Specifically what’s happening, when a line goes around the block, or the fringe of society affects policy, is that the messaging entity (let’s call it a “brand”) is amplifying an already existing meme – a belief or idea structure already in the minds of certain people. Those who currently believe the meme are attracted to the brand. The brand has given a voice and image to thoughts that are already occurring, such as, “I could teach my child better than a public school,” or, “my white clothes can be ultra-white.” With its visible and audible endorsement of an idea, the brand acts as a leader for the meme, mobilizing those who believe it into a mob mentality of action by saying “it’s ok to think this.” Thus, it could be said that a leader simply gives his or her group permission to believe something.

Once you have the resonance of an individual regarding their beliefs, you can guide his or her behavior. In the wrong hands, this knowledge is sinister stuff. The more notorious propagandists in history have willing to stand up and say the crazy, fear-based, unenlightened things a certain group of people were already thinking, and thus become the brand leader for the group. No matter if that group counted in numbers as a minority of the public; a mobilized minority can be more powerful than an unenthusiastic majority.

When it comes to business, the propaganda principle still applies. However, the goal of messaging in business is to sell your goods and services. If you approach messaging as an act of changing people’s minds, you will not get very far. But if you are willing to stand up and be the focus and image of a need, of a great unmet social desire, of a deeply held belief that has no leader, you can captivate those who believe it and ask them to do something.

In this series, I’ve detailed some of the key the brand components I build with clients: key concept, value up, value down, and definition through audience. They comprise the general skeletal structure of a brand. It is this structure, once it is distilled and brought to light, that gets carried around in the person whom the business belongs to.

This structure must be tested in the real world before it is proven sound, so the ultimate step in branding is getting out there in front of your audience.

In the building phase, I ask clients to practice putting together a positioning statement on the fly – especially when they aren’t prepared. I sometimes have pretended to be an interested but skeptical potential customer, to see how they do with the pressure of interacting from their brand position in real time. (As an advisor, I am always playing this role inside my head, however I don’t outwardly play that all the time. This is the way I test at every phase how sound their brand is during the building phase.)

If you’re building your brand as well, I ask that you practice improvising in real time with your brand components – to a clock, to your steering wheel, to some friends and associates who can give gentle but supportive feedback. Since first impressions are so formative for a customer’s opinion of you and your company, work out the kinks in advance through practice. How well you do without looking at your notes is the best way to test your level of brand fluency. It doesn’t happen overnight, and some stuttering, stops, and starts will be involved. It’s better to get these stumbles out in friendly environments instead of in front of big important audience members.

Here is a simple formula for improvising the components of your brand, especially built for coaches. The italicized phrases can be replaced with your own. Knowing the structure of this statement is the only thing you’d really need to “memorize.” The rest of the components should simply be clear and known, as you’ve built up the brand structure within you. The sentence goes something like this:

“I am a my real position for my specific audience who need a particular thing that I provide. I work with them on a key concept. This gives them a big benefit of the key concept, so they can do something they couldn’t do before.”

Learn and understand the flow of this statement, and, armed with your brand components, you’ll be able fill in the blanks in a compelling 10 to 20 seconds. Here’s mine, as an example:

I’m a brand strategist for principals of companies who need to present their products in compelling ways. I work with them on getting really clear on their audience and value. This gives them the ability to communicate the brand extremely clearly, so they can build a unified strategy throughout the company, and market the products effectively to their customers.

You see how it works? It’s a little different every time, and it’s never super-perfect. And since I was writing it, I could take an extra few minutes to edit it to be really effective. The whole time, however, I was clear on how I would change it, and very able to make decisions about the words I used.

When I speak it, I’m connecting with the particular person I’m talking to – relying on my knowledge of my audience and my value to them, and I don’t need to worry about all the audience unknowns that exist with ta blog post.

The really important thing is to open your mouth and let words fall out. Cut yourself some slack, start in the friendliest of environments, and work into more and more important ones.

I had a blast writing this series! Look for another one soon.

The difference between a fan and a critic is very subtle. Fanaticism and criticism are both big, strong opinions directed at an object, and both are based on love for the thing. Think of a movie you roundly hated. Chances are, you wanted it to be better. You wanted it to meet your expectations, so that you could tell others how much you loved it. The movie missed a chance to make itself another fan, in you. When it let you down, All that passion and anticipation, and all that need that was inside you to love that movie, got channeled into complaints – after all, you couldn’t do anything to change the movie. So a critic is just a disappointed fan, and a fan is a potential critic if you lose them.

Now you yourself are the business, so I ask that you play a slightly different game, one which will help you remain removed from the passionate, yet problematic, critic/fan continuum. See the critic and the fan as two personalities inside you, but not you. Let them talk to you, to voice their opinions, but don’t let them control your choices. They are powerful advisors, but they are not in charge of the business. Does this make any sense?

