Let’s look at polarization, and how it affects your ability to be invincible as a brand voice. Let’s use my brand voice as an example. I am a powerful voice, a powerful brand voice – and I have quite a strong stance. Having a strong stance is beneficial, right? We work with some really, really powerful brands. “We want Kerri, she is really, she’s got the goods, she’s intense”, but other brands are like, “Wow… Kerri is intense.. No… ”
How Invincible is Your Brand Voice?
In my career, I became a chief creative officer not because I was delicate and gentle and everybody liked me. It’s because we made things happen for brands. Now I can tell you, a lot of those attributes aren’t for everybody. I remember going up to a woman at a conference that I was at, and after chatting, I was asking to get her business card before we needed to leave. Finally, I said, “Give me your business card. We only have two minutes. Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go” and she kept stopping and talking to people and here I am trying to get her business card to do business with her, potentially. I said, “Hi, I have to go sit down because we’re starting in two minutes. Could you, do you have a card or should we try some other time?” She turned around and she was like a flower at the side of the road, like I drove over her… and she was like, ”Wow, you’re really forceful, aren’t you?” Yeah, I am.
I wasn’t intentionally, I mean the energy was positive, “hey, give me your card, let‘s go”, but that person felt overwhelmed by my energy. Okay. I need to be okay with that. The flip side of not being okay with it is dialing down my power and I have done that for years. No more.
Review the Feedback You’ve Gotten on Your Brand Voice
What I’m asking of you this week is to look at what kind of comments you‘ve heard, what kind of feedback have you gotten, positive and negative, and explore what that’s done to you in your brand voice, and to your willingness to polarize, your willingness to be your full self, knowing that there is going to be a negative consequence, or several negative consequences.
When you reframe how you see that, it’s not a negative consequence, it’s just they are not your people, or your clients, or not in alignment. Is that going to be okay? If you stand in full power, and in full brand voice, in full capacity to serve — you’re going to need to get really comfortable with some of the uncomfortable feelings, okay? Go forth!
Are you willing to encounter negative consequences in order to discover who your clients aren't? Click To Tweet
Kerri Konik is a seasoned senior branding executive who has committed her focus and expertise to bringing big agency strategies to business owners and entrepreneurs to achieve next level growth. Kerri is the CEO of her 5th venture, Brandscape Atelier, a women-owned boutique agency specializing in strategic branding for small business. They develop brand strategy, identity, messaging and marketing that ignites emotional connection, increases sales, drives growth and profits, resulting in sustainability and achieving a greater impact in the world.