What do you do?
Seems like a pretty easy question, right? Yet you know that’s not the case. More leaders agonize over answering this question than any other. And it doesn’t have to be so.
There are a number of reasons why telling people what you do brings on anxiety, confusion, or downright befuddlement.
At the top of the list is the question of identity. For most business leaders corporate identity is intimately and inextricably linked to their personal identity. So the questioner is essentially asking — who are you? and why do you exist?
Learning to answer this question directly and in as few words as possible is an important step in understanding the foundational value of your business. Moreover, it is essential in communicating that value in a crowded marketplace of shouting voices. The FOCUS that results can transform your business into a brand.
The most common mistake in answering the identity question is failure to reframe it. Because — what do you do? — is not the real question. What people truly want to know is — how does what you do benefit me?
For example. Imagine your company manufactures carburetors. And your mission statement reads something like this. “ABC Carburetors is committed to making the best quality, most innovative products while delivering first-class service worldwide.” You have read countless mission statements just like this one. It is doubtful you remember even one. And what happens when carburetors are obsolete?
On the other hand, what if ABC Carburetors said something like this: “We are the global experts in bringing together a precisely calibrated mixture of fuel and air to create the combustion that makes engines run. And we continually innovate to create something that will do it better.”
What do they do? “They create combustion.” How do they do it? “In precise ways that leave room for innovation.”
The second example focuses on how what you do benefits the customer. The first is turned entirely inward. It focuses on you.
The second leaves room for continuous innovation. The first places unnecessary limitations on your business.
MindMeld has developed a process for understanding what you do and creating meaningful ways of communicating that value. Stay tuned for later posts as we explore the process and how you can use it in transforming your business into a powerhouse brand.