You, instead, are the creator, who holds court to the critic and the fan voices inside you. These two sides of you are not just figments of your imagination… They are – I guarantee it – mirrored by actual customers out there in the world. That’s why it is important to respect their opinions and listen to them. But you must not let them take over. The critic who is allowed to be in charge will tear the whole thing down because it’s not perfect. The fan, when put in charge, makes excuse after excuse why those little things (like timely customer service) don’t matter.

Three Projects for Brilliance

Branding is, put simply, conscious awareness of the messages your company sends. Many interpret this to be an exercise of message control, but there is little hands-on control actually at play, when it comes to your brand. What a master of their brand does instead (and this takes a lot less effort) is to stop fighting reality.  Rather than seeing branding as a constant effort of image control, I approach the  house cleaning from within. This is the difference between hiring an exterminator every year, and making a house that bugs don’t want to live in. There are some personal projects I ask my clients to take on, and to the extent that they do them, the more brilliant their brand is.

Project A: Surrender to Reality

You would like the company to be perfect, but it never will be. Ideals are nice to inspire you, but then you must remove yourself from them. Reality will never work the way you want it to,. Instead, focus on what you actually have: the history you have built, and the things about your company that really work well.  On the other hand, surrender to your limitations. I ran a company or two into the toilet by pretending to be more capable than I actually was. Know your value, and know your limitations. Again, it’s all about awareness.

Project B: List Your Value

“Value” is thought of as such a relative thing, the typical business owner ends up spinning in circles and having no sense of it. Yet you have qualities that you can quantify. Make a list of the things that increase your value in the minds of yourself and your fans. These look like: “I have a knack for ____,” or “I have a degree in ____.” They are credentials, abilities, anecdotes of success, abilities, and traits that you and your company have.  I call this the “value up” list. I like my clients to have on hand at least 20 of these units of value.

Have this list in your mind. Know that these are the things that make you valuable. You can rely on them. They become a strong base of talking points when you’re put on the spot to deliver some proof of your worth. See how this is much more powerful than image control? While the marketing director for such and such makes sure everyone has the slogans memorized, and challenges the company to meet an ideal, you are working in the real value points of your company, with no white lies or hesitation.

Project C: List Your Limitations

I also encourage my clients to make a “value down” list. These are several major points that decrease the company’s value in the eyes of its audience. These are biggies, so I only ask for a handful of very meaningful ones – about 5 to 7. These look like: “not enough capital,” or, “loose boundaries.” It’s good to dig deep into the root problem of something on the surface, to see what’s going on systemically. Otherwise, this project can be a depressing and futile endeavor. For instance, the systemic, root problem behind a disheveled appearance at the monthly mixer could be that you lack a sense of personal style, or don’t know how to groom yourself. So scratch the surface with each of the drawbacks you notice, to see what could be the deeper issue. And then just be.

While you can do something about the points on the value down list by making incremental changes, I ask that you not make an effort to change them, as much as know that they exist. When the energy and moments come to improve them, you will, because you know they are there. Keep your critic at bay, and surrender to the existence of flaws. Everyone, everyone, everyone has them. You are ahead of the curve when you know what they specifically are.

I’ve seen it time and again with the coach, and with any business owner who takes on these three projects. Their fans appreciate the company’s self-knowledge, the true mastery of their brand. Knowing your value up, your value down, and acting in partnership with reality, you will be a walking, talking, honest advocate for your business. Choices you make will reflect reality, rather than attempts at the ideal, which can never be attained. And you’ll be a brilliant, shining star in your industry.

Up next: The Conclusion

Challenge #5 – Testing Your Metal

In many ways, having a coach is an end-around to having a therapist. And yet, many coaches are former or current clinical therapists who have turned to alternative methods, having been disappointed with the effectiveness of their formal training. Still, to the outside consumer, it is a new and confusing frontier industry with a hefty fringe element. Marketing a coach isn’t easy.

I mentioned one of the elephant-in-the-room drawbacks to being a coach is the reputation that precedes you: this notion that coaches are typically pseudo-psychologists with little lasting effect.  Add to that the belief that a coach is a luxury item in a tight economy. Add to that the difficulty in communicating the benefits of your particular coaching methods. Add to that the reality of having a group of close colleagues who also are looking for clientele. Add to that the marketing myopia that comes with being a lone wolf. Start believing the beliefs others have about you as a coach, and suddenly the prospect of getting a healthy set of clients looks bleak. The competition of coaching isn’t other coaches, it’s the prevailing beliefs that surround you.

