The Best Brand Story is Told On Every Organizational Level
Every employee is a valuable chapter in your Brand Story.
My favorite news story of the week dropped on Wednesday when The Swedeborg School District, a tiny community in central Missouri, named its new K-8 learning center after Claudene Wilson, a former custodian and bus driver. The governing body who made this beautiful, value-driven choice not only honored their employee and community, they also demonstrated a vital and truly rare understanding of winning #CorporateStorytelling: Genuinely memorable and inspiring brands tell a clear, aligned, and consistent story from organizational tip to tail. Every employee matters.
This ideal is far too often overlooked by the world's largest and most influential companies.
A brand and its market win when they empower every human at every level of the organizational pyramid to proudly and clearly share the vision of the firm they represent. As a coach, I rarely see that. Typically, executives prefer to maintain and manipulate the brand story as their own. They see themselves as the only ones with enough holistic vision to deliver the “right” corporate story to the marketplace, and barely allow a peep from their supporting workforce.
The result is that each badge beneath ELT—directors, managers, developers, laborers, security guards—either doesn't understand, doesn’t see, or doesn’t care about their personal stake in their own brand's story. That exclusivity hurts every worker. And the company’s bottom line. Which brings us back to Claudene Wilson.
Swedeborg made the better call
Consider how Swedeborg's School District leaders, showing authentic leadership, chose to elevate and celebrate a member of the organization some may have overlooked or discounted because of her position toward the bottom of the pyramid instead of the top. This board recognized and valued Wilson's voice in their district's story, encouraging that voice to expand the brand's reach into their small community.
Contrast that storytelling with the countless decisions made daily by more myopic boards governing the monickers bestowed on their local hospitals, stadiums, university buildings, theaters, highways, and airports in America. In almost every instance, money earns naming rights. 30 years of devotion and foundational service at the invisible levels are rarely recognized. Swedeborg made the better call.
Bottom Line
In a society perpetually celebrating wealth, power, and influence of the executive over the worker, The Claudene Wilson Learning Center stands apart and above. It tells us about this school district, who they are at their core, and what they value most. We should all be so inclusive of every voice in our brand story. Remember that we demonstrate true leadership when we empower each individual across our organizational structures (or personal circles) to share in our storytelling.
