1237: 4 Steps to Building Your Brand & Developing Your Purpose w/ Dave Gordon

WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:09.029 Welcome back to be tob growth. I'm logan miles with sweet fish media. 2 00:00:09.189 --> 00:00:13.269 Today I'm joined by Dave Gordon. He's the CMO of Gallagher Bassett, a 3 00:00:13.310 --> 00:00:18.109 keynote speaker, Co founder of Gordon Creative and author of tip, a simple 4 00:00:18.190 --> 00:00:22.539 strategy to inspire high performance and lasting success. Dave, welcome to the show. 5 00:00:22.539 --> 00:00:25.620 How's it going today? Hey, Logan, it's a it's going well. 6 00:00:25.699 --> 00:00:28.539 Glad to be here. Thanks for having me. Thank you for making 7 00:00:28.620 --> 00:00:32.460 time to record a podcast episode in the middle of quarantine life. Whenever you're 8 00:00:32.460 --> 00:00:36.689 listening to this right now, everybody is dealing with things. I feel very 9 00:00:36.850 --> 00:00:41.049 fortunate to be already a work from home homeschooling dad, so I feel like 10 00:00:41.130 --> 00:00:46.049 we're kind of two steps ahead, fortunately through no effort of our own, 11 00:00:46.090 --> 00:00:51.439 but just circumstantially anyhow. Appreciate that the time, even more so with the 12 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:55.000 circumstances were recording under. Right now, Dave, we're going to be unpacking 13 00:00:55.159 --> 00:00:59.280 some specific takeaways from your book. For context of the conversation, though, 14 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:02.600 Dave, tell us a little bit about yourself, your background and what you're 15 00:01:02.600 --> 00:01:04.590 up to these days. Sure, so, I have a kind of a 16 00:01:04.670 --> 00:01:08.349 unique background. I went to John Hopkins. Originally I was supposed to be 17 00:01:08.390 --> 00:01:12.750 a doctor. That lasted about a semester and a twenty eight averaging chemistry. 18 00:01:12.790 --> 00:01:18.069 So I realized that was not my calling and I actually ended up going into 19 00:01:18.069 --> 00:01:19.980 the writing seminars program there so I could stay in the school and got a 20 00:01:21.140 --> 00:01:26.219 great opportunity to work with some fantastic professors, including some guests for professors like 21 00:01:26.299 --> 00:01:30.859 Edward All be, the puiser prize winning playwright. Started acting a little bit 22 00:01:30.939 --> 00:01:34.010 there and caught the bug and I spent ten years as an actor in New 23 00:01:34.090 --> 00:01:38.810 York and La until my third child was on the way and my wife said 24 00:01:38.810 --> 00:01:42.569 it was time to get a real job. So I had some great success 25 00:01:42.609 --> 00:01:48.680 in commercials and voiceovers, but what I really found out was that to be 26 00:01:48.760 --> 00:01:51.680 an actor you really have to be invested in being someone else, and I 27 00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:56.159 guess I was just happy being made and so I went into the experiential marketing 28 00:01:56.200 --> 00:02:01.150 world and spent about fifteen years there and, after not taking a single marketing 29 00:02:01.269 --> 00:02:07.909 class in college, really cut my teeth on what marketing experiences branding was truly 30 00:02:07.949 --> 00:02:13.469 all about. So learned on the job and then started my own brand consultancy 31 00:02:13.509 --> 00:02:19.580 after about fifteen years, which led me to being offered the position of Global 32 00:02:19.659 --> 00:02:25.020 Cmo for Gallagher Bassett, which is a third party claims and industrator. We're 33 00:02:25.099 --> 00:02:29.699 global and we handled planes all around the world. So we're part of the 34 00:02:29.780 --> 00:02:35.729 Gallagher Organization, which is the fourth largest insurance brokerage. So yeah, it's 35 00:02:35.729 --> 00:02:38.729 kind of a an insurance never thought I'd be there. I'm in marketing. 36 00:02:38.889 --> 00:02:44.479 Never thought I'd be there. I'm also a keynote speaker at conferences. I 37 00:02:44.599 --> 00:02:46.919 talked to interns all the time and now I'm an author. I wrote my 38 00:02:47.039 --> 00:02:50.800 first book, which took me a while to get to. But yeah, 39 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:53.439 I kind of have a unique background. So people say what's wrong with you? 40 00:02:54.039 --> 00:02:57.599 I was like to say that just so much to do in the world, 41 00:02:57.719 --> 00:03:00.789 so why Jo think now? Man, I love that. I felt, 42 00:03:00.909 --> 00:03:04.110 you know, early on in my college days, just like Oh, 43 00:03:04.150 --> 00:03:06.310 I'm interested in this, I kind of like this. What should I do? 44 00:03:06.509 --> 00:03:09.789 And you know, I switched from International Studies to journalism and in all 45 00:03:09.870 --> 00:03:14.539 over the place. You know, I love hearing those kind of background stories 46 00:03:14.699 --> 00:03:17.740 and and how they inform your approach as a marketer. I know we're going 47 00:03:17.740 --> 00:03:23.419 to be talking about some lessons from your book especially for for marketing leaders. 