I have written about the Business Compass tool in a number of blog posts recently. The Business Compass is a tool that can be a very powerful way of communicating your organization’s;
1) Vision
2) Mission
3) Values
4) Strategic and Operational Priorities
6) Leadership behaviors
I have defined all the components of the Business Compass except for Leadership Behaviors in past blog posts. So, what are Leadership Behaviors?
A few weeks ago I introduced a tool called the Business Compass. This tool provides the means of visually communicating your organization’s vision, mission, values, brand promise, leadership behaviors and strategic and operational priorities. I have previously blogged about vision, mission, values and strategic and operational priorities but what about Brand Promise?
Brand Promise is simply what the company promises to the people who interact with it. Companies that are able to follow through on their brand promise, create real brand value with their customers. This brand value can be measured in a number of different ways (see the Forbes article “Worlds Most Valuable Brands – Behind the Numbers” for one example) but essentially it comes down to how well known and respected the organization is and how much revenue this notoriety brings in. Forbes also rates the Valuable Brands with Apple, Microsoft and Coca-Cola right at the top of the list for last year.
The important thing to remember is that a brand isn’t what you say it is unless your corporate actions, services and products align with the brand promise. The litmus test for this is to ask your customers. They are the ultimate judge for a brand. Ask your customers what your organization means to them and you will get a excellent picture of what your brand is outside the walls of your organization.
Back in 2011, I read an article in the Harvard Business Review magazine entitled “The Power of Collective Ambition” (by Douglas A. Ready and Emily Truelove) that introduced a concept called the Business Compass.
The business compass is a simple diagram that shows very clearly what your business does, why it does it and how it will get it done.
The diagram brings together into one integrated picture the organization’s Vision, Mission, Values, Strategic Goals and Operational Priorities, Brand Promise and Leadership Behavior. It provides extreme clarity for anyone who is wondering what the organization is all about.
After reading the article, I applied the concept to the business I was running and was impressed with the focus that it brought to the organization. A diagram of the model and the definition of its components are described below. You can download the Business Compass Visio template from the Business Tools page.