ELIMINATING COMPETITION

Competition is ultimately an illusion: thought-forms and compelling evidence that convince you and others that there isn’t enough business to go around. Other coaches become the enemy, and customers don’t understand you.

In branding, we talk about the difference between position and positioning. Position is the actual description an audience applies to you: your stereotype. Position is the inelegant, unadorned typecasting thrown your way before you walk into the room. Positioning is the art of transforming that position into something different and appealing. The position of Kaiser Permanente is “HMO.” Their positioning is “friendly neighborhood health advocate.” OK, wipe the slime off, and realize that positioning isn’t quick, and it isn’t always pretty. But there are ways a sole proprietor has an advantage over giant corporations in weaving a convincing and trustworthy story for being different and valuable – especially a coach.

Step 1 to eliminating competition is to start with your position, and get OK with it. Brace yourself to the reality that others will see you as an unnecessary, high-priced pseudo-psychologist with fringe skills, until you prove otherwise. Pause. Repeat. This will build up some steel in you, as you find the answer within yourself to the difficult question: how will I prove otherwise? Acknowledge that there is nothing you can do to convince others that your industry has value. A crusade to change deeply ingrained beliefs can be done, but it takes at least a billion more dollars than you have.

Step 2 is to leave your industry behind. You don’t belong to it, thanks to your unique product, suited for a specific audience. That audience is going to see you as a valuable asset, rather than extraneous. There are customers who need what you provide, and, when it comes down to it, only you deliver it.This is your niche of one. Once you find it, you can throw yourself deeply into it while recognizing the general typecast of a coach that you started with. The coach with a niche allows his or her identity to flow between the two extremes with no damage.

Step 3 is to collaborate with your coaching colleagues. They do something you don’t, and you do something they don’t, so there is no competition. Make it clear to them the specifics of what you do, and ask them for a clear description of what they do. Once the difference is clear, ideas for collaborative efforts emerge. Armed with very different products, you can appear in the same room and feel no scarcity or strife. Moreover, your colleagues can help you define your product more, and you can hep them do the same.

Step 4 involves sticking to your guns. If someone comes to you for something your colleague offers, or something you do not do, refer them away from you. It may be difficult to pass up business, but it pays off to not wander from your specific product and audience for a while. In doing so, you’re maintaining a boundary that will get stronger, and clarify to others your intention. Every time you hold yourself to a principle, your outgoing messages become clearer and more amplified. Put simply, people can trust what you say.

Step 5 addresses the bigger elephant that has been in the room – your own beliefs. Having no clientele and a strong type cast upon you can coalesce into a depressing and crippling self image. How much do you believe in what you do? How different do you believe you are? In the face of all the beliefs surrounding you, the most important thing you can do is wake up every morning, look in the mirror with the mantra: I am brilliant. Give yourself regular proof that you are brilliant.

You are brilliant

What’s true is that everything has been done before. The difference between plagiarism and originality is the addition of one’s particular experiences and ideas. I revolutionized a few already-existing concepts of branding and I feel full ownership of what I’ve developed. But I have no problem with giving credit to my sources. I simply have a unique perspective and training that makes the concepts demonstrably my own. Coaches I’ve worked with give credit to the originators of the concepts they use, and move beyond them with improvements and enhancements.

In short, find ways to leave the nest of your past, and the hermit’s cave of your crippling beliefs. Competition is an illusion, thanks to carving out a niche and quieting the voices in your head. I know firsthand how real that illusion can look, and I find the ways in and out of it every day. Just remember: you’re brilliant, and you’re unique.

Next up:

Challenge #4 – Making Yourself Brilliant

This is another early question a coach gets asked, usually preceding a sweaty pause, and a deer-in-headlights stare. Okay, you know that has to end before you can have any success, right? The answer to that question must flow out of you as easily as your full name and the time of day. It’s not easy, and could take a couple years to get fluent in describing your product in a compelling way. This part of building your brand is a bit like learning how to ride a bike. It’ll be easy eventually, but you’ve got to be willing to look like a fool while you learn.

In the first installment of this series, I stressed that so much of your brand has to do with your audience. Make it your business to know your audience well – their preferences, their needs, their peculiar behaviors. If you can predict some of these things, you can build value into your products that meets the common elements of your audience’s personalities. Now that could sound rather dry, so here’s another way to say it:

It’s easier to talk to someone I know.