48 00:03:23.740 --> 00:03:28.689 So starting out studying to be a doctor, years in acting, now running 49 00:03:28.729 --> 00:03:32.729 marketing in the insurance sector. What led you to write this book and tell 50 00:03:32.729 --> 00:03:37.330 us a little bit about what it's all about as it relates to your journey 51 00:03:37.330 --> 00:03:39.729 and the lessons along the way and the things that you really felt needed to 52 00:03:39.770 --> 00:03:44.080 be shared? Sure, and I'm glad you use the word journey, because 53 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:46.520 that's really what the book is about. So it's a book. It's called 54 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:52.400 tip and tip stands for take it personally, and the full title is tip, 55 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:58.069 a simple strategy to inspire high performance and lasting success, and it's written 56 00:03:58.069 --> 00:04:02.789 as a business fable, so very much in the same style. Is like 57 00:04:02.909 --> 00:04:05.430 a path, like see one if you're a fan of his work, where 58 00:04:05.430 --> 00:04:10.379 there's a story and then there's a strategy in the back. And so when 59 00:04:10.379 --> 00:04:15.219 you use the word journey, the book itself is the journey of a main 60 00:04:15.300 --> 00:04:20.819 character names Brian Davis, and Brian gets fired from his corporate sales job after 61 00:04:20.899 --> 00:04:26.970 ten years and in the business because the company is cutting red tape going in 62 00:04:27.050 --> 00:04:30.889 a different direction, and so he finds himself without a job, with a 63 00:04:30.050 --> 00:04:34.050 young family, three kids, and not sure what to do with his life 64 00:04:34.250 --> 00:04:41.040 and he ends up finding himself in a bar restaurant where the the owner of 65 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:44.639 the bar, basically gives him a shot to make some extra cash working behind 66 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:48.399 the bar. That is a personal experience because not that I'm not the fired 67 00:04:48.519 --> 00:04:53.910 part. I wasn't fired, but as an actor, I think I mentioned 68 00:04:53.949 --> 00:04:56.350 I was an actor. When you're an actor in New York you're also a 69 00:04:56.430 --> 00:05:00.110 bartender or a waiter. It down right whatever, right, right. And 70 00:05:00.350 --> 00:05:04.029 so I did barten for a number of years and I always knew that I 71 00:05:04.069 --> 00:05:12.459 would write something about the bar restaurant industry because that's where you meet all these 72 00:05:12.579 --> 00:05:18.540 different amazing informative people. And so the book is a business fable that basically 73 00:05:18.540 --> 00:05:24.930 takes this person on this journey of going from somebody who has no value to 74 00:05:25.089 --> 00:05:28.970 somebody who learns what his strengths are, what his value is, how to 75 00:05:29.009 --> 00:05:33.329 build his own personal brand to then help the bigger, larger corporate brand that 76 00:05:33.410 --> 00:05:38.360 eventually I won't give a I won't give away the ending, but it's not 77 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:43.399 a sad ending. So the whole idea there is that it's a journey that 78 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:46.839 that you know. I've written it, I published it. Well, widely 79 00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:50.589 published the book. For me, it's been out on the market for it'll 80 00:05:50.589 --> 00:05:56.389 be two months this coming Sunday, and the feedback I've gotten, the response 81 00:05:56.430 --> 00:05:59.790 I've gotten on Amazon and people just emailing me. As basically said, I 82 00:05:59.870 --> 00:06:03.779 see myself in the main character, I see myself in the challenges, and 83 00:06:04.100 --> 00:06:09.500 that was what I was hoping for, was that people would see the journey 84 00:06:09.980 --> 00:06:14.220 and then related to their own journey and then realize, okay, this is 85 00:06:14.259 --> 00:06:17.300 a strategy that I can follow. And so how do I market myself? 