Disclaimer: I’m going to hit publish on this even though there is a month’s worth of reflection and refinement worthy of the insights Jim shared with us.
Jim Stengel, a marketing guru, came to the PSU Speaker Forum to talk with us today about developing a brand successfully. To be honest, I didn’t have any expectations for this event. I was free and was looking forward to a nice lunch. I can hardly remember what I ate after listening to him.
Jim shared with us an acronym for developing a successful brand: AHA!
A – Ambitious Purpose
How can you impact the world, in an important and personal way?
Dove Real Beauty Sketches – Dove has a vision of a world where beauty is a source of confidence, and not anxiety.
H – Human Insights
Is empathy a core value in our organization?
Pampers UNICEF Partnership – Pampers partnered with UNICEF back in 2006 to attempt to eliminate MNT, a preventable disease that every year kills 49,000 babies in less privileged areas within the first month of their life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEdCNc4hITU
A – Always On
Is our organization agile and able to serve customers on a 24/7 basis?
Princess Charlotte of Cambridge was born on 2 May 2015. This video was release by Pampers within 12 hours of her birth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYi67tH_290
! – Organizational Energy
Are you engaged and energized by the work?
As a College, we used to be. It’s been hard to see a lot of good people leave. The changes around the College haven’t been always easy because we have often been operating with insufficient direction. There are great people here and our leadership transformation is just about complete with the hiring of two new Assistant Deans. I see no reason why I wouldn’t be posting an update in six months declaring that we’ve got our “!” back.
What is the Office of Learning Design brand?
Is O-LD “AHA!”?
- Ambitious Purpose – we support World Campus courses that positively impact students around the globe
- Human Insights – this is one of the best teams I’ve ever had the privilege of working with because empathy is a core value to each individual
- Always On – while we individually strive to always be there for the faculty that we support, I think our systems and processes could stand to improve with regards to agility
- ! (Organizational Energy) – we love spending time together and having fun outside of the office
So, I can confidently say that our office is AHA! And I think we deserve to celebrate that!
Can we do more to market our brand? Of course, but I am confident we can get there because we have all of the important elements now.
Question for the future: How can we tap into our students and use their energy to drive success?
Additional Take-aways
Why don’t more lead with a sense of inspiring purpose, empathy, and developing organizational energy?
Great leaders have said they spend 60-75% of their time with their people.
One bad hire can take the place down.
“(Second-hand) I walk into work every day stupid” – Jim shared a quote as a reply to a comment that trouble begins when people stop learning and become “experts.”
How to start to influence when you’re at an entry level? It all begins with conversations – it “goes good places.”
What happens when a team and leadership do not see eye-to-eye about the brand and mission? Acknowledge the differences, you’ll probably notice that there 80% overlap and 20% friction. You then focus on the friction.