Jeremy Miller's Blog, page 17

Brand Guidelines Are Unsurprisingly All the Same

I need your help. In a few weeks my new book, , will be published. It hits bookstores on October 8, 2019. I need help getting the word out about the book. Would you like to receive a free advanced copy and post a review on Amazon when it’s released? If so, sign-up here.

On September 4th, 1888, George Eastman registered the trademark “Kodak.” He was a branding pioneer. Eastman set out to create an iconic name that would be intrinsically linked with his company and photography.

To create the name, Eastman gave himself four guidelines:

It must be short and vigorous.
It must be incapable of being misspelled.
It must mean nothing.
It must begin and end with the letter K.

The K requirement is fascinating. Eastman said, “The letter ‘K’ had been a favorite with me—it seemed a strong, incisive sort of letter. Therefore, the word I wanted had to start with ‘K.’ Then it became a question of trying out a great number of combinations of letters that made words starting and ending with ‘K.’ The word ‘Kodak’ is the result.”

Legend has it that George Eastman and his mother worked with an anagram set, something like a precursor to the board game Scrabble, to craft words. (If you pair enough letters, you can eventually invent a good name.)

Here’s the thing: Eastman set a standard for brands to follow. His naming guidelines can be found in dozens of brand name origin stories.

In my very first naming project, renaming my family’s business, I used Eastman’s guidelines as a blueprint. I established five guidelines to rename our company:

The name had to be simple to say and easy to remember.
It had to be short, ideally fewer than ten characters.
It couldn’t include invented words, like Acura or Verizon.
It had to have an available .com domain name, because my domain budget was only $10.
We could not use the words, “recruiting,” “recruiter,” or “staffing.”

The guidelines gave us a strategy, and we created LEAPJob.

The mother of all renaming projects was Exxon. According to Evan Morris, author of From Altoids to Zima: The Surprising Stories Behind 125 Famous Brand Names, “It took Esso three years to pick a new name, during which the company reportedly spent more than $100 million and pored over at least ten thousand possibilities.”

Put this in context, this happened in 1972. $100 million in today’s dollars is the equivalent of $670 million! And 10,000 names?! That’s bonkers!

But check this out. Esso’s naming guidelines:

The new name was to be short and easy to pronounce.
The name should not have any meaning in English.
It should not have any unpleasant connotations or unfortunate meanings in another language.

Out of the 10,000 options they chose Exxon.

How I’m Launching My Next Book, Brand New Name!

A little over a year ago I signed a book deal to write my second book, . There’s nothing fast about the book business, but the launch is finally in sight: October 8, 2019.

To say I am excited is an understatement. Brand New Name is a graphically-designed branding book that gives you everything you need to name anything: company, product, service, or idea. It’s loaded with inspirational stories of how iconic brands got their names, and you’ll discover how names persuade people and get stuck in their minds.

The best part: it includes a 3-stage naming sprint. I am working to solve one of the most vexing and misunderstood elements of branding (how to name things) and give you the solution.

Sound interesting? Go ahead and pre-order your copy.
But Wait, There’s More!
A book launch is an opportunity to give away a ton of stuff! Why? Well, it’s marketing. As marketers, we work to spark engagement with the hope that it converts into sales.

Advanced book sales made my first book, Sticky Branding, a #1 Globe and Mail Bestseller, and we’re shooting for this goal again with some killer promos:

Amazon Review Team. Get a pre-released copy of Brand New Name in August for free! All you gotta do is post a review on Amazon when the book comes out in October. This is limited to 150 participants. Fill out a short form to apply to join the program.
Books for Talks. If you buy 300 copies of Brand New Name I will speak at your event for free. That’s a super deal! Check out the details and let me know if you want to have me speak at your next event.
Pre-Launch Prizes. When you buy an advanced copy of Brand New Name you can get oodles of free stuff! There are deals from 1 book to 300 books.
Brand New Name Launch Event. Join me on October 15 at 5pm for the launch event! It will be hosted at Rotman, University of Toronto. I will be giving a 1 hour keynote, and the price of admission is 1 book ($24.95). We had over 300 people attend the launch of Sticky Branding, and I am expecting even more for Brand New Name. Sign up now. Tickets are limited.

