All major brands try to get their customers to be loyal to their brands. This should be called brand loyalty.
Cult Brands focus on being loyal to their customers. This should be distinguished as customer loyalty.
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BJ Bueno
Why is loyalty so high among customers of Cult Brands? A simple but elegant explanation is that modern humans join communities by making purchases. That’s the big secret behind Cult Brands: they give their customers the sense that they belong; their brand’s values become part of their own identity.
When you know what drives you, you have insight into what motivates your teams and your customers. Calling on the research and motivational theories in behavioral psychology illuminates the answer that goes beyond the traditional managerial approach of driving people through rewarding and blaming them.
The primary ingredient behind compelling stories come down to one thing: problems.
The protagonist faces a challenge and tries to overcome it. This is the essence of drama and the key to good storytelling.
Without problems—without troubles and tensions—there’s no story. There’s nothing to engage us.
Organizations continue to works towards flatter and self-managed systems where each individual is a self-actualized person. But for some reason, some known and some unknown the persona of the CEO continues to maintain a certain power. People hold the CEO to a super-human standard.
As people, we place high expectations on roles and the CEO is no exception.
Unfortunately, this makes the CEO positions susceptible to fear. Fear can be perceived as weaknesses by others so, in response, many leaders hold on to the mantra of, “Don’t admit to it. Don’t dwell on it. I am the boss and everyone relies on me.”
Here are four strategies for infusing your organization with greater optimism:
Be Aware of Negativity: Take action when you see negativity start to spread: When you notice your people harping on negative situations, help them change their state to break the rumination cycle. Consciously foster positive experiences to counteract the negative ones. Use humor whenever appropriate.
Celebrate Every Win, Big or Small: When your team experiences a victory, celebrate it. When someone does something positive or acts in alignment with your core values, give it attention. Encourage your team to celebrate wins of every size. Savoring positive experiences helps counteract the brain’s tendency to ruminate and overanalyze negative events. Celebrating even small wins helps you build positive momentum. On-the-spot recognition goes a long way.
Ask Empowering Questions: When you’re brainstorming with your team, it’s easy to focus on what’s wrong with an idea. Cultivate “value sensitivity” by asking people questions like: “What’s great about this idea?” “What can we leverage here?” “How can we build on this idea?” “What can we learn from this?”
Always End on the Positive: When giving feedback to employees, many leaders have a tendency to leave things on a negative note instead of a positive one. Always end on a positive note that gives clear direction to build momentum. Feelings of shame and guilt hinder learning and performance. Compassion and support promote positive change.
Leadership qualities go beyond simply having followers or giving orders.
If you are a leader of a ten-person team and only two of them follow you, you are not leading.
Influence is a key marker of a leader.
How do you recognize a leader?
It’s not by their prominence.
A leader can be out in front, in the middle, or following behind.
You recognize a leader by the response of their followers. A leader is someone who influences others to follow a course of action when they have a choice:
- A leader is a person who says to others, “follow me!” And, they do.
- A leader is a person who suggests, “I think this is the way to go.” And people go there.
- A leader is a person who takes action. And others join in.
- A leader is a person who does something new and others begin to do it also.
- A leader has genuine followers—people who follow of their own volition.
- If a leader shouts in the woods and no one hears them, are they a leader? No.
Your leadership impact depends on the ability to influence people, not your ability to command, coerce or manipulate.
Your leadership is measured not by what people do when you’re there, but by what they do when you’re not present—when no one is watching and they have the freedom to make personal choices.
So who do people follow after all?
- Leaders they trust
- Leaders who articulate a vision they believe in.
- Leaders who seem to be competent and know what they are doing.
- Leaders whose character they respect.
A person could have any title they want and not be a leader. But if you look closely, you can recognize who the real leaders are in your organization, community, and world.
Happy Leading!
We are thrilled to tackle an opportunity-packed topic that impacts every industry.
Because the topic of Cult Branding is so humanistic, we tried something new:
We built a Google Slides version of the insights so you can present it to your team along with a worksheet to jumpstart your next 30-minute brainstorm.
Click on through to see The 7 Rules of Cult Branding and gain actionable insights from Apple to Ikea to SouthWest Airlines. Discover how Cult Brands are already changing what your customers think is possible.
Remember, these insights are opportunities waiting to happen. Read, and then act!
P.S.
Feel free to download the presentation and make it your own.
Quickly and with haste.
But what happens when you get there?
Thanksgiving is our favorite holiday. It gives us an opportunity to connect with the power of gratitude. Dr. Andrew Weil recommends considering each day what went well and why as an antidote to our chaotic world and as an opportunity to uplift our mood.
We are thankful for each of you, and so many other leaders who work towards making the world a better place.
Stay thankful.