So define your audience and don’t be afraid to get specific. Stay-at-home-moms; C-Level executives in the health sector ; office managers; recent college graduates; single men over 40; general contractors; gymnasts… these are all sufficiently specific audiences, each with a population of over 1 million people worldwide. Is 1 million customers enough for you? Find a group that really pairs well with what you have to offer, and go after it with tenacity. Having a specific audience liberates you from the burden of caring about anyone who doesn’t fit into that category. If you’re serving single men over 40, you don’t have to worry about what single women over 40 think of you or your product. But those single men over 40 are the most important people in the world. So specifying the audience is going to free up a lot of energy to concentrate on the people who matter most.

When you do start concentrating on a specific group, the products that will serve them become clearer. You may have had some ideas, but now that you’re focused, you’ll find the products come alive. This is because you’re living inside the head of your audience, and seeing much more clearly what they want and need, as well as their challenges. The audience can define the product for you, as long as you have a passion for serving those people. Single men over 40 have specific needs, fears, and challenges in their lives. Do they want to find a life partner, or do they want to remain a confirmed bachelor? I don’t know – I’m married, and under 40. I bet they like to travel and have fun…  After I sit in the mind of that audience for about a minute, I realize I have little interest, nor knowledge base, for that group. But someone out there reading this may want to take up the charge of serving them.

The Concept You Own

I’ve been speaking general branding so far, and now I’m going to share something that really helps coaches brand themselves. I call it the “key concept.” As your audience comes into focus, and the products get clearer, the challenges of describing them, teaching them, making them instantly understood, still exist for a coach. I look at a roast beef sandwich, and I instantly know what it is. I can judge it against other roast beef sandwiches I’ve seen, and make an educated decision as a consumer whether to buy or move on. Collaborative communication skills, integrated body-mind awareness, increasing vitality –  roast beef sandwiches they are not. So to make them discernible, visible, and appealing, it may help to focus your coaching around a key concept.

One of my main key concepts is clarity. It involves reducing noise and amplifying signal. I apply that concept to just about everything I do with my audience of brand-minded business owners. The concept of clarity is a well that I can pull limitless ideas and energy from, and create valuable products that serve my audience. My audience gets to know me as an expert of clarity, and seek me out when they need clarity with their brand. You see how it works?

When you’re working with elusive, complicated ideas, as a coach often does, it’s good to have a recognizable object for others to grasp. Some of my clients’ key concepts are: “internal stability,” “the boy inside the man,” “matching lifestyle to vision,” “the exceptional leader,” “the drama-free office.” They claim ownership of these concepts, and are sought out as experts in them.

The key concept is a subject you have a passion for. It is something you can talk about all day long, and something that, even though you may not have realized it, you’ve been studying your whole life. Look at your past, even when you were young. What were you spending your hours doing? What were you observing with detail? These hold clues to your key concept. You can have more than one, but one is all you need.

What is your key concept, when you consider your passion, your audience, and what you have to offer?

Others can own the same concepts as you, and the world doesn’t end. In fact, another company that champions the same concept can be a valuable collaborator. If you find one, put on a conference!With the smallest of audiences, there’s plenty of business to go around, and your particular style and delivery of the concept is going to appeal to some more than others.And this gets to a larger point of eliminating the competition. It’s what is known as differentiation in traditional branding circles – but what you can actually create, if you brand yourself well – is a field of business free from competition and scarcity. This is what I’ll focus on with my next article.

Next up:

Challenge #3 – Competition

In this series, I’d like to share the common challenges, and some solutions, that have come from building the brands of more than a dozen coaches and speakers over the past several years. We’ll start with the question most on the mind of a fledgling coach:

#1 What Do You Call Yourself?

You’d think that a bunch of bad coaching would make it easier for a coach of quality to make a mark for themselves. While that is ultimately true, the problem with swimming in a sea of crap is that the prevailing perception of the entire industry is tarnished. Because it is quite easy to quit your 9-5 job and start telling others what to do with their lives, without much regard for results or process, the term “life coach” is almost a dirty word. It doesn’t carry a badge of quality with it. The conversation about what my clients will title themselves is inevitable. The solution to a sullied, industry-wide reputation, is to differentiate from that industry completely. My clients, therefore, are typically not “life coaches.”

When other factors come into place, like paring down the audience, unique offering, and so on, “life coach” doesn’t accurately describe what they do, anyway. For example, a client, whose audience is primarily top-level executives and policy makers, is an “advisor to exceptional leaders.” Another client, who works with corporate executives in the midst of transitions, is an “executive coach and consultant.” My client who tried on several titles before being comfortable with the title, “relationship coach,” needed to discover her unique style and delivery of a specific set of skills. Once she did, however, what she called herself became less significant, and she could concentrate on the wonderful relationship skills she had to offer. Reciprocally, the relationship skills she developed gave substance to her title.

