In the business and marketing world, brand excellence is the cumulative result of real-life actions taken by the company to support what the brand stands for. Brands often compete for Brand Excellence awards in their industries to firmly establish that they do in fact exemplify the “Gold Standard”.
“If you want to achieve excellence, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less-than-excellent work.” Founder of IBM, Thomas J. Watson (1874 ~ 1956)
Brand excellence is about performance. It is about achieving optimal performance by performing key branding activities in the best possible way and verifying the impact and value of those best practices. Brand Excellence is also about linking action to outcomes in a manner that produces competitive advantage.
Personal brand excellence
It is not a destination we reach, but is an unending process of constant improvement. Some people rationalize by telling themselves that they will strive for excellence later, when they have a better job. In fact, the opposite is true. As you strive for excellence, you attract better job opportunities. “Why should I do my best now,” they argue, “when all I’m doing is interning in an entry-level job, or waiting tables?
Wrong attitude. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.”
Professor Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture
One of my favorite examples of Personal Brand Excellence is the amazing story of Randy Pausch, a science professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Randy died of pancreatic cancer in 2008. That’s very sad, but not at all what Randy will be remembered for.
On September 18, 2007, Randy Pausch stepped in front of an audience of 400 people to deliver a last lecture called “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.” With slides of his CT scans beaming out to the audience, Randy told his audience about the cancer that was devouring his pancreas and that would claim his life in a matter of months.
That lecture is famous for many things – it is touching, engaging, funny, thought-provoking. But what stands out most to me is that Randy established the bar for personal brand excellence. He literally lived and died his brand. Very impressive, indeed.
Take the time to click on the video above and watch Randy’s Last Lecture. It is long, but well worth your time. Watch it with friends or your kids or your spouse…it’s a powerful experience and will really make you think.
Defining your personal brand excellence
Many of you are clear that you want and need to establish your personal brand. And you’re using social media tools to communicate your brand – or at least your name – like crazy. But have you thought about the elements of your brand excellence? What do you stand for, what does your brand stand for?
Elements of excellence
- Integrity
- Commitment
- Communication
- Trust
- Leadership
- What else?
If you want your value to last, establish your own“GOLD STANDARD”. And then take responsibility for your own performance – make your brand – and your life – the best it can be.
Author:
Beverly Macy is the Managing Partner of Y&M Partners and teaches a social media class at the UCLA Extension. She also co-hosts Gravity Summit events