What People Are Saying!
The early buzz for Brand New Name is remarkable. Here is what some famous people are saying:

“Gorgeous and inspiring, this is the quintessential manual for turning a name into something much more powerful: a true brand asset.”
Jay Baer, founder of Convince & Convert and co-author of Talk Triggers

“This is such a badly needed book! Part inspiration, part how-to, Brand New Name shows you exactly how to create a brilliant name/brand for your business, product, service, initiative — anything that needs a name.”
Verne Harnish, founder Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) and bestselling author of Scaling Up

“Brand New Name is a fast, fun, and useful read. If you need a name for your product or company, start here.”
Jake Knapp, New York Times bestselling author of Sprint

“Jeremy Miller’s brilliant book will help you solve the biggest problem in marketing today.”
Al Ries, co-author of Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind

“Jeremy has written a masterpiece. Combining story with visuals, he brings the process of naming your product or business to life. Everyone is creative and this book provides a roadmap to designing the perfect name.”
Donna Miller, Jeremy’s Mom

If my mom thinks it's good, you know it is!

Three Steps to Frame the Heart and Soul of Your Brand

(I’d like to introduce you to my colleague, Sarah. She joined Sticky Branding in February, and has quickly been leaving her mark on the business and brand. I asked her to introduce herself with a guest post. Let us know what you think! -Jeremy)

When you’re launching a new business your Pinterest board obsession may go into overdrive. It’s tempting to go straight to the pretty stuff — the logo, the colors, the website layout — but it’s essential to first establish the core purpose and mission of your brand.

A gorgeous visual brand identity without a clearly defined purpose is like a perfectly wrapped gift that’s… well, empty. And how disappointing is that?!

Have you ever worked for a company that has their values splashed all over the office walls but no one can tell you how the company differs from competitors’ brands? It’s a serious problem! Informed and engaged employees are the cheerleaders for your brand.

The best way to build your brand is to start from the inside out. It’s like constructing a building: you need a strong foundation. The following three steps will help you to frame and nurture the heart and soul of your brand.
1. Craft Your Mission Statement
What makes a great mission statement? It should be clear, provide some strategic direction, and inspire. When creating your mission statement, think about your business goals, whom you serve and how you will be doing business moving forward. Ideally, your mission will also be clear enough for people outside your organization to understand and simple enough for you — and your team — to remember.

For example:

Patagonia: Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.
IKEA: To create a better everyday life for the many people.
Nordstrom: To give customers the most compelling shopping experience possible.

Look at each of these statements compared to what you know about each company. Can you see their missions reflected in your perception of their brands? Try to do the same for your business.
2. Become a Visionary
Think about the biggest impact of the product or service, and focus on the benefits of what you offer. What is the benefit of those benefits? Keep digging until you have a clear picture of what the future will look like and what success looks like to you. Above all, think big.

Bill Gates and the Microsoft team did this brilliantly back in the 80’s. They said their vision was to “put a computer on every desktop in every home.” Back when desktop computers were rare, expensive and nerdy — this was an audacious statement. But it happened.
3. Choose Your Core Values
Think about what you stand for and never compromise on it. Think about what beliefs and qualities you have that are unique and meaningful to your business. While there’s no key number for how many brand values an organization should have, it should be practical: more than five can be difficult to remember and internalize; and less than three doesn’t really present the full picture of your business.

Values are key. When you ignore your values you risk crashing your brand. Just remember what happened at Volkswagen. Your company’s values give you the structure to build a brilliant brand.

This is your opportunity. How will you build and nurture the brand of your dreams?

This post originally from Three Steps to Frame the Heart and Soul of Your Brand

A Brand In Progress: Check Out the New Website!

Your brand is a work in progress, ours too.

Back in February, Sarah and I began working on a new website for Sticky Branding. Batting around ideas, we realized the work of branding never stops! As soon as you finish one website, you’re thinking about the next. The same happens with campaigns and product launches. One milestone is simply that: a marker indicating progress.

Your brand is in a constant state of evolution and growth, and the second you stop working on it is the second it starts to die. Your brand is a work in progress.

The term “Brand In Progress” immediately resonated with Sarah and I, and it became the theme of our new website design: www.StickyBranding.com. (I can’t wait to hear what you think!)

Hello Digital helped us realize the concept, and they designed and built the site. Josh, Kyle, and the team were absolutely fantastic to work with.

The idea we pitched to them was to present the website as partially done. We thought of it as a design prototype, and we marked it up by scratching out some words, placing pictures haphazardly, and having some fun with it.

Too many brands are boring and just too “professional.” We wanted to break the fourth wall, and really have a conversation with our visitors.

The website is part of our brand in progress. It’s all leading up to our next major milestone: the launch of . (Available October 2019.)