GET CLEAR

This last point is essential. In brand strategy, I play with the boundary between the physical and the energetic. What I’ve noticed is that the more clear and passionate the company is on what it’s offering, the less significant the window dressing becomes. Coca Cola needs to work very hard on its appearance, because it’s just fizzy brown sugar water. So it spends billions of dollars on its image and position in the marketplace. Betty Burger in Santa Cruz, CA makes great burgers with quality ingredients and great service. People flock to Betty Burgers daily, without much help from their signage or advertising. People are telling other people about the great burger they had, and where to find it. People are returning because they liked what they got last time, and feel good after eating a Betty Burger. I don’t know how often a person feels actually good after drinking a Coke, but I know it’s not that many. So they need to be convinced by advertising to come back. With Betty Burger, the advertising is built into the product itself. This is great marketing – what I call an “internal” approach. It has a little to do with image, and a lot to do with principled strategy. Focusing on appearances has its place, but it is the tip of the marketing iceberg.

So it is with a coach, who begins marketing efforts very concerned about how they will appear to others, what to call themselves, what their slogan will be, and how to show up with graphics. What ends up the real meat of the work is what they are offering and how they will deliver it, who they will deliver it to, and how to clearly communicate it. Graphics play a part, but it is only some colors and shapes. A title is important, but it’s only a title.  Very few of my coaching brands use a slogan, because adding one is unnecessary.

AUDIENCE FIRST

I mention it here and at the end: focus on your audience, and pare it down so it can be told to others in a matter of 3 seconds. If a description of your audience takes longer than that, or if it has “and,” “or”, or “also” in it, you’re thinking to broadly, and people will get sleepy listening to you.

Foremost, a title is suited to an audience – the more specific, the better. One of my clients found new business soaring when he pared his audience down to men only. That’s a bold move, and it works for his style of coaching. And guess what? Some women choose to be his customer anyway, though it’s rare. It’s a mirage that you’re giving things up when you pare down and simplify your offering. See it like water coming out of a faucet: By paring down your audience, you’re creating a hose for your flow of business to pass through. A big, wide hose ain’t going to water the plants, and your flow is going to look like a weak trickle.

Just so you know, that client who works with just men doesn’t really have a title, it’s just his name, but under it, he puts “empowered leadership,” which is a description of what he offers to the men he works with. That’s a friendly end-around for those who just can’t settle on a suitable title.

A SIMPLE SCIENCE

So what do you call yourself? Well, what are you offering, and what is the name of a person who offers that? Moreover, who are you delivering it to, and what would they feel comfortable calling you? Figuring out your title is not brain surgery… it’s more like rocket science. You’ve got to know where you’re going before you plan your trajectory, and there’s a lot of calculation involved. But much of the variables drop away when you become clear on your mission, and the unknowns come into focus vwhen you know what’s waiting for you out there.

What’s waiting for you out there, as a single person offering a complicated, hard-to-describe service with a hidden benefit in a sea of crappy competition, is the customer group suited just for your product. Focus on the audience, and the product becomes clear.

Next up:

Challenge #2 – Defining the Product

If you’re growing a garden, you can’t command the plants to grow, and you can’t force the crops to be delicious. A gardener sets the conditions for a healthy garden, and works with the uncontrollable variables of weather and soil, as well. In the same way, an artist sets the conditions for creative thinking to come about, works with the uncontrollable variables of the environment, and is ready when creative thought comes. That’s not always convenient, when it comes to design work, so the marriage of art and commerce has always been a shaky relationship.

THE SEAT OF CREATIVITY

There is a side of our minds that is very unknown to us. If we were conscious of everything happening in the brain and in our bodies, we would be too busy and not able to drive cars, or even assemble sentences. We’re lucky that most of our functions are automatic and unconscious. That way we don’t need to command our stomachs to digest or our hearts to beat. It is my experience that the most creative thought, by its nature, lives in the unconscious realm, along with the tummy and the ticker.

We are at our most creative when we dream, and it is the very time that our conscious mind is at its most disengaged. Wake up and recount a dream, and it quickly fades, because it is often so disjointed and wild. Creativity is a balance of consciousness and unconsciousness. This is why artists are so often daydreamers (We’re walking around with half our focus on the wackiest of imaginings, so you need to make sure we’re paying attention to you before you talk to us.). So when we want creativity to occur, we need to disengage the consciousness – give it a back seat, let it rest, tell it to stop trying to control things for a while.

Working with deadlines, trying to be creative on command, or direct the stream of consciousness can be futile, for that reason. It’s what makes commercial design so tough sometimes, and why creatives so often get burned out on the job. I’ve become used to setting some expectations for what I will create, then letting go of the expectations altogether, and seeing what naturally arises. Once my unconscious mind is left to assemble something, I’ll grab on to the reins and guide it my way. It’s much like riding an elephant – an analogy I use often: I want the elephant to go somewhere, but ultimately, the elephant goes where it wants to. If necessary, I’ll get off the elephant.

