TES 079 - Defining Your Business Identity & Culture

Hey there, real quick before we jump into the episode, listen, if your earnings treadmill hasn't set you free yet, running faster won't either. Listen, hustle without principles just going to burn you out. So here's what I want for you. I want you to join me for my money machine experience live. It is three free trainings. Deep dive into how to escape the treadmill and build a money machine that actually works for you. All right, grab your spot here by going to moneymachinelive.com and I'll see you in the free training. Hey there, Mel Abraham here, the author of the number one best selling book the Entrepreneur's Solution and the founder of Thoughtpreneur Academy, where we teach you how to capture, package and monetize what you know, the ideas in your head, the wisdom and experience and expertise that you have so you can have greater impact, greater income and greater freedom. Welcome to this episode of the Entrepreneur Solution show. In the last episode, we talked a bit about about your personal identity and how that is important, how that impacts the people around you, how it impacts the results that you're getting taught you the personal identity cycle. In this episode, we're going to take that similar concept and talk about business defining your business Persona. You know, how is it that you create a business identity? And yes, a business does have an identity. A business.

Identity needs to be created in a specific way. In fact, some people might call it a brand. But the question is, how do your customers, how do the people around you, your team, your employees identify with your company and your brand? So we're going to jump into this in a minute. But you know what, there's an action guide that goes along with this. If you want to download the action guide, then just Simply go to melabraham.com session079 and you'll be able to download the action guide. And if you're not at your computer, maybe you're out running, you're doing some errands, you're listening to me on the podcast, then do me a favor, just text me, text mylegacy one word to 38470 and I'll send you the download link and get it when you get back to your computer. So you have all the tools and templates and worksheets to make that happen. So let's jump into this whole thing of the business Persona and why identity in a business is so important. And you know, this is kind of an interesting thing for a left brain thinker like me, an accountant, to talk about because you Know, a lot of times we get driven by results. And I'm looking at financial statements, I'm looking at all the types of things that are driving the financial results. But what's really driving the financial results are the people. And the people are driven by the identity. And so we need to do is really be specific and particular about creating identity. And so here's the thing. If we don't get this right, this is the challenge that we've got. If we don't get this right, ultimately we've got no direction as an organization, as a business. What happens is that everyone is doing their own thing. And you'll find, I mean, you may have seen it in, in the past in places that you've worked or places that you've even run where there wasn't a clear identity. And therefore people were doing their own thing and they weren't consistent in the choices they were making that led to supporting the identity that you intended to create. So what ultimately happens is we have no direction and people feel lost in the process. Second, what ultimately happens is that you end up taking on people that don't fit the organization. You hire the wrong people. Maybe they're skilled and talented, which is great, but they have the wrong value system and they don't have the right identity to be in your organization to support the identity that you, you are trying to create in the organization. And when you do that, you create conflict within an organization. So you might hire the wrong people, or you hire the right people, but you got them in the wrong seats. That's another thing. So what ultimately happens is that you, you put them in a place where you think that they can serve, but it doesn't fit. And when it doesn't fit, they're in the wrong seats. It's still going to create conflict and strife and problems in a business. So the other thing that will happen if we don't get this right is that you're not going to build loyalty. Brand loyalty comes from brand identity. In other words, people identify with the brand. They want to be part of the movement, they want to be part of the mission. They want to be part of what you stand for, whether it's team players, whether it's customers, whether it's your vendors. People want to be around it because they identify with it, with your identity. And if you're not clear on that identity, then people have nothing to identify with, and that becomes a problem. So you lose the loyalty of the people around you. But here's the cool thing. When we get this Right. Ultimately, when we get this right, you're going to create a group of people that are on a mission. They're driven. In fact, I had a conversation today with someone who's worked with this company for 20 years. He. He's made a ton of money and he doesn't have to work anymore. And the reason he works and the reason he goes to work each and every day and works long hours and travels a lot of miles for this business is because of the identity, the loyalty that he's created. He feels he's on a mission to serve, not only serve the customers that he's serving, to serve the mission of the organization, but to serve the people that work for him and the people that work around him, and a loyalty to that. So when we get this identity right, you're going to find that you're going to end up with people on a mission. The other thing that happens when we get this right is that people are going to be totally dedicated. They're going to be totally loyal and dedicated to the outcome. So I'll give you, for instance.

Back in the day, there was a scare with peanuts at one point in time. And one of my clients, Clif Bar, they create.