We’re polishing our service offering, and getting our messaging crystal clear. I want you to know exactly who is Sticky Branding and what we can do for you.

At the same time, we are preparing our brand to receive a whole lot of attention. A book launch is a big deal, and it will be the biggest marketing initiative I have taken on since the launch of Sticky Branding (the book).

Before we hit the gas to promote the new book, we needed to get our website in order. I’d love to hear your feedback on the new website. Do you have any comments or suggestions? Shoot us a note. All feedback is welcome! 

Make Your Brand Name Function as a Verb

Brand names that become verbs have an inherent power:

Just google it.

Fedex your package.

Photoshop that picture.

The function of the product has made the brand name operate as a verb. I doubt these companies planned to make their brand names become verbs, but look at the power the name generates. Each brand name has become synonymous with the category, which makes it incredibly hard for a competitor to challenge or even displace the brand.

The benefits of a brand name becoming a verb (or even a noun) are evident, so why not build that right into your naming strategy?

Naming a product is one of the most important branding decisions you will make, and it’s something you want to get right the first time. A brand name is the longest living artifact in any company. Unlike websites, brochures, and advertising campaigns, you don’t want to change a name. It should stick around forever. So go a step further and make it a verb.

The video conferencing service, Zoom, is a great example of a company that thought of its name as a verb from day one. You can see the strategy right in the company’s URL, zoom.us or “Zoom us.”

I use the service a dozen or more times a week, and I often hear myself saying, “Do you want to zoom or call?” It’s similar to saying Skype or FaceTime; it just means do you want to video chat?

Zoom entered the video conferencing market late to the game. The service launched in 2013 — 10 years after Skype; 2 years after FaceTime; and 18 years after WebEx. The video conferencing market was saturated, but Zoom positioned itself brilliantly in the business market. It delivered an easy to use business solution with accessible pricing and innovative features.

The brand name helped too. It’s easy to remember, easy to find, and it functions as a verb.

In March 2019, Zoom went public on the NASDAQ. The company was valued at just under $16 billion by the end of its IPO. Did the name make the brand? No. But it helps to reinforce its position as the category leader of video conferencing for business.

Making your brand name function as a verb should be baked right into your naming strategy, because it will inform how you brainstorm and construct words. For example, the English language gives you some pointers on how to make verbs.

Add a suffix:

-ate (appreciate, celebrate, congratulate)
-en (frighten, soften, widen)
-ify (identify, specify, qualify)
-ize (realize, recognize, modernize)

Use a prefix:

ad- (adapt, admit, advance)
de- (deceive, deform, describe)
im-/in- (impose, increase, inform)
per- (perform, persuade, perceive)
re- (recall, receive, reproduce)

Create a compound verb:

noun + verb (hand-wash)
adjective + verb (highlight)
preposition + verb (overcome)

Make a noun function as a verb:

Find a short punchy word and be deliberate with how you use it in your branding and marketing material. FedEx, for instance, is short for Federal Express, but its shortened version has been adapted to function as a verb.

Brand names are strategic. How you decide to use them will shape the future of your brand. Check out my free ebook, The Anatomy of a Name, for some more examples of how names are used and constructed.

You're reading by Jeremy Miller, originally posted on Sticky Branding. Did you enjoy this article? If so, sign-up for more of Jeremy's articles at Sticky Branding.

Energy Is a Powerful Brand Differentiator

The energy level in Toronto is off the charts! It’s Raptors mania, and everyone — even non-basketball fans — are caught up in the excitement. People are wearing jerseys to work, and it’s the topic of every water cooler conversation.

The Raptor’s brand is on fire!

This is the power of “brand energy.” It’s a visceral, emotional feeling towards a brand. What’s going on in the NBA finals is an extreme example. It’s the first time Toronto has ever made it to the finals, and the fans are pumped. But all brands are dependent on energy.

Energy is the great differentiator. Brands that have energy, stand out. Brands lacking energy are heading for the graveyard.

David Aaker writes in Brand Relevance, “A graveyard brand is one the customer has heard of and probably is very familiar with but one that is not recalled easily and cannot get into the consideration act.”

Lacking energy is the scariest place for any brand, because it leads to indifference. Being loved or hated requires energy, but indifference is emotionless. Your brand can exist, but nobody cares.

Gene Simmons, front man for the band KISS, said, “People either love KISS or hate us with all of their guts, and that’s the way we like it.” That’s a commitment to energy. For almost 50 years, KISS has kept its brand relevant by constantly infusing it with energy.