And, hey, creative thinking isn’t always good. It’s rather deconstructive. For example, we don’t really want anyone to operate heavy machinery “creatively.” Similarly, for anything to get done, we have to stop thinking creatively and execute a plan. There isn’t a lot of creative thinking involved in carrying out orders. The army pounds independent thought out of the minds of it’s soldiers for a reason. Business requires the same focus of execution, and that’s why artistic types are so often terrible with finances. Reciprocally, that’s why the creative-minded businessperson is a rare bird. It’s okay – everyone is naturally creative, we just have tendencies and preferences that suit our lives best. Our built-in propensity for creativity largely depends on how we were raised, and what we were taught to believe. But there are ways to set the stage for creativity in our own minds, and in our work environments, so that creativity can occur when it’s wanted.

SETTING THE CONDITIONS

How does one cultivate a creative mind? With gardening, we know water, fertilizer and sunlight are the base ingredients. With creativity, we could say the base ingredient is curiosity.

Curiosity is the act of putting a question mark on what you observe.

The sky is blue? Is it? Why don’t I observe it closer, with a curious eye, and see what I notice about it that isn’t blue….

That man is smarter than me? Is he? Hmmm… Let me look at him with curiosity and see what contradicts this notion of “smarter than me.”

I’m a nice person? Am I? Hmmm… I wonder how I am not nice. What does “not nice me” look like?

Curiosity is as simple as it is dangerous. When you can put anything into question, everything is up for questioning. Curiosity can spawn deconstruction and reconstruction. It makes us laugh, makes us think, and makes us crazy. It unhinges beliefs, which are rules that the conscious mind relies on to function. So it gets into foul territory with those who want a predictable universe. And that’s why it must end somewhere along the line. Design needs to be predictable in order to function. So the curiosity must end, and what is known must be integrated into the new crazy thing that has been created.  What’s more, the creation won’t actually reach others if it keeps being deconstructed and wondered about. So in the midst of the creative process, there is an end to curiosity, as things are decided upon and put into action.

Another way I like to set the conditions for creativity, and get curious, too, is to let go of whatever thoughts I’m holding on to. It could be a thought that my way is the best way, or that time is running out, or that I have more energy than I do. When I let go of sticky thoughts and surrender to what is actually occurring – bringing my attention to what is presently happening – I’m setting my consciousness to a state of patience and ease. It works for me, and it helps me collaborate creatively. It’s not always convenient that I need a break, or want to work outside for a while, but I’ve noticed that going with the flow is usually what’s best for the whole project, and others in it. It’s very wonderful indeed to find a work environment that allows this kind of flow to happen, and it is those companies that are the most fruitfully innovative.

Those are two ways that work for me, when I want to be creative. I can forget that I can’t force innovative thinking at the drop of a hat. If anything is frustrating about creativity, it’s that I wish I could command it more directly. But to me, creativity is not magical – its a matter of partnering with what I can’t control.

Every creative person does the company a favor by speaking up when a creative misstep is about to happen. So it goes that creative staffer must risk a sweaty conversation with the boss in order to keep the brand intact. For a few seconds, it can feel like you’re putting your job on the line. But being able to give frank feedback is a skill prized by higher-ups.

Giving and receiving feedback is an art form – a balanced dance of listening and speaking. Not everyone is good at it, and no one is good at it all the time. But that’s the point, and the saving grace: no one is perfect, and all opinions are just opinions. I like to remind myself that everyone is just making it up and no one is a guru, especially me. It takes a humble nature to receive feedback about artwork, and you have to know how to receive feedback if you want to give it.

THE ARTIST’S DILEMMA

What does it take to listen? To receive creative opinions well? Many artists fail to separate themselves from their work. When an unfavorable opinion is voiced about the work, the artist hears it about himself, and can perceive it as an attack. After all, many well-thought decisions could have been behind the work, and now it’s getting panned. The translation could be, “you don’t make good choices.” Boy, that can be tough to hear.

It’s funny how easily a logo, a piece of collateral, a web page, can appear like my very own child. It’s a part of me. I often validate my personal worth through my designs. But in order to serve the project, to serve the brand and finally the company’s bottom line, I must send my child into battle, and be okay with it getting slaughtered. That’s because it’s not a child, and, ultimately, it’s not “mine.”

With every moment of feedback I must remember to put a boundary between myself and my artwork. It’s not something I do once and then I’m done. It’s a mental hold. By doing so I’m serving the project, and putting my ego in its rightful place.
Let your creative work go… Are you holding to an opinion because it serves the project, or because you want to be right? I think, more than anyone, a creative mind is naturally prepared to let go, but it needs to train itself a bit in the beginning to do so.

