We Are Like That Only

We spend our entire lifetime trying to understand our purpose in life, and as we get older, this question gains more and more importance. It’s not too different in a business. We spend years trying to understand the true identity of our business, and we are never completely satisfied or convinced. Brands changing their identity, businesses changing their focus, and the ever-evolving systems, hierarchies, and structures in an organization gives validation to this claim. There may good reason for all of these changes, and at times, they may even be necessary. But, they aren’t always. It’s just our search for the truth as we feel small changes can help us unlock the key to brand and business sustainability, but the answer lies much deeper than just these mere cosmetic changes. Sometimes, you need someone on the team to sit up and say, ‘It’s ok. We are like that only!’

The true key to sustainability lies much deeper than what meets the eye. Its goes further than the systems & structures in your operations, the scale & size of your brand business, and even, your brand identity, positioning and messages. With changing times, all of these aspects need to be fueled by agility and led by your constantly evolving consumer. Much deeper lies something more innocent, naïve, and simple.

It’s the way the brand is, and its defined by the people in the business and their relationships with each other. The comfort team members in the organization feel with each other and the business powers sustainability. Their mannerisms, behaviors, and morals start to align as this comfort increases, and at the pinnacle, this starts to penetrate outside of the team to partners and customers. The potency of this alignment of ideals creates a strong foundation for the brand and business. Every new addition to the team starts to assimilate the same characteristics, and if they don’t conform, they will feel out of place and either leave or be pushed out. The business starts to see traits similar to a family, and the borders to get into the family are guarded and filtered by behavioral, emotional and moral traits of the person.

A brand can make all the cosmetic changes it wants, but the way the organization functions within itself and with the outside defines its character. A resilient character builds sustainability whether it’s a brand, business, or even a family. This definition needs to be deep-rooted in any brand, and while the founders of the brand are in charge of molding this character, leadership is responsible for keep it in place; sustaining it. Its not the business success which makes great brands, it’s the culture underneath your brand positioning, systems, and processes which holds the key to sustainability. Its this innocent character team-members, partners and customers are enamored by so while businesses may find the need to pivot, they should remember a pivot is where one point still remains as is. This point is this innocence, human-touch, and culture of the organization. This can never change.

Its important to build a culture beneath the business that people can be proud of. This is the purpose we are all, including business and brand, in search of. This culture leads to success. This culture allows everyone connected to the brand to be proud of associating with it, and they see it like an extension of themselves; see it as family. A pride allowing everyone connected to the brand to say, ‘It’s ok. We are like that only.”