Hey YOU, Let the brand lead!

A couple of days back I was discussing with a group of professionals on how to make a “lifestyle” organisation (controlled and driven by an individual) brand-led. While writing a valid prescription was an easy float, persuading ourselves about acceptability of our reasoned counsel (by the individual) was of course a challenge. After all, our opinion was diametrically reverse of what an individual-driven organisation would want to believe. Here are a few samplers:

• In a dynamic business environment, it is “miraculous” for an individual to be an able practicing professional, a visionary leader and a competent manager at the same time.
• It is essential for an organisation to innovate in entirety to stay relevant in a transitioning marketplace, which fairly often is contrary to the management belief of a successful entrepreneur professional.
• It is difficult for an entrepreneur professional to pledge to an inclusive brand-driven culture and realign his/her style accordingly to live the brand continually.
• An individual-led organisation has only a few “engaged” employees, owing to centralised decision making.
• Most importantly, entrepreneur professionals usually end up building a culture (by default) that relates better with their failings, as oppose to getting inspired by their accomplishments.

Sounds critical? But that’s the hard reality of most individual-led organisations, irrespective of what they sell – service or product. Insistence on the individual’s lifestyle approach forms the core of such businesses, with reference to past successes used often to run down progressive suggestions for change. It’s all about “me” and little about “we” in such organisations. Needless to say, the employees pay back such employers with comparable indifference. They take their salaries; they build their relationships (using collective goodwill); and then walk away someday, with it all. Left behind is the professional entrepreneur with a bruised ego and an unsettled question – Why did s/he leave me? Unfortunately, here too the question ends with a “me”.

But Hey! Wake up. The new market order, post recession, has set in. It is integrated, open, evolving, competitive and intolerant business environment. It has all the ingredients to test your metal and business acumen. If you led an organisation and want to grow beyond your kith and kin, you will have to open up for self-appraisal. You will have to call for an objective third party business audit. Once done, the findings will have to be systematically analysed for putting together a workable strategy, appropriately administered over a period of time.

The point to note is that building a brand-led organisation is in the best interest of all lifestyle entrepreneurs. If they want their business legacy to continue, professional entrepreneurs will have to let the brand take the lead. Otherwise, they will certainly consume the business in their lifetime, leaving nothing for the generation to follow. That will be so selfish!