THE ROLE OF LOVE

Imagine the boss says, “I really like the way you used blue. I’d love to see more blue.” That’s valuable feedback, and could be the start of a really important creative discussion, especially if you disagree. The huge determinant point, though, is your personal opinion of your boss. Okay, this may sound funny, but in order to give an receive feedback artfully, you gotta bring a big ball of love to the creative table. If you don’t love your boss for what he or she brings, you’re not going to engage in a creative discussion. You’re going to resent the boss, and reluctantly go along with what you think is a bad suggestion. This kills brands.

Most designers won’t bother to engage in a disagreement, and it’s because they don’t value the creative opinion of someone who, in their opinion, “doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” Endowing another with your love and respect is an internal mental, energetic exercise that must be practiced. What helps is endowing the project with love, and endowing yourself with love, too. Just blanket the whole thing with a lot of love: the process, the disagreement, the discussion, the results (whatever they may be). Love every moment of the process, and you can let the creative elements truly be the pawns on the battlefield. The way to do this is allow your personal feelings to get involved in the creative process.

BRAND GUARDIAN

Have you noticed how the heart symbol often shows up on the depiction of a “good” knight? A knight without a heart is a poor guardian – selfish, dangerous, unpredictable. What the heart adds is a sense of loyalty, a spacious regard that includes others. To be a brand guardian, you must increase the love you’re willing to feel.

Many creatives keep their hearts closed off – to protect their feelings, and to keep from pissing others off. If I don’t consciously increase my capacity for love, I fall back into a gollum-like view of the world. I call this persona “Igor.” Igor is the one who engages in self-sacrifice out of spite, who does what he’s told and makes no waves. Igor is the ultimate servant, and he has no heart. I would never trust Igor to defend the brand. He doesn’t speak up, and he doesn’t value feedback. This is me when I forget to allow my feelings to play a part in the creative process.

INCREASING THE CAPACITY FOR FEELINGS

I’ll share a few simple ways I increase my capacity to feel. I find it funny how physical they are… you’d think perhaps that it’s just all mental, but that’s not the case. When you begin to feel in areas where you haven’t been allowing yourself to feel, you may tear up, get all mushy, or even feel joyful when you’re talking to others. It’s those feelings that, whether they know it or not, executives count on from their creatives.

1. Tap (or pound) on your chest. A few friendly knocks to the center of your chest, right in front of your heart, wakes up that area. For years, I didn’t like anyone touching that part of me. It was one of the most uncomfortable feelings of attack I could feel without actually getting hurt. Now I find that tapping there quickly opens up my chest, and my capacity to feel feelings in my chest instantly increases. I needed a friend to tap on my chest a whole lot at first, so I could get over the awkward feelings. Now I can give myself a few taps and feel a big opening.

2. Spread open your arms and chest. Doing what looks like a soaring eagle pose stretches the chest area, and gets some flow there. It’s unfortunate that the common pose of a creative is the opposite: hunched over the laptop, mouse, or drawing board, arms tucked in and head bowed down. Bringing some opposite position – chest open, arms spread, back arched – prepares you for those harsh moments of sharing the work and letting it get destroyed.

3. Eye contact. Looking at someone directly may not come naturally. I often notice my eyes darting around, only resting on another’s gaze for milliseconds at a time. However, prolonged eye contact (and I’m talking 5 seconds… 10 seconds…) is an exercise in true collaboration.

Those are some exercises to bring feelings to the forefront. In a broader view, these three actions – including feelings, mutual respect, and disidentifying from the work – allow me to be a strong brand guardian. I can speak up when necessary, and I can infuse the work with suggestions from others, making the collaboration all the more satisfying for everyone.

It leads me to think that companies should really stop looking to graphic designers for their branding. It leads me to think that companies should stop expecting their marketing people to be brilliant at branding, too. There is a psychological reality behind the customer-company relationship that those two fields do not address. Both are often shallow pools that don’t allow the customer to dive deep.

I love Godaddy for its amazing customer service by phone. I love Southwest for its streamlined, levity-filled travel experience. I love The Counter for the way I can build a custom burger with whatever I can think of. Their graphics were professional and reflective of their personalities, and I imagine that’s what got me in the door. But once I was in, why did I stay? Why did I come back? Why did I tell my friends I like these companies? It was what they offered beyond image. It certainly wasn’t Danica Patrick that got me into Godaddy.

