When you’re in the business arena, it’s common to hear about how important it is to define your personal brand. Creating a personal brand for your business is the best way to stand out from the crowd, get known, and grow, after all.
And while it’s easy to talk about the benefits of personal branding from a business results perspective (more ideal clients, better-aligned offers, and higher sales, anyone?), there’s another perspective that’s often overlooked but still JUST as valuable to your business.
What is it, you ask?
It’s company culture.
When you nail down your personal brand—specifically and strategically—you begin to attract not just ideal clients, but ideal team members.
By clearly defining your personal core values and the core values of your business, articulating your mission and vision, and infusing these things into the products or services you provide, you attract a team that wants to help you deliver on it. Often with passion and conviction!
One entrepreneur whose personal brand has attracted team members to her business who are totally in sync is Sarah Blakely, founder and CEO of Spanx.
Sarah’s been quoted in the media many times talking about some of her core values, such as embracing failure, being bold, and not taking herself too seriously. She’s also been very open about her mission: to help women look and feel better.
Being laser-sharp-specific on her values and clear about her mission has helped her attract employees who share and honor these same things, too. Employees who say things like, “As soon as I walked in the front doors of Spanx, I knew it was right, that it was a company that really aligned with my values and expectations.” (see full article here)
That’s because the core values and mission of the business are evident in everything they do as well as in every member of the team. When you have a business that’s so deeply aligned with your essence, it’s almost impossible to have anything but an attractive company culture.
Investing in your company culture is part of the fiber of your brand, and it’s also good for business, including things like increased loyalty, less turnover, more innovation, and (yep…) better overall business results.
Because engaged, excited team members work harder and sell harder, too.
So, if you want to build a business with a strong, connected team and a meaningful company culture, start here:
- Define your core values. Write down as many as you can think of that resonate with you, then try to hone it down to five core values by combining similar ones together.
- Infuse those core values into everything you do. You might be surprised to find out that your values are already present in your business and your offerings, and you might find easy ways to incorporate them more noticeably and intentionally.
- Make sure your team members align with your values. When you’re crystal clear on your core values, it’s much easier to spot good “team member matches” when you’re adding to or shifting your team.
Aligned core values are the glue for any meaningful relationship. Nailing down yours will help you find team members who take on your business mission as their own, and truly stick around for the long-term.