Learning from Brands to Build Identity

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One of my favorite podcasts recently recorded an episode on Hermès, the legendary French luxury brand that is still committed to making the vast majority of its products using traditional hand craftsmanship. There is no doubt that Hermès is one of the most valuable brands in the world (their current market cap is nearly $250B), but what struck me most from the podcast is the fact that Hermès doesn’t have a marketing department!

Yet, they have one of the strongest brand identities of any company in the world.

What can you as a leader learn from a luxury brand which has existed for more than 180 years?

Why is it that someone waits years to spend more than $10K on a handbag which doesn't have any outward facing logos?

I love to study companies, often consumer facing ones, at the pinnacle of the brand pyramid (and have written about them before) because of the lessons brand building confers to building cultures. I have long held that the three pillars to building an effective culture are:

1. Identity

2. Recognition

3. Mobility

Today, some tactical thoughts on building a unique identity on your team.

Identity

Think about the best team you’ve ever been part of.

What made it unique?

Whether that team was one you were part of in sports, the military, or the corporate world chances are there is some intangible feeling of excellence you get when you think back on that experience. When you’re on a truly great team, it feels like you can’t lose because of that “thing” which makes your team special.

But as a leader, how do you create that thing? How do you cultivate an intangible sense of excellence which pulls the best out of each team member consistently?

My thought is that intangible sense of greatness comes from the unique identity you’ve created. In thinking about building identities I often think of Sebastian Junger’s book Tribe and what its meditations on belonging teach us about identity.

Tactically, as you try to create a unique, differentiated identity on your team I recommend focusing on four items:

1. Hiring

2. Purpose

3. Values

4. Core Competencies

Hiring

I’ve written about the value of hiring a lot, but you can’t have a discussion about building identities without the massive disclaimer that who is on your team often matters much more than anything else. I’ve never seen a team comprised of pessimists or those who aren’t intrinsically motivated accomplish something great.

Doing hard things requires a, rational, belief that while the challenges are real your team is uniquely capable of overcoming them.

The more I think about hiring, the more critical I am of candidates’ mindsets. Leading teams is much easier if you recruit individuals who are optimistic, coachable, adaptable, and persistent. Specific skills can be taught, the above four items usually cannot.

Nothing erodes that je ne sais quoi (come one, we started with an intro about the greatest French company in history I couldn’t resist) faster than team members, even a single one, who are consistently negative in their countenance.

In building an exceptional identity on your team, it all starts with who you hire.

Purpose

You need a purpose statement for your team to feel exceptional.

I lead sales teams and while incentives / recognition are important I still believe human beings are fundamentally motivated by remaining connected to a higher purpose.

Call it naive if you like, but I remember sitting with a group of teammates during a particularly grueling field exercise in the Marines calculating our hourly rate over the week of work. It came out to less than $1 / hour.

Yet, there is no doubt the teams I worked hardest on were those when I was a Marine.

Why?

Because I felt connected to the Marines around me and our mission.

If you don’t have a purpose statement for why your team exists, write one with them, put it up on the wall, and reference it consistently.

Values

After a purpose statement, coming up with a list of values which govern the standards of excellence on your team is a reasonable next step.

These should often be single words or short phrases and you shouldn’t have more than a handful.

If your purpose statement is the what, your team values are the how but are meant more to evoke a sense of, “this is the way we operate” rather than the specific skills needed to be successful.

As an aside, if you haven’t done so as a leader I recommend coming up with your leadership values also.

Core Competencies

As you begin to sketch out core competencies you’re now in the realm of a more tactical understanding of what it takes to be successful on your team. The most specific of our identity pillars these core competencies should clearly articulate the standards of excellence on your team at a skill level.

If you buit the perfect team member in a lab, what would that team member be world class at? Write those things down, those are your core competencies.

The value here is you are clearly articulating what exceptional looks like at an individual level and helping yourself define coaching plans for each individual team member.

Your core competencies should be specific and often more lengthy than the values you articulated above. Document them clearly in a place that is easy for your team to find and reference them often.

Conclusion

Great teams have great brands. Those great brands are a result of a coherent, intentional identity cultivated by their leaders. In cultivating an identity on your team be mindful of:

1. Who you hire

2. The purpose statement you create

3. The values you cultivate

4. The core competencies you train and coach to

See y’all next week.