Time to read this Blog is about 3 minutes)

HAPPY JUNE!   Before we get to the main topic, here are a few things to get you thinking:

1. My Quote of the week:

“We become what we hire. You can’t create an extraordinary business by hiring ordinary people!”   
…Donald Cooper.

2. Quick Biz Tip: The ‘Hiring Process’ is part screening and part marketing. Once you’ve screened a candidate and found them to be a good fit, you need to ‘market’ your business to them as a wise career choice. 

As with marketing to your target customers, you need to understand what top-performers value, what they want and what they fear.  Below is some helpful insight on this:

What’s on job candidates’ minds?                       

1. 1. 1. Will I have an opportunity to make a difference?
      2. How will this job help me grow my career …and grow as a person.
      3. Will I be treated fairly, paid competitively and thanked frequently?
      4. How will this job fit in with the other important aspects of my life?
      5. Will this be an uplifting place to come to every day?

So, your ‘marketing pitch’ to top candidates better help them answer these 5 questions.

3. My extraordinary half-day ‘Accelerate Your Business’ management session for business owners and leaders.

Last week I delivered to a group of 45 business owners my new session on ‘Accelerate Your Business…how to sell more, manage smarter, grow your bottom line…and have a life!  It’s a bit of a long title, but it covers all the important bases.  It’s like a mini-MBA!  The response was extraordinary!    

This session delivers the most important bottom-line management insights from my 30 years of working with business owners and leaders in over 40 industries around the world.  And, each attendee receives free access to my complete set of copyrighted ‘Business Assessment & Management Implementation Tools’

It can also be delivered as a more ‘hands-on’ interactive full-day session.

If you’d like more info on this transformational session for your business, your Industry Association, or your local Chamber of Commerce, email me at donald@donaldcooper.com.

 Now, to this week’s important topic:

An important lesson on ‘Brand Clarity’ from Canada’s struggling Conservative Party:  

The Canadian Conservative Party keeps choosing leaders who are unelectable and who are despised by at least half of the party members.  The reason is simple, ‘They don’t know who they are.’ 

What’s the reason for their total lack of ‘Brand clarity’?  It’s simple.  The current Canadian Conservative Party is an unhappy cobbling together of the more moderate ‘red Tories’ and the ultra-conservative ‘blue Tories’ in 2003 in an attempt to ‘unite the right’.

But, the moderate ‘red Tories’ and the ultra-conservative ‘blue Tories’ are fundamentally different and don’t get along…so the Party can never be successful.  Whichever side of the Party gets their way as to who the leader will be, the other side of the party disrespects and sabotages that leader.  

Stephen Harper was the great exception. He was our Conservative Prime Minister from 2006 to 2015 and he made it work with his combination of personal strength and political smarts.  But, since then, it’s been a disaster.  

Using a business metaphor, today’s Conservatives lack ‘Brand clarity’.  They don’t have clear Brand values that resonate with enough of the population. Their Brand message is inconsistent, confused and conflicting.  They don’t know who they are…so we don’t know who they are.

It says in the Old Testament, “When the trumpet gives forth and uncertain sound, who then shall prepare for the battle?”  That sums up the Conservative Party quite well.

So, what about the ‘Brand clarity’ in your business?  Do you have clear and compelling value proposition, clear and compelling Brand values and a clear and appealing Brand personality that ‘grabs’ your target customers, clearly differentiates you from your competitors and makes you famous?    If not, what will do to fix what needs fixing…and by when will you do it?  

That’s it for this week…

Stay safe…live brilliantly!       

Donald Cooper 

Donald Cooper speaks and coaches internationally on management, marketing, and profitability.  He can be reached by email at donald@donaldcooper.com in Toronto, Canada.