THERE was a wonderful discussion this week when I put an announcement of this blog in one of the Facebook groups.  I have to say that I’m very pleased with the support I’ve been receiving.

Someone made a great point about how they’ve strongly branded their coaching business with a Christian theme, and how well that’s worked.  For myself, I’ve chosen to emphasize two points:

  • My personal faith journey as a basis for how I approach my coaching and business
  • An additional dimension of discussion that I might use with my clients if they get value from it

I’m pretty low key about expressing my faith as a part of my overall brand message.  But that’s just me, and there’s many other levels that you might want to look at in your messages.

Here are some of the dimensions to think through:

  • The relationship you have with yourself and your business.  How do you want your decision-making and direction-setting to reflect those deeper values?
  • The relationship between the business and its employees.  How do you want their experience to be different because of the values?
  • The perception of your company by the market (customers, press, even competition).  How are they going to expect something different because of the values which are your foundation?
  • The agreements you have with investors and other stakeholders.  Should they expect a different kind of “return” than from other businesses?
  • Your relationships with partners and suppliers.  How will they interact differently with you?

I’ll point out that all of these already exist, because every company has a set of values.  The important question is:  Are those values deep and intentional, or do they just happen because of peoples’ personalities and market pressures?

If you’re a values-based business, you’re working to make these lasting, embedded, and stable.  Exactly what a good foundation should be.

After you have that foundation, then summon up your courage to build power and consistency on it.