John Gerzema and Ed Lebar call this concept “energized differentiation.” In their book, The Brand Bubble, they write, “The most successful brands today — including Adidas and iPhone and Pixar and Wikipedia — resonate with consumers in a special way: They communicate excitement, dynamism, and creativity in ways that the vast majority of brands do not.”

They continue, “By focusing on these attributes, marketers can keep their brands constantly moving and gaining value. In a world of excess capacity and diminishing trust, creating these kinds of energy-infused brands can help companies reinvigorate their brand management practices.”

Why does this matter for you and I? Energy differentiates your brand.

For most of us, we are not going to create new categories, sub-categories, or industries. We’re not going to invent the next iPhone, or create a toy fad like L.O.L Dolls. (This children’s toy sold 2.5 million units within five months of its launch!).

Instead, you and I are competing in established markets serving customers with defined needs. Why a customer chooses your brand over the competition will have less to do with features and benefits, and more to do with the perceived energy of your brand:

Is your brand more interesting than the competition?
Are your products and services more relevant?
Is your brand more visible?

The nice thing is that the answers to all of these questions are within your control. You have the power to increase the visibility, relevance, and excitement around your business.

Brand energy is created in three areas:

Market: How do you increase the volume and visibility of your brand in your target market? This might be through more publicity and marketing, or through sponsorships and events.

Products: How do you create and deliver a better product or service at a better price? You’re not going to win by copying the big guys, so innovate. Find better ways to meet the needs of your clients.

Culture: How do you improve the people, culture, and creativity of your organization? All brands are built by people, and an energized team can be visible for all to see.

There are lots of ways you can energize your brand, and it doesn’t require tons of money and resources. What it does require is strategy. Like starting a campfire, you need to focus your resources and efforts in a few key areas to ignite a flame so that it can turn into a roaring fire.

When your brand generates abundant energy it can become irresistible. It draws attention and creates engagement. This is a powerful competitive advantage that you can translate into more sales, more profit, and more customer loyalty.

You're reading Energy Is a Powerful Brand Differentiator by Jeremy Miller, originally posted on Sticky Branding. Did you enjoy this article? If so, sign-up for more of Jeremy's articles at Sticky Branding.

Why Are Children’s Brand Names Misspelled?

I don’t ask this question flippantly or tongue-in-cheek. I seriously want to know. Why are so many of the brands I grew up with misspelled?

Kool-Aid, Trix, Rice Krispies, Froot Loops, Play-Doh — all sound normal, but none are spelled correctly. There’s Slip ‘N Slide, Trac Ball, Lite Brite, and Sno-Cone. Even the toy store, Toys “R” Us, is misspelled.

Okay, sure. Not every children’s brand is misspelled. Hot Wheels and My Little Pony didn’t try to break the English language. But when you start to list the brands you grew up with, you see a trend: proper spelling is optional.

Here is the surreal part. I never even noticed!

Froot Loops are delicious. The packaging is colorful and unique, and I know exactly where to buy them in the grocery store. But I never paid enough attention to realize how the name was spelled. Same with Play-Doh. I never realized it was “doh” like Homer Simpson, instead of “dough” like bread.

Until I started writing my next book, Brand New Name, it never even registered that my beloved childhood brands were taking so many liberties with spelling.

Is this a bad thing? Absolutely not.

These misspellings play to a child’s mind. Froot is the phonetic spelling of fruit, and it’s actually more logical. Half the time the English language doesn’t make sense. Why is fruit spelled with ui? How is frui- better than froo-?

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, fruit is from the Latin fructus, which is “an enjoyment, delight, satisfaction; proceeds, produce, fruit, crops,” and from frug-, stem of frui “to use, enjoy.”

So we have Latin to thank for fruit, but Kellogg’s spelling of the name makes more sense to a six-year old.

The added advantage of phonetically spelling a brand name is ownership. For example, Kool-Aid undeniably owns its brand.

Edwin Perkins invented the brand in 1927. He began reselling concentrated drink-mix powder via mail order. He initially called the product Kool-Ade, modeling the name after lemonade. After some initial sales Perkins realized -ade had a medicinal tone, so he switched the name to Kool-Aid.

Simple decisions like this can transform a brand name from something mundane, to something unique. By simply adjusting the spelling, you can create a name specific to your product, service, or company.

I’ll be talking more about naming in the coming months, because I’ve written a book on it: Brand New Name: A Proven, Step-by-Step Process to Create an Unforgettable Brand Name. It will be released on October 8, 2019. I can’t tell you how excited I am to share the new book with you.