Health foods breakfast bars, not breakfast bar, but workout bars and those kinds of things. And because of the scare and nuts and everything, they started to have a problem with their organization. But all of the people in the organization, all the employees, all the team members, everyone, were so much engaged in their mission, in their identity, they said, not to worry. We're going to find alternatives. We're going to make this work. And they. They actually took a dip. But they came out the other side with a roar. It was. It was an amazing thing to watch, but it was because everyone rallied behind the mission of the company, the identity of the company, and dedicated themselves to finding the new outcome. Another. Another thing that comes to mind on this is, is if you ever watched the movie Apollo 13, it's an amazing movie. You gotta see it if you haven't seen it. I've watched it over and over again. But that one scene where Ed Harris walks into the boardroom and says, we got three people. We've got our astronauts stuck up there, and we got to figure out way to get them, get them back to earth safely and alive. And he dumps a box of stuff on the boardroom table and says, this is what they have up there to work with now. Let's figure out how to get them home safely with this. And that's what they did. They all worked together. They dedicated themselves to a specific outcome. And when you got the right identity and you put the right people in the right seats, you're going to end up with people that are going to dedicate themselves to getting that outcome, which ultimately creates a valued brand.

Your valued brand is going to be built on the foundation of the identity that you create in the marketplace. And that identity that you create out in the marketplace is a result of the things that you create internally in the organization.

So when we do this, we ultimately end up with people that are dedicated people on a mission and a valued brand. So we got to get it right. So in order to get it right, what do you need to know? And then how does the purse, the business Persona cycle work? So what do you need to know? Let's jump into that. Let's figure out what the key elements that you need to take away to know first, and then I'll. We'll walk you through the Persona cycle in a moment. So the first thing is this. The culture is your aquarium. It's an interesting paradigm, but think about this. If I've got a. An aquarium with some fish in it, and that aquarium isn't getting cleansed and it's dirty and the water is dirty, the fish start to get sick. So I take those fish out of the aquarium and I put them in clean water and they get healthy again. And then I take them back and I put them into the aquarium that's still dirty and I didn't clean it. What happens to them exactly? They're going to get sick again. See, the aquarium is the culture. The culture in your organization is either going to allow people, customers, everyone to thrive, or it's going to suck the life out of them. And that's the challenge. Your culture is going to be driving a whole lot of things in business. Culture will drive profits, drive actions, drive dedication, drive loyalty, drive a lot of things. So culture, then, the tactics are driven by the values. In other words, the actions you take are going to be actions that are consistent with the values that you set in your organization. I know that when we talk about businesses, we want a mission statement. We want a vision statement. Well, the vision and mission statement are built on the values that you want to create in the organization, that you want to support in the organization as you move forward in building a business which ultimately leads to this, is that that the results are driven as a byproduct of the identity that you create. In other words, with organizations. I know this is going to be alien coming from an accountant that. That loves numbers and results is that if I take care of the culture, if I take care of the team, if I do the right things and they dedicate, and I built a loyal following and I built a valued brand, the bottom line, results will be become the byproduct. If all I do is.

Crack a whip, beat them with a stick, and say, results, results, results. And that's the only thing that matters, is the numbers and the results. And it's the only thing I focus on. And I don't focus on culture, I don't focus on values, I don't focus on identity, then, yeah, I'm going to get some results. But are they going to last? I'm going to suggest not. I think that you're going to lose people. You're going to lose good people. They're not going to be dedicated. They're going to look for the first exit because they don't feel appreciated, they don't feel cared for, and they don't feel valued, and they don't feel fulfilled. And when those things are lacking in an organization, you've got a bad culture, a poison culture. And I think that ultimately it will show in your results. So let's get the aquarium right, let's get all of that right. The results will then become the byproduct. I'm not saying not to pay attention to the bottom line, but. But I am saying that if the bottom line is the only thing you're paying attention to, it's a mistake. Okay. And I know coming from an accountant, you're going, wait a second. That's blasphemy. Well, no, it's the way business should work. Because remember, I say that business is there to create community, serve society, and live your dreams. So if we're going to create community and serve society, it's not just with the results of the bottom line. Okay? So if that's what we. What you need to know and you understand why. What's the business Persona cycle? Well, it's similar to the personal identity cycle, but it's focused on business. So let's jump into the business Persona cycle. I'm going to jump to my iPad. We're going to walk through this. I'm going to draw this out for you, and let's walk through this. So if we're going to look at the business, business Persona cycle, let me just. So I want to define the Persona of the business. Okay. Once again, just like in the personal identity cycle, the very first thing that I want to really start to define Is what are the values of the organization? And again, this is something that we can dive deep into. I don't have the time in this episode to go into it, but. But we need to define our values first to really start to understand.

