This kind of unselfish, empathetic mindset can help move your team and overall business forward as a whole.

Psychological Safety and Emotional Sharing

We’ve been saying this for years, but it was gratifying to read what Google wrote about this additional finding : feelings matter. A lot. Feeling safe, also known as psychological safety, matters more to building a successful team than any other factor – more than clear goals or establishing a culture of dependency. Feeling safe matters the most.

Which makes sense. You can’t be open, receptive, or even engaged if you’re fearful about your role in the team and/or how you’re being perceived.

The challenge is that psychological safety isn’t easily measured or implemented. There’s no simple formula for ensuring it, but communication, empathy, and connectedness definitely help to foster it.

Google discovered one easy and effective tactic for establishing and fostering psychological safety: emotional sharing. When people share something personal and human, they create authentic human bonds. In any human relationship, professional or personal, when emotional discussions become the norm (frequent, comfortable), the relationship becomes more successful.

So don’t just jump into the subject of the meeting. Start a meeting by asking how people are doing or feeling. Share something about yourself and show a little vulnerability. Be human. You are human. We all are. Why should that be different when you’re working with a team?

Experience > Optimization

Most business goals tend to focus on optimization. But Google’s research finds that team success actually hinges upon the experience of the team effort itself, not on optimizing team productivity.

How do people feel about the project? How do they feel about the future? Do clients trust their agencies? Do employees feel safe enough to share opinions and thoughts equally with peers? Lots of aspects of a business can be optimized, but a person’s feelings most definitely cannot. If you really want to succeed, don’t try to optimize teamwork; humanize it. By approaching team building in this way, you will create a naturally optimized environment.

All in all, it makes sense that an organization as performance-driven and innovative as Google would make such a strong effort to understand how teams work and how to make them work better. But the surprising takeaway is that the latest technology and careful planning don’t necessarily accelerate successful teamwork. The thing to do – and this fits in well with our experience at Emotive Brand – is to be human and emotive and learn to enjoy the experience.

Emotive Brand is a San Francisco brand strategy firm.

Entrepreneurs — Why You Need This Advice for Your Next VC Pitch

Posted on by Tracy Lloyd

The Entrepreneur Pitch

Every day, in offices up and down Sand Hill Road, founders meet with venture capitalists to make their pitch. For entrepreneurs, these aren’t mere meetings. They are defining moments, perhaps life-changing ones.

Only the truly clueless would be unprepared for meetings of this magnitude. Rock-solid business plan? Check. Technology road map? Check. Go-to-market strategy? Market analyses? Financial projections?

Check. Check. Check.

And yet…despite all that exhaustive effort, many entrepreneurs are not truly ready for what might one of the most important meetings of their career. They aren’t prepared with an answer to the most basic question of all: Why?

What VCs are looking for

VCs have told us and told the world that the key question they want answered is not “What do you do?” but “Why are you doing this?”

The answer is never “because we think it’ll make money.” Of course the plan is designed to make money; that’s a given. No one writes a business plan without believing their idea can make money.

So the answer to the question “Why?” must be something else entirely. The best answers contain a belief. A conviction. A heartfelt desire to do something great, something meaningful, something compelling.

At the very least, the entrepreneur should want to make an impact — and believe doing so is not just possible, but inevitable.

Why?

The successful entrepreneur must be able to articulate this why along many dimensions: Why this product? Why now? Why does the market need this solution (even if — especially if — the market doesn’t yet recognize or understand the need)?

But most important, successful entrepreneurs will need to be able to explain why their product or solution or company matters. What difference will it make in the world? Why does this idea excite them? VCs are looking for something that aligns to a bigger idea — perhaps even a noble one.

So: Don’t forget to talk about “why this matters” in your pitch to VCs. Most entrepreneurs are rock-solid when it comes to articulating their value proposition, growth projections, technical capabilities, and market opportunities. But reserve a little part of your pitch deck to answer the question “Why?”

“Why” isn’t a tough question to answer. But it’s an extremely tough question to answer from your heart…to be convincing about what motivates you and why you’ll get up every day to make it a reality.

Call it “Why” or call it your first step in defining your brand. Either way, make sure its part of your pitch, it matters more than you think.

Emotive Brand is a San Francisco brand strategy and design consultancy that works with founders, startups, high-growth companies and VCs.

For further reading, you may enjoy

Does your brand make a promise?

Why is messaging so difficult for disruptive technologies? 

Six reasons why your startup should invest in brand at the beginning

Brand Purpose Drives Trust

Posted on by Tracy Lloyd

Brand Purpose Drives Trust

How does brand purpose play into building trust? As customers become more connected, more involved, and more engaged than ever before, it becomes more and more difficult for brands to earn their trust. And this trust is key to successful business today. High-trust companies “are more than 2 ½ times more likely to be high performing revenue organizations” than lower-trust companies.

One of the strongest drivers of trust today is purpose. People want the brands they buy from and the businesses they support to work in line with their values, goals, and greater aspirations for the world as a large. A good product is no longer enough. It’s about what the product stands for – what the greater brand represents. That’s why brands that commit to authentic, transparent CSR, meaningful innovation, and lead with purpose are outcompeting their competitors.

Here’s what we believe makes a brand purposeful and trustworthy to consumers:

  1. Responsive customer needs and feedback
  2. High-quality products and services
  3. Treats employees well
  4. Places customers above profits
  5. Takes actions to address an issue or crisis quickly
  6. Practices ethical business
  7. Embraces transparency
  8. Communicates frequently and honestly
  9. Works to protect/improve environment
  10. Addresses society’s needs
  11. Positively impacts their local community
  12. Innovates of new products
  13. Respected and highly regarded top leadership
  14. Delivers consistent financial returns
  15. Ranks on a global list 1
  16. Partners with third parties

Asking Yourself About Your Brand Purpose

The problem is that sometimes business’s own brand behavior doesn’t match up with what makes a brand purposeful and trustworthy to the people that matter its business.

Addressing these questions can help align consumer’s priorities with you own – making your brand and business more purpose-led, more directed, and more strategic moving forward.

So take the time to ask yourself and your business:

  • How are the attitudes and behaviors within your organization pushing your brand up the meaning ladder through purposeful actions?
  • What’s driving the people who develop your products? What shapes the way your organization sources materials, manages, and recruits employees?
  • How do you positively impact the community, society, and the environment?
  • What guides the decision making processes of your top leaders and managers. How do leaders choose to connect with people inside and outside of the organization?
  • How do your customer service people converse with your customers? What tone do they strike?

Driving Meaningful Business Forward

Asking these questions can help you examine how your business is currently addressing these top concerns – guiding how you reframe the attitudes and behaviors within your organization and better address those areas where your brand purpose may be weak. Purpose points your brand in a new direction, inviting everyone to re-evaluate what they do, and how they do it. It adds more meaning to your business and creates the energy to transform the business in ways that matter most to people.

Emotive Brand is a San Francisco brand strategy and design agency.