In the meantime, I have put together a partial sample chapter called The Anatomy of a Name. You can download it for free. It gives you some inspiration on how names are used and constructed.

I can’t wait to hear what you think of it.

You're reading by Jeremy Miller, originally posted on Sticky Branding. Did you enjoy this article? If so, sign-up for more of Jeremy's articles at Sticky Branding.

Are Your Spending Too Much Time on Marketing?

Have you ever paused to wonder, are we marketing our brand too much? Can that even be possible?

It is and it does happen. Companies can get so obsessed with publicity, promotion, and advertising that they lose sight of what is really important: the service.

In an interview with the comedian Steve Martin, Charlie Rose asked, “How do you be successful?” Martin replied, “Nobody ever takes note of it, because it’s not the answer they wanted to hear… but I always say, ‘Be so good they can’t ignore you.’”

“Be so good they can’t ignore you” may be the best marketing advice ever shared.

In Sticky Branding (the book) I wrote, “Customers don’t beat a path to the company’s door because of its marketing. Marketing hype scratches off quickly. Customers seek out Sticky Brands — and come back again and again — because those companies offer a compelling service and a memorable experience.”

It’s the substance and the quality of a company’s products and services that make a brand. All marketing should be doing is amplifying what makes your brand remarkable.

Doug Levy, co-author of Can’t Buy My Likes explains, “[Panera Bread] renamed its marketing department an amplification department, putting its focus on supporting its fans and spreading the word. This focus on trust and relationships led to great financial results. [Panera Bread] spends 1 percent of sales on advertising compared to the 5 percent of sales spent by others in their category.”

Focusing on the core — what you actually deliver to your customers — will do more for your brand than marketing. Customers come back because of the products you sell.

Like so many other aspects of life, “being so good they can’t ignore you” is easier said than done. It comes down to mastering a set of business processes that are theoretically uncomplicated, but are also difficult to put into practice consistently:

Creating great products and services
Delivering them brilliantly
Building lasting customer relationships
Pricing and positioning your products properly
Delivering exceptional customer service and customer experiences

On their own, each one of these processes isn’t complicated, but doing each one brilliantly and at the same time is complicated. There are no silver bullets or simple paths, because the brand building process is multifactorial.

That’s why Steve Martin’s advice is so frustrating. You have to work really hard, really consistently, and for a really long time to create a truly remarkable brand. Marketing tactics are the easy part. Delivering the right product for the right people at the right time is the truly important work that will separate your brand from the herd.

You're reading Are Your Spending Too Much Time on Marketing? by Jeremy Miller, originally posted on Sticky Branding. Did you enjoy this article? If so, sign-up for more of Jeremy's articles at Sticky Branding.

Empowerment Is a Two-Way Street

There is plenty of leadership advice on how to empower your employees, but empowerment is a two-way street. It’s how people work together, up and down the organization, that enables them to thrive.

Working in a family business was one of the best experiences of my life. My parents gave me lots of latitude, but not enough to harm the business. They created leadership challenges and projects to develop my skills and expertise, and they empowered me to push the business as far as I could.

Little did I know, they were also watching to see how I stepped up. They had lots of hopes and dreams, but ultimately the responsibility was mine: how would I use the autonomy and authority they were granting to me?

Empowering employees (properly) is one side of the equation, and how they use it is the other.

Empowerment Starts with a Leadership Decision

Nothing happens until a leader makes a choice to empower their employees to be successful. This is easier said than done. True empowerment requires fulfilling six key emotional dimensions.

An employee has to:

Feel they matter
Feel they have autonomy and the ability to choose (make decisions)
Feel they are competent
Feel included and related to the team and organization
Feel successful and a sense of accomplishment
Feel hope

If just one of these conditions is missing or removed, you can create an empowerment problem.

Dan Pink writes in Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, “We have three innate psychological needs—competence, autonomy, and relatedness. When those needs are satisfied, we’re motivated, productive, and happy.”

Achieving this fine balance takes more than lip service or an open-door policy. It’s much harder than that. To empower employees, leaders have to create the ecosystem of success. The organization has to excel at hiring, supporting, and providing the tools and space for people to reach their full potential.

At the same time, the leader has to listen, learn, and adapt. Empowering people is fluid, and it requires constant attention and focus.

Employees Have to Step Up Too!