I have long believed that a product is a service is an experience is a relationship. Ultimately, the products I use are objects of my relationship with the company that made them. If that relationship is tarnished, I stop using the product. I stopped using Yahoo! for web hosting because they increased the price of my domains by 400%. It was hard moving on. It would have been easier to stay. But they got greedy, and I didn’t want to deal with them anymore. Netflix is making their most loyal customers angry, by announcing that they’ll charge for their two services separately. As great as the product is, it’s going to send some folks looking for other options. It’s not about the product, it’s about the relationship.

The same dynamics that happen with a friendship are at play in that customer-company relationship. Character matters. Trust matters. Reliability matters. And, yes, image matters. If a person is attractive, you’ll do the first date – but you’ll stop dating if you find that person is ugly inside.

I’d like companies to stop putting such a heavy focus on design, and more on experiences and relationships that they’re creating. Many do get it, and they have a staff dedicated to relationships. I think that’s great. It’s clear who does and who doesn’t. And it’s clear that a company’s character is based on the people who run it. Every company benefits from hiring people who know what a good relationship is.

This latest version of Creative Director is going to produce results, and everybody’s going to have fun along the way. That can be a very valuable promise, when you’ve had to make compromises in the name of creative talent.

More than anything, I love to direct creative teams beyond the expectations of a company and its audience. I do this by fostering the creative environment, rather than with ego or pressure. Whether this is done in-house, or in managing accounts, it doesn’t matter. I find the projects that I can become a partner with passion, and I become the most important member of its audience.

7+ years of experience means a lot in the world of design and branding. It means I’ve walked through many fires, and gathered several skills that only time and experience can provide. Here are some new features of the upgrade I bring as a creative director:

PATIENCE

These days, patience comes naturally to me, and to some whom I’ve worked with, it’s legendary.

So many creatives are like wild horses when it comes to unleashing their creativity. When that energy is directed at others, expecting them to produce something of quality, how can the result be anything but filled with tension? The personality of a wild horse is more than a company – or a tight team – can take day in day out.  I take pride in my patience – with other creatives, as well as clients. Sure, I’ll vent about the fifth revision after a deadline. Who wouldn’t? But I’ll maintain a sense of reality and calm. What is, is.

PRODUCTION WISDOM

I’ve been the bane and best friend to pressmen – often requesting the impossible, and often producing materials we both hold up proudly as our babies. Knowing the realities of print, the various techniques and limitations, makes me a skilled broker of quality work. I know how to navigate, place, and take responsibility, making me an honest broker as well as a skilled one.

FUNCTIONAL AESTHETICS

I’ve gotten all my art-for-art’s-sake work out of the way. Now, I’m a staunch believer in the function of graphic design. If it wins awards but doesn’t meet goals, what’s the point? I know design is the first few seconds of a customer’s engagement, and the rest is relationships. If a design doesn’t lead to a relationship that benefits the company, it is a failure. That being said, in that first few seconds, the entire relationship is established – a customer’s dreams, feelings, and expectations are formed. That’s why I like to stay with design until those visceral, mental, spiritual connections are instant.

COLLABORATION

A creative director isn’t a one man show, but can be if necessary. The rest of the time, collaboration is required, and it is an art that only comes with practice. My style of collaboration involves genuine listening, and drawing out the creative ideas of others. Mine is an inclusive style that fosters personal creative responsibility in all who participate.

How do I do this? I can easily conjure a game that leads to new ideas. I can let others take the lead, and inspire from the sidelines. I like to foster an environment of respect and equality wherever I can, because I know when a creative mind is as comfortable as it is confident, it produces great ideas. And we all have creative minds on some level.

As a director, I am the guardian of BS. I can smell design missteps – of tone, language, and style – by holding true to the brand, and to the people that matter most: company’s biggest fans.

BRAND GUIDELINES

I write and hold to deeply effective brand guidelines, and I know how to follow those already in place. I take branding very seriously. Where I sense branding is shallow, I bring more depth and meaning, so that all involved can see it. Branding is the bedrock of a fanatic customer base, so I like to design with brand in mind.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

While I’ve been through many experiences, one skillset that I’ve grown from scratch is my ability to articulate a vision to others. I’m a skilled communicator – to large and small audiences, to friendly and hostile crowds.

What I bring most effectively to an office is top-notch feedback skills. Keeping myself centered, I can be frank and I can bring diplomacy.

I’m formally trained in communication and integrity skills. Whereas many who learn what I know go on to be highly paid executive coaches, and advisors to world leaders, my passion is in the creative world.  You can pay a coach to transform your team, or you can start with a team leader who knows how to listen.

UPGRADE NOW!

Upgrade your creative department by bringing me in. Give me an account that has been a problem for you. Give me a staff that needs to be inspired. You’ll find this latest version of Creative Director is as effective as it is rare. For a free demo, call me.