What's In A Name | Part 3

[This is part of the What's In A Name series. Read the entire series here.]

What does this make you think of?

When you hear names like McDonald's, Lowe's, Wal-Mart, Apple, and Starbuck's, what comes to mind? There might be a few variations on specific terms, but most of us would come up with things that are pretty close for each of these names. Fast food; home improvement store; big-box retailer; computers; premium coffee. Maybe you get even more specific: Big Mac; Let's build something together; iphone. You get the idea. There is a reason behind this. Corporations work very hard and spend a lot of money to make sure you think specific things when you think of their name or see their logo. Through their advertising, products, and in-store experience, they define their brand. They do such a good job of it, people freak over a simple logo change. Remember when Gap and Starbuck's both tried this recently?


Through these efforts, the company or organization takes on a unique meaning. When I was in college, I worked at The Home Depot. The orange apron is Home Depot's signature. We were well-trained to know that when we put on the apron, certain things were expected: great customer service (above everything else), intimate knowledge of products, salesmanship, etc. I knew that the company's mission was to help the do-it-yourselfer complete his/her project as quickly, easily, and affordably as possible. My job was to facilitate that. The Home Depot wants its customers to associate its brand with "the folks who know how to help me get my projects done." When I saw a customer come in and thought to myself "This person has a project to finish; I'm here to help him" it made me a much more effective employee.

Organizational Leaders
What does your brand stand for? What is its meaning? You need to know these things. More importantly, you need to communicate (and over-communicate) them to your team. It will help set expectations. It will give them a sense of purpose. It will answer a lot of questions and clear up confusion in many cases. If you don't know what your organization is specifically about, then neither does your team. Chances are you have in your mind what you want partakers of your organization to experience. Write that down. Flesh it out. Clean it up. And communicate, communicate, communicate that to your team.

Workers (Employees, Volunteers, etc.)
Find out what your organization is all about. What does its brand stand for? What do they want people to experience? If you haven't been told, you need to ask for at least these two reasons. First, odds are your boss hasn't clarified these things yet, so being asked will help him/her to do that. Second, without clear purpose, there are inevitably unclear expectations about your job. Those will become clear, usually around review & raise time. And it will be your fault for not living up to them.


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