86 00:06:17.459 --> 00:06:23.889 How do I brand myself so that I can find the best position for me? 87 00:06:24.009 --> 00:06:26.769 And I think, like I said, I had a lot of jobs 88 00:06:26.810 --> 00:06:30.449 and I've had a number of careers, but I've been me. I've been 89 00:06:30.610 --> 00:06:34.000 me for the most part, my strengths, my weaknesses, and I've tried 90 00:06:34.120 --> 00:06:39.399 to bring my value to whatever job, whatever industry I've been in. So 91 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:44.000 the fact that this this book and most of the the scenes take place either 92 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:48.670 in a bar restaurant or in the hospitality industry and hotels kind of makes a 93 00:06:48.709 --> 00:06:53.149 little bit of a Science Fiction Book Right now in the midst of of this 94 00:06:53.310 --> 00:06:59.589 crisis. But it really is about learning from your experiences and learning from the 95 00:07:00.029 --> 00:07:02.740 other people on your journey. So I know that's a long answer, but 96 00:07:03.019 --> 00:07:08.379 that is really the impulse I've been I took me that nine years to finally 97 00:07:08.620 --> 00:07:12.579 put the words down of what I truly wanted to say. I finally let 98 00:07:12.620 --> 00:07:15.620 go of the characters and I knew that there's a main message I needed to 99 00:07:15.660 --> 00:07:17.410 get out there, and I'm really glad I did, because the feedback's been 100 00:07:17.490 --> 00:07:20.730 phenomenal. I love that. I want to key in on some of the 101 00:07:20.850 --> 00:07:24.689 feedback that you've been getting there, Dave. You know, we've talked to 102 00:07:24.889 --> 00:07:28.410 at length on the show about, you know, the personal brands of your 103 00:07:28.449 --> 00:07:31.160 executive team, of your marketing leadership, of you know, whoever those subject 104 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:36.800 matter experts are within your team, for for external facing, for Building Authority 105 00:07:38.040 --> 00:07:42.720 and humanizing Your Business to the audience you're trying to reach. In this book 106 00:07:42.759 --> 00:07:46.829 you're talking a little bit more about personal brand as it relates to the organization 107 00:07:46.670 --> 00:07:51.470 itself. What are some of those elements in the challenges and the ways that 108 00:07:51.709 --> 00:07:56.509 the challenges are overcome? Without giving too much of the of the story, 109 00:07:56.550 --> 00:07:59.579 a way that people are most resonating with? What are some of the common 110 00:07:59.660 --> 00:08:03.860 themes in those comments, that feedback that you're getting, that people are seeing 111 00:08:03.180 --> 00:08:07.939 and and that they're realizing, AH, this is this is kind of the 112 00:08:07.980 --> 00:08:11.100 shift I probably need to make. Yeah, so I think it's a great 113 00:08:11.100 --> 00:08:13.730 question and I think what a lot of people have come back to me with 114 00:08:15.009 --> 00:08:18.889 is this idea that when they're part of a bigger team, they feel okay, 115 00:08:18.930 --> 00:08:24.490 if I work for a large organization, right, a multinational organization that 116 00:08:24.649 --> 00:08:26.959 has a strong brand, that I can just go in there and do my 117 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:31.480 job and not worry about it, right, that the brand will carry me. 118 00:08:31.080 --> 00:08:35.000 And I think after reading the book, what people real lies is that 119 00:08:35.080 --> 00:08:39.000 a larger brand, when we think about be to be branding, that that 120 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:46.350 brand is made up of both team brands and then individual brands, and if 121 00:08:46.549 --> 00:08:52.070 one person or one team falters, that weakens the brand itself. So if 122 00:08:52.070 --> 00:08:56.980 you go into whether it's I always like to think that you're either auditioning for 123 00:08:56.100 --> 00:09:00.940 the job you have or the job that you want every single day. Right 124 00:09:01.100 --> 00:09:03.139 that if you go into work thinking, Yep, I got this, this 125 00:09:03.299 --> 00:09:05.500 is always going to be my job, you're doomed to be a Brian Davis. 126 00:09:05.580 --> 00:09:09.649 You're doomed to be fired after ten years and so an. Unfortunately, 127 00:09:09.690 --> 00:09:13.809 I think in this time of the covid nineteen crisis, there's going to be 128 00:09:13.889 --> 00:09:16.809 a lot of people that are going to be out there looking for jobs. 129 00:09:18.450 --> 00:09:22.049 And so the question is, okay, you're going into a room again. 