We are excited to share this final episode on your brand, branding and brand strategy. In this post, we continue our conversation with Peter Wilken, sharing the five components of your brand blueprint. The difference between a tagline and brand positioning. Three reasons brands fail, and how to own a territory in your customer’s mind. We also discuss how to determine your promise and your benefit to others. That could be personal, or business, or both.

Michel Shah: 1:32

In the last few episodes we have been talking about our brand. Branding and brand strategy. What we learned. From Peter Wilkin. Is it that a brand is the collective perception that others have of us in their minds. That means it’s about what others think of us, how others perceive us, how they feel about us. Jeff basis offers a very simple. Definition. Your brand is what others say when you are not in the room. And so it is because of these definitions, why I’m going to spend this episode talking about how then do we determine what people are saying when we’re not in the room? What people truly feel about us, what people’s real perception of us is and how we know what their collective perception of us is. How we know the territory in their minds that we occupy as Peter Wilkin puts it.

Seeking feedback is easy. Just asking someone, what do you think about me? What do you think about my brand? What do you think about a particular aspect of my performance brand attitude, anything. Very easy to seek feedback. If you’re a business to survey your customers, to talk to your key stakeholders, it’s easy to do the seeking. What most people find challenging is to do the receiving component of that because once we seek the feedback, then receiving it is a very different skill.

In terms of being able to improve our brand, improve, who we are growing ourselves. That is a massive challenge. Sometimes. Given the feedback is challenging. But in this episode, we’re going to focus on receiving feedback, receiving that feedback. When we ask for it.

Receiving feedback is a skill that has to be developed. It takes maturity, it takes introspection. It takes the ability and willingness to listen and to learn. To understand what we’re hearing. To have the self-assurance and the resilience to work through the feelings. To have that emotional control and then to have the self-leadership and the willingness. To give others the benefit of the doubt to judge people as having positive intentions towards us to judge that their intentions, when they give us this feedback is really to support us. That is very hard to do. However, based on the definition of branding that we are working with. What people say when you’re not in the room. What people think of you then seeking feedback, seeking to find this out is going to be critical, whether it’s our personal brand or our personal development. Or a business that we’re building. Knowing what others think of us, knowing their perception of us is going to be really important. And so without this kind of feedback, really based on that definition, we’re really living with our own perspectives of ourselves.

If our brands actually live with others and to not with us, then our own perspectives. All four selves off our businesses may be very inaccurate. And so we have no choice, but to go out and seek this feedback. And more importantly, To receive this feedback. Feedback is crucial to enhance in our self-awareness or business awareness. I like how Tasha Eurich explains self-awareness. As internal and external, this sits very well with what we’re talking about here. The internal self-awareness is what we know about ourselves, about our businesses. But the external self-awareness is what others know about us. And really it’s at the intersection point of internal and external. Self-awareness that the truth about who we are actually sits. And so it is critical then for us to be in a constant dialogue with our audiences, with our stakeholders, with our customers, with others around us, In order to make sure that we’re continuing to sit at the intersection point of where our ideas and perceptions are and where theirs are of us.

As we live in a climate that’s continually shifting. What we knew about ourselves last year may no longer be true. Our client’s perceptions of us last year may not be their perceptions of us this year. And so self-awareness and understanding our brands and to branding will mean that we have to consistently engage in this dialogue. It’s an ongoing dialogue of learning of updating modifying, and always trying to get better. More importantly, if everything around us is shifting, so will the perceptions of others around us. And so it is this need to ensure that we’re consistently hitting the points that we want to be hitting in their minds, that we are still occupying that space in their minds. And that the perception that they have of us remain the same over time, as things change as their needs change. And as we change, whether as individuals. Or as a business. Can we still maintain those perceptions or make them more positive? Are we still maintaining those perceptions or making them more positive?

You may have a very different perception of your brand than others do. And it means that you’re not on the same page with others. About who you are about who they think you are. And particularly if you are offering a product or service, It’s really critical that you are on the same page. So let’s talk about receiving it. I developed the feedback receiving cycle to support you with receiving feedback constructively. The feedback received in cycle. Is a five stage cycle The cycle begins with a pause, invites you to listen. Reflect clarify, respond. It invites you to engage in a process when receiving feedback. What this feedback cycle really highlights is the importance. Off pausing to engage with the feedback you are receiving. To pause. Allows you to show respect to acknowledge the person, given the feedback. To signal your intent to participate in the process of receiving this feedback. It may mean putting your phone down. It may mean move into a private space. It may mean shifting away from distraction. It may mean being on camera. It may mean sitting quietly while you review it so that you’re actually ingesting the feedback.

A lot of times we ask for feedback. And when the feedback comes, we don’t actually engage with the feedback in any meaningful way because we ask, but we’re not very good receivers of the feedback. Go to upscale community.com. And check out the blog that deals with how to use the receive and feedback cycle to receive feedback constructively. That blog takes you through it. Step by step to help you understand how to effectively receive feedback. One thing that I want to flag up in terms of this feedback cycle. Is that after you pause. You listen. And when you listen. Then you take a moment to reflect on the feedback. And that all needs to come before we jump to doing what we always do as the first step. As soon as someone says something, we jumped to respond, We jumped to rebut. We jump. Right away to ask in about it. Our sensitivities, our emotions, our egos come right to the front. And we jumped almost in attack mode.

And this is something that we have to correct. In order for us to continue to understand. In earnest, what people’s real perception of assays. People’s real perception of our brands because what we have created is an environment and a culture that fosters protective hesitation. This concept means that others with very critical information that could benefit us, could benefit our brands, could benefit our business. I may not provide it to us. They may not provide it to you for fear of offending you for fear of backlash, for fear of destroying a relationship, whether that’s personal or professional, the risks are too great to give the feedback. Because of how they perceive us as receivers of the feedback. So how we receive information, how we interpreted, how we respond to it is part of that perception. And perhaps the first step that we can take. Is to take a step back. And to pause and to really intentionally. Decide to engage with feedback. Receive it. Just receive it. Before we process it. Please take advantage of the feedback cycle to help you pause. Listen. Reflect clarify. Before you respond. Receiving feedback is a process. Please begin that process. With a pause. Go to upscale community, his blog and find the feedback cycle to help you as we move forward, to learn how people really feel about us, what their perception is of us. Because receiving feedback. Is a skill. That can be learned

Michel Shah: 11:56

Thank you for listening to this episode of UpSkill Talks brought to you by McGraw Hill. We bring you new episodes every Monday. Please take a moment to subscribe, leave a five-star rating and a written review at apple podcast. Or follow us on. By Google podcast or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts, don’t forget to share UpSkill talks with other leaders like yourself. So they too may gain the skills and insights to produce amazing results. Please go to UpSkillCommunity.com to review show notes and learn how you can join a community of leaders from across the globe. Collaborating to lead in a more meaningful and impactful way. I’m your host, Michel Shah. And again, thank you for joining me on this episode of UpSkill Talks.