A leader can create a fun, dynamic work environment that gives people every opportunity to thrive, but that doesn’t mean everyone always “steps up” to the challenge. Empowerment is a two-way street, and how employees use that latitude is their choice.

It’s a personal decision:

How are you choosing to use the power you’re given?
How far are you willing to go?
What will you do to contribute to the betterment of your team, customers, and the business as a whole?

This isn’t easy. The hardest part of being empowered is the risk of falling down.

My parents gave me lots of latitude, and I made lots of mistakes — from making bad hiring decisions to failed product launches to marketing campaigns that went nowhere. I tried lots of stuff, and I had some big, epic failures. But my wins beat my losses.

That’s the true value of being empowered. You might make a mistake or two, but if you’re working in the right environment that’s ok. Great leaders want their employees to try, learn, adapt and grow so they can get better.

Because when you grow and get better, you raise the performance of everyone around you.

Take a Chance on Yourself

This is a call to action to both sides.

Leaders: Choose to empower. Running through command-and-control is unproductive and exhausting. Give your team the latitude to thrive.

Employees: Take every opportunity to step up. In this marketplace, the only real limiter is you. Think about it. The unemployment rate is near zero. If a boss holds you back then you have every right to graduate to a new job or company. There’s really very little risk, but everything to gain.

What do you think?

You're reading Empowerment Is a Two-Way Street by Jeremy Miller, originally posted on Sticky Branding. Did you enjoy this article? If so, sign-up for more of Jeremy's articles at Sticky Branding.

3 Leadership Mindsets that Fuel Brand Development

An organization’s brand is shaped and influenced by the mindset of its leaders, especially in small- and medium sized companies. The attitudes and beliefs of the CEO, business owner, or entrepreneur reverberate through an organization’s brand and what it can become.

Time and time again, what I see holding a brand back isn’t marketing or lack of resources. The #1 thing holding the brand back is the boss has the wrong mindset.

Great leaders possess three mindsets that help their brands grow further, faster and reach their full potential.

Abundance Over Scarcity Mindset

At the start of a three-day training course the instructor said to the class, “You are free to use all of the content, slides, and resources you receive this week. Content is content. Take it and use it anyway you can.”

This was in contrast to the CEO of another training firm that became extremely jealous when she saw a speaker share one of her models at a conference. Even though the speaker referenced the source material verbally and on the slide, the CEO was livid, “She stole our ideas!”

Two training firms possess two very different mindsets. The first had an abundance mindset. They viewed ideas as free and additive, and generously shared them. The second had a scarcity mindset. They felt that ideas should be owned and controlled.

In the information age, the ability to create and share is far more valuable than the ability to protect and control. It’s a simple mindset, but it can shape your brand inside and out. A scarcity mindset influences the behaviors of employees, and it creates tension with partners and customers.

Empowerment Over Control Mindset

A control mindset is a relic from the industrial age. Leaders used command-and-control systems to achieve results. But in a world of rapid change, command-and-control is a liability.

Great leaders procure results through others — not by telling them what to do or how to do it — but creating an ecosystem that empowers people to bring their full potential to their jobs.

Creating a culture of empowerment is dependent on three criteria:

Clear intention: Nothing happens until the leader makes a choice to empower their employees to be successful.

Set a space: Bureaucracy and systems actually work against creativity and innovation. Leaders have to create the space and freedom (autonomy, goals, and time) so that their employees can think, try, and do.

Create the conditions: Empowerment does not happen on its own. Leaders have to implement new systems, tools and management techniques to get the best out of their people.

When a leader shifts from a control mindset to an empowerment mindset they tap into a multiplier effect. They discover there is much more potential in their organization than they ever realized.

Choose a Growth Mindset

A leader’s mindset is not fixed. Every leader has immense ability to change and grow, and this is necessary. For an organization to grow it needs leaders that can change and grow with it.

It all starts with a choice: Do you choose to grow?

The limitations of a scarcity mindset and a control mindset are based on fear:

Fear of losing control
Fear of success
Fear of failure
Fear of the unknown
Fear of change

No matter what holds you back, know it’s a perceived limitation. If a leader shifts to a growth mindset they can embrace the power of abundance and empowerment, and that will reverberate through the brand.

All great brands are built by people: smart, ambitious, creative people. If a leader is able to harness that potential, there’s nothing that will hold back their business or brand.

What do you think?

You're reading 3 Leadership Mindsets that Fuel Brand Development by Jeremy Miller, originally posted on Sticky Branding. Did you enjoy this article? If so, sign-up for more of Jeremy's articles at Sticky Branding.