To succeed in this new era, we need to attract top talent and clients.  We need to be accessible and have a presence across multiple platforms. If we want to standout, we also need to offer something different and better – something others want to be a part of and associated with.  It is our brand that can help do this.

Building our ideal brand takes strategy, investment, and time.

Having a successful business and engaged employees are critical inputs, but ultimately it will be our culture, our connections, and our ability to transform and inspire impact that positions us to win in ways others cannot.

Culture

Culture is a set of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors – spoken or assumed – that guide our actions.  Our culture eventually becomes our brand. This is especially true today with social media and our connected economy.

“A positive culture of excellence, growth, diversity, inclusion, and encouragement takes work.”

–Peter C. Atherton

A positive culture of excellence, growth, diversity, inclusion, and encouragement takes work.  Similar to organizational growth and profits, culture is an outcome – the result of a series of strategic inputs and activities and produced outputs over time; all of which can be tracked and measured.  

Our ideal culture unites and helps protect and guide us.  It serves as the “mortar” that solidifies our values, it holds us together and helps leverage our different parts when stressed, and it connects us to a larger overall design and purpose.  

As with business strategy and employee engagement, training, and development, leaders must be “all-in” on establishing and maintaining the right culture – the type our best talent and ideal clients want to invest in and be associated with every day.  

Connection

We may have more “connections” today, but so many of us feel less “connected”.

Our ability to form and maintain meaningful relationships at the office and beyond has been compromised – often in the name of production and efficiency.  There is a widening gap between the connections and the experiences we want and those we have.  The same is true for our best talent.  

Designing our business process and talent development systems to increase connections in the following areas adds value, depth, and appeal to our brand.  They can also be platforms to help share our message to establish and elevate our brand:

• At the office
• Within the industry
• Outside of the industry
• At home and in our community
• With ourselves

Transformation

Transformation happens when we are changed in some way by an experience.  It is the highest level on the evolutionary economic model (see Part 2 of this series for more).  

In terms of building our brand and promoting loyalty and retention, what are some ways to design and customize your employee and client experiences to guide positive change?   

The following elements can be part of a transformation strategy:

• Coaching, mentoring, training, and employee resource groups
• Corporate impact and community service learning
• Solutions design
• Thought leadership

Impact

Impact is the difference we make in the world and in the lives of others.  

Our desire for impact today extends across generations, demographics, and discipline.  Impact attracts, and many industries make an incredible impact every day. That is something we should be proud of and talk about much more than we do.  But what about our impact on a firm level? What specific difference do we make? And how does that inspire those within and outside of our organization?

“Our desire for impact today extends across generations, demographics, and discipline.”

–Peter C. Atherton   

There are countless ways to do so, but the reality is that our impact on a firm level needs to extend beyond our projects to help us differentiate and build an in-demand brand.  This impact needs to reach well beyond our business and into the heart of an inspired and active mission and vision.

Between establishing culture, increasing connection, designing transformation, and inspiring impact, there’s a lot that goes into building an in-demand brand.  Unfortunately, for that very reason many organizations either won’t start or follow through. This, however, presents an ideal opportunity for growth-oriented leaders and firms to standout as they position themselves to win more through the challenges of today and the changes of tomorrow.  

Links to the previous parts of this series are provided here: Part 1 – Building Your Business and Part 2 – Building Your People.

To your winning,

PS – Are you a leader who wants to take your engineering, architecture, or construction-related firm to the next level?  Learn more and apply to become part of The AEC Leadership Mastermind.

PSS – Do you want to learn how to excel and prevent burnout in you and your organization?  Check out one of the most important chapters in “Reversing Burnout” for FREE by clicking HERE.