How we make choices, how we make decisions in the organization, how we're going to make those decisions in an organization, because we need to be consistent with those values. When we're consistent with those values, what you're going to see is that the consistent application of values will lead.

To a specific culture. Now, whether that culture is what you're looking for in your business, I don't know. But if you do it right and the values are done properly, the culture that will result is exactly what it is you're trying to create. So the values will result in the culture, which ultimately, when we get the culture right, remember, that's the aquarium that everyone's swimming in. So we want that water that they're swimming in to be rich and full of nutrients, something that they love coming to, that they feel fulfilled in, that really starts to feed more than just their pocketbook. It's almost like Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Fact of the matter is, once their bills are paid, they're going to want more than just the money in the process from that culture. What that's going to create is what I call a dialogue. This is the talk. This could be the water cooler talk. It could be the talk between the management team, it could be the interactions between them. It could be the dialogue that ultimately results in a movement.

Okay? But it is through that, the values in that culture, that when we build on that and then create that dialogue, the conversations that we have internally in the organization, that ultimately we then determine the tactics.

That we're going to take. The tactics that we're going to take. In other words, what are the specific actions that we're going to put into place? Now, those tactics are going to result in certain types of results, but ultimately what ends up happening is, is that.

From the tactics, once we see how they're going, we're going to create.

Systems.

Or processes.

Okay? Because if we're trying to create consistency in an organization, in a business, what we do is we start to systematize the thinking, the culture. So we take that culture, we create a dialogue, we create tactics, and now we systematize or process those tactics so we can get consistent results. Whether you like the food or not, Which I don't, McDonald's has a process, and you get consistent crappy burgers. Sorry about That I had to put an editorial in there. But you get consistent results. So what ultimately happens is that we end up with systems which then start to drive our ultimate results. Okay?

Now, once we get the results, we don't just sit back and rest on our laurels. We actually look at and say, all right, is this the results we want? Does it affect.

Our values? And there we get the cycle. So what ultimately happens is we start with our values, which creates our culture in the organization, which creates the dialogue and the movement in the organization, which ultimately results in the tactics we're going to use to take our product to the market, our service, to market our people to the market, whatever it is. And those tactics will then be systematized and developed into processes which will create our results, which ultimately may tweak or adjust our values, our culture, and continue until we have this refined cycle continually growing. This is the key to building out what I call the business Persona. Once you do that, when you do this effectively, people that work for you understand the culture. People that work for you will become loyal to you. People that work for you will fight for the outcomes you're looking for because it fulfills them in the process. Now, when it comes to your customers, they understand the culture of the organization, they understand the values of the organization, they understand your Persona. They then start to do business with you, not just because of the products and services, but because of the identity that they identify with out of your organization, the Persona that you have. And so what you do is you create that. I mean, look at. Look at Apple, for instance, Apple computers. And I'm an Apple fanatic. Apple computers, by all measurements, are easily way overpriced from a utility standpoint. But I identify with the company, identify with their identity and how they do things and their product styling and the feel of the products. And I pay for it. And I realized that I could get the same utility out of a cheaper computer. And if I didn't go to Apple, but I still go to Apple. That's what I'm talking about. That's what we're trying to create in the process. And it is not about focus on the bottom line. It's about focus on the business Persona, which creates a valued brand internally and externally as you move forward. So that's the business Persona cycle. I hope that you found this of value to you. And as you go forward, do me a favor. If you haven't done so already, make sure you get the action guide. Just go to melabraham.com session079. If you're not at your computer once again, you can text me. Text mylegacy one word to 38470. I'll make sure that I send you the download link so you can get the guide for this session. If you've got questions or if you're having challenges in business success, well, whatever it is, send me a question. Just go to askmelnow.com leave me your question. I'll make sure that I answer it on one of my upcoming episodes so we can make sure that you're supported in the journey that you're on, that you're supported. Trying to create the wealth, create the success, create the life and the freedom and the peace of mind that you're looking to create. And if you haven't done so already, two more things I'm going to ask you to do.

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