Who are You?

So, who are you?

Identity is a key word for individuals and organizations.  For individuals, identity is the foundation for self-esteem, purpose, direction, impact, and vision.  For organizations, it is equally important.  It is the foundation for unity, clarity, teambuilding, purpose, strategy, and sustainable success. 

When considering identity, it is essential to start with who you are today not who you want to become.  I like to refer to the concept of location before destination.  Before we can talk about where we are going, we need to know where we are starting from.

From an organizational standpoint (focus on organization as opposed to individual although the process is identical):

Who are you today?

·       What do customers think of you?

·       What do your actions reflect your values to be?

·       What do you talk about most? (what you talk about most matters most)

·       What do you invest in – time, money, and thinking?

·       How do you currently define success – that tells a lot about identity?

If there is no clear distinction after responding to these questions, your organization may not have a clear identity.  Many organizations lack a clear identity.  There are many businesses that merely open the doors and just find a way to struggle through the day.  The people that work there are just employees and do what they must to navigate through their tasks.  They put in their time and go home.  Those in positions of authority struggle to meet objectives.  There is no clear strategy or purpose.  There is no unity and no semblance of engagement. 

Whether you are in a situation where you have an identity that you would like to change or in one that is not clear at all, the process to move toward who you want to become is the same.  Before we start taking steps to clarify and change or even develop a strategy to execute, let’s look at the process for defining or refining who we want to become.

1.      What are your inherent strengths and passions?  In other words, what are you currently good at and really interested in regarding your business?  We can build on these attributes and interests.

2.      What does the market landscape look like?  What opportunities exist in your market with respect to customers or prospective customers?  What does the competitive landscape look like in your market?  Where do you see yourself having an opportunity to be successful?

3.      What are your financial needs for success as you define it? 

4.      What attributes of an identity would be appealing to your people?  What would they be willing to unite around?  What do they want to be known for?  Can you make it appealing to everyone in the organization?

5.      What segments, markets, and types of customers match your interests, capabilities, and people?  Identity may lead to partnership relationships not supplier agreements. 

Here’s an example:

Let’s say you work through those questions and come back with the term “reliable”.  We want an identity of being a reliable organization.  We want to be reliable to our customers in getting their product when they want it.  We want to be reliable in our manufacturing process to ensure customers are taken care of but also that we have a predictable work environment for our people.  We want to be reliable as leaders in that we have great credibility with our people.  We want our people to be reliable in their approach to work.  Everything we build around in our facility is based on reliability.  Our systems, spending, meetings, discussions, and metrics reflect it.  We don’t just focus on reliability, we become a reliable organization.

Another example could be based around a particular capability to the market. While we may run some products that don’t meet that market focus, we hang our hat on being great at something that becomes our base of business.  It’s what we are known for and get paid for in our business.  Our market clearly knows who we are in that approach!

It could be around the term “connected”.   We connect with customers, suppliers, team members, and others in the organization to drive our culture and success. 

It could be “team”.  We have a team approach in everything we do to take advantage of varying skills and really accentuate the concept of team. 

It could be “customer experience”, “quality”, or any other number of key aspects of a business.  While every organization wants some element of all these things, identity goes much deeper.  It engulfs every aspect of the operation, not just something we do so support some aspect of the business.  It’s who we become!

The key to defining or refining identity is to realize that it means we have to say no to other good things.  Narrow the focus of what you can become at every level of the organization.  You will still do some other necessary things, but you will be known for just a few things.  You will only be known for a few things, what will those be?

Once you clarify identity, you can start to develop a strategy that you will execute to drive toward that identity, pursuing that resulting purpose, and achieving the results you desire.  There will be things you need to start doing.  Equally important, there will be things you need to stop doing.  You will set goals accordingly.  You will communicate broadly.  You will get others involved as much as possible.  

Who you are becoming is much more important than what you are achieving.  Identity leads to sustainable success, navigates through market variability, and perseveres through unforeseen obstacles. 

Identity…It might be something you want to consider with your organization as you look to enhance team building, increase engagement, clarify your presence in your market, and/or refine your focus to drive improved results.