Emily Soccorsy and Justin Foster: Your Leadership Brand Emily Soccorsy and Justin Foster are from Root + River. They are brand strategists and marketers who believe that your brand is how other people experience what you believe. In this episode, Emily and Justin show us the key steps to create a framework for your leadership brand. Key Points Branding is something that begins inside of you. Much of branding is just uncovering what’s inside of you, articulating it, and then reflecting it outward. We’re living in a world where we can no longer get away with pretending to be something we’re not, so we have no alternative but to be ourselves. If you reverse engineer a brand failure, it’s usually because of a poor leadership decision, not a marketing problem. Whenever there is an outward branding problem, look inward. The most successful brands are the ones that have a minuscule chasm between their public brand and how they operate internally. Most missions come from suffering. What problem does the organization solve in the world? When there’s a connection to a belief, it becomes the message that then permeates every aspect of an organization. Branding becomes an invitation to believe what you believe. Our obsession with branding and marketing being finished is part of the problem. It’s always good for your brand to take a stand. Three questions to ask when building a brand: What do you believe in? What’s your mission? How do you create value in the world? Resources Mentioned Root + River An Open Letter on Branding Oatmeal v Bacon: Oatmeal is Boring, Bacon is Not - The Branding Book for People that Care* by Justin Foster Related Episodes The Five Elements Of Your Personal Brand, with Heather Backstrom (episode 133) The Four Stories Leaders Need For Influence, with David Hutchens (episode 148) How to Stand Out, with Dorie Clark (episode 189) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

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