Leaders are Made – BRAND

By Jacob Morgan - The Future of Work

Everyone wants to be appreciated, especially employees who put in their best effort every day. But instead of sending the typical thank you email, try taking an unconventional approach. Showing gratitude in unique ways builds connection and shows sincerity in your efforts.

Here are five unique ways to show gratitude and appreciation for your employees, no matter the occasion.

Thank Their Families For every employee, there’s a family who raised them and supported them. Show appreciation for your staff by thanking their families.

Former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi championed this approach after reflecting on how her success was a result of how her parents raised and supported her. Indra wrote a letter to the parents of each member of her executive team—more than 400 people—thanking them for the gift of their child to the company. The messages were very well received, with some employees saying it was the best thing that ever happened to their parents.

Establish Open Lines Of Communication When you appreciate people, you want to talk to them. One way to show gratitude is to make yourself available to employees with open lines of communication. Bain employees can reach out to leaders for guidance, advice, and coaching through the “hotline response team.” WD-40 Company CEO Garry Ridge sends regular emails to the entire company to share updates or advice and leave the conversation open for responses. When employees feel they can come to their leaders about anything, from personal questions to career advice or suggestions for the business, they feel valued and seen.

Give Unique Awards Most companies give out an employee recognition award, but the typical certificate and handshake can become mundane. A unique prize shows employees you appreciate their efforts, boosts morale, and becomes an engaging part of the corporate culture.

Quirky gifts are memorable for employees and show heartfelt gratitude with their creativity and effort. When David Novak was president of KFC, he awarded employees with rubber chickens. When he was president of Pizza Hut, it was giant cheese heads. Along with the fun token, employees got cash and specific feedback about what they did to earn the award. The practice spread throughout the company, with the president of Taco Bell soon handing out hot sauce packets and other leaders handing out boxing gloves for a “knockout performance.” Become A Mentor One of the most meaningful ways to show gratitude for your employees is to show you care about their futures. When you coach and mentor an employee, you show appreciation for the long term and that you believe in them.

Create a mentoring program that connects younger employees with more senior leaders to guide them and act as a sounding board. You can also take employees under your wing to mentor their careers, help guide their decisions, and put them on a path to reach their career goals.

Offer Strong Benefits Genuine gratitude for your employees isn’t a onetime thing or an annual event—it’s part of the company’s culture. It might not be flashy, but one of the most effective ways to show gratitude is to give them what they need with quality benefits.

Are you meeting employees’ needs and caring for them? Make it a habit to regularly review your benefits package. Providing strong benefits shows appreciation and gratitude year-round.

Showing gratitude builds relationships, encourages employees to do their best, and creates a collaborative and supportive culture. Think outside the box to recognize your employees in unique ways.

By Brendan P. Keegan - Fearless Leadership

Take a moment and think of 5 brands.... What did you think of? First to mind for me are Apple, Nike, Google, TB12, and Amazon. These are brands that either play a key role in my day-to-day life or have a story that is relevant to me. I connect with them personally and I know their reputations, therefore, I am more likely to use their products or recommend them to others. Individual brands are the same, if people connect with you and value you, they will lean into what you have to offer. Now, take another moment and think of 5 people and their brands.....who did you think of?

Your BRAND will attract or repel fear. Your brand is who you are. As you go through your life’s journey, there is only one thing you will leave this world with and that is your reputation. Your reputation is your brand. Ever listen to a eulogy closely? You will hear about someone’s life, their accomplishments and if you listen closely, you will hear of their brand or their reputation. depend on. Whatever your brand is today, you can improve it, enhance it and have it become known for being a calming influence amongst a storm. In fact, a truly Fearless Leader makes everyone in the room feel a tad more comfortable simply because they are sitting in the room. As you continue to build your brand, consider the following three ways to make it the best possible:

Be Authentic – Make sure your brand represents who you are and who you are striving to be. Embrace your personality, your attributes, your strengths, and channel your energy into developing that brand. Your first step in doing this is increasing your selfawareness of what that authentic brand is. More to come on that in a future newsletter about emotional intelligence.

Be Passionate – Build your brand around what you are passionate about. If you love animals, that should be part of your brand; if you are creative and artistic, that should be included; if you love sports and athletics, incorporate aspects of those activities. If your brand includes your passions, you will absolutely build it faster and with more authenticity. Why? Because it represents who you are and what you like, and as humans we tend to do the things we like to do, and we naturally gravitate toward our passions.

Be Tangible – Reputations and brands are built on actions not words. Inevitably, what you do, is who you are. What you don’t do, is who you are not. What you say you are going to do, isn’t good enough. When people think of you, they will think of the tangible things they know about you – you love animals and volunteer at the pet shelter, you are creative and play the piano, you are sporty and coach youth soccer. See the connection between your passion and your tangible action? Bring your authentic self to your passions and use life as one big place to showcase your talent tangibly.

Decide to build your brand consciously and start today.