130 00:09:22.090 --> 00:09:24.039 I used to be an actor, and you're auditioning for a job that you 131 00:09:24.120 --> 00:09:28.600 don't have yet. So you basically have to convince someone that you can do 132 00:09:28.759 --> 00:09:33.799 the job to help their brand, right, whether it's their brand as a 133 00:09:33.799 --> 00:09:35.440 leader, their team brand. And I was like to think of it this 134 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:39.629 way. I'll kind of get a little Geeky with you. I was like 135 00:09:39.710 --> 00:09:43.429 to think of it in terms of Marvel Universe and the avengers. So if 136 00:09:43.470 --> 00:09:46.149 you think of a personal but I think of like iron man, iron man 137 00:09:46.149 --> 00:09:48.269 as a personal brand, right, you are iron man, whoever you are, 138 00:09:48.830 --> 00:09:52.389 okay, but you're also part of a team. You're part of the 139 00:09:52.470 --> 00:09:56.659 avengers, and the avengers has their brand, right, but you're also part 140 00:09:56.700 --> 00:10:01.059 of a corporate entity, and that's marvel universe and and every one of those 141 00:10:01.139 --> 00:10:05.940 brands has to link up and be aligned and be authentic and everybody has to 142 00:10:05.980 --> 00:10:09.929 be accountable, otherwise it doesn't work right. And so if you think about 143 00:10:09.929 --> 00:10:15.129 what people have been coming back to me with is I never thought it would 144 00:10:15.250 --> 00:10:18.889 matter as much to what I'm doing, and so now I know that my 145 00:10:20.129 --> 00:10:24.480 brand matters. Now I know that my brand has if I can bring value, 146 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:28.879 then and people within my team, within my organization, seat of value. 147 00:10:30.440 --> 00:10:33.399 That I know I have some security and I know I have a future. 148 00:10:33.840 --> 00:10:35.269 Do Make Sense? Yeah, that makes a ton of sense. I 149 00:10:35.389 --> 00:10:39.669 think that's a really nice segue, Dave, into you know, you talk 150 00:10:39.710 --> 00:10:43.309 a little bit about this action plan as you get into the strategy of the 151 00:10:43.389 --> 00:10:48.149 book. What are some of those things that we can kind of to give 152 00:10:48.190 --> 00:10:52.659 folks a little bit of a taste and some of the the key recommendations that 153 00:10:52.740 --> 00:10:56.460 you're making for folks as they make this unlock of okay, it's about the 154 00:10:56.539 --> 00:10:58.700 unique value that I add to my team, how I go about that, 155 00:11:00.059 --> 00:11:03.139 how I communicate that, how I, you know, present that. If 156 00:11:03.179 --> 00:11:05.610 I am trying to find that next job, whether your job hunting when you 157 00:11:05.690 --> 00:11:09.649 listen to this, or whether you're looking for that next promotion or whatever the 158 00:11:09.769 --> 00:11:13.450 case might be. It's not just if you're a job seeking, but it's 159 00:11:13.490 --> 00:11:16.730 very timely there. So tell us a little bit about some of the steps 160 00:11:16.809 --> 00:11:22.159 in the Action Plan that you recommend for be to be marketing leader specifically. 161 00:11:22.759 --> 00:11:26.320 Sure. So the Action Plan I really refer to as your personal accountability plan 162 00:11:26.679 --> 00:11:31.159 and if you really think about it, you are accountable for your own success. 163 00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:35.309 Your accountable for your brand. So it there's really four steps and it 164 00:11:35.389 --> 00:11:39.429 starts with your identity. Right, who are you and what do you stand 165 00:11:39.509 --> 00:11:41.750 for, right, and who do you want to help? If you really 166 00:11:41.830 --> 00:11:46.629 think about that, you're there, you're in business, your job, you're 167 00:11:46.629 --> 00:11:48.700 there to help someone. It might be someone on your team and might be 168 00:11:48.740 --> 00:11:52.259 your manager, it might mean be a customer, but you're there to help 169 00:11:52.340 --> 00:11:56.220 someone. So you have to think of it in terms of who do I 170 00:11:56.340 --> 00:11:58.220 want to help? So that step one, and a lot of people they 171 00:11:58.259 --> 00:12:01.529 don't do that. Right there, that's very easy to identify someone else. 172 00:12:01.529 --> 00:12:05.809 It's very easy to tell someone who they are and what their strengths and weaknesses 173 00:12:05.929 --> 00:12:09.769 are. But until you actually do that, until you define who you are 174 00:12:09.850 --> 00:12:16.279 and your identity, other people are going to define you for you and nobody 175 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:18.480 wants that. So if you can say, okay, this is who I 176 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:24.000 am, right. So the first step is your identity, and I'll break 177 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:28.840 it down into a very simple term. Can you identify yourself in one word? 178 00:12:28.120 --> 00:12:31.350 Right, if you think of a brand, a brand can be identified 179 00:12:31.429 --> 00:12:35.549 in one word. Volvo is known for one thing. It's known for safety 180 00:12:35.590 --> 00:12:41.909 right across the world because they always put out messaging, because they understand that 181 00:12:43.070 --> 00:12:46.220 they are if you want to safe car, you get a Volvo. So 182 00:12:46.500 --> 00:12:50.299 who are you and what's your brand? What's what's your one word? And 183 00:12:50.460 --> 00:12:52.779 that's what the main characteristic to go through the book and figure out. By 184 00:12:52.820 --> 00:12:58.649 the end he figures out what his word is and then is able to communicate 185 00:12:58.809 --> 00:13:01.090 that, which is the second step. The action plan is, how are 186 00:13:01.129 --> 00:13:07.049 you communicating your brand? Are you consistent or are you inconsistent? Right, 187 00:13:07.129 --> 00:13:09.049 whatever that word is, whatever your brand is, you've you've got to be 188 00:13:09.169 --> 00:13:13.360 consistent in how you go out the door. The third thing is actions. 189 00:13:13.799 --> 00:13:16.240 Right, it's you can say who you are, but at the end of 190 00:13:16.279 --> 00:13:20.039 the day, are you delivering on your promise? And when we think about 191 00:13:20.120 --> 00:13:22.840 what a brand is, whether it's a person, a team, a company 192 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:28.269 of service, a brand is a promise. It's a promise of unique value 193 00:13:28.470 --> 00:13:31.990 and your ability to deliver on that promise is so important because if you're not 194 00:13:33.149 --> 00:13:37.190 delivering, then it's an empty promise and therefore your brand is worthless. Right. 195 00:13:37.789 --> 00:13:39.710 So, if you think about your identity, how you communicate it, 196 00:13:41.230 --> 00:13:43.620 your actions that deliver on the promise, when you do those things, you'll 197 00:13:43.659 --> 00:13:48.539 ultimately provide unique value, and that's the thing. And when we think about 198 00:13:50.259 --> 00:13:54.299 people in their jobs, where's the unique value coming from? If you have 199 00:13:54.500 --> 00:13:58.649 a lot of unique value, then you're you're probably consulting with someone, you're 200 00:13:58.690 --> 00:14:01.929 helping build their brand, you're helping build the company. But if there's no 201 00:14:01.169 --> 00:14:05.850 unique value, then you're really just a commodity, you're really just a placeholder. 202 00:14:05.250 --> 00:14:07.929 And at the end of the day, I was like to say that 203 00:14:07.009 --> 00:14:11.120 you know from my acting days, you know there's a difference. You're either 204 00:14:11.159 --> 00:14:13.279 a Standin or a standout. Always remember my age and telling me that when 205 00:14:13.320 --> 00:14:18.360 I started, a stand in basically stands in the hot lights, they stand 206 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:22.080 in the cold weather or they wait for the camera to be set up so 207 00:14:22.279 --> 00:14:26.230 that the standout, the the star, can step in and do their job. 208 00:14:26.830 --> 00:14:28.190 And I was like to think, if you think of yourself, are 209 00:14:28.230 --> 00:14:33.590 you a standing or a standout in your organization, your team? It's the 210 00:14:33.669 --> 00:14:37.700 standouts that make the money. It's the stand in standouts that have the value. 211 00:14:37.860 --> 00:14:43.019 The stand ins are really just there until a standout can show up. 212 00:14:43.500 --> 00:14:50.940 Make Sense. Hey, everybody logan with sweet fish here. I had to 213 00:14:50.059 --> 00:14:54.690 take just a second today to share with you another podcast that's in my regular 214 00:14:54.970 --> 00:15:01.610 listening rotation. The sales engagement podcast has some great interviews and you pick up 215 00:15:01.649 --> 00:15:05.330 a lot of best practices from revenue leaders that are doing the job day in 216 00:15:05.570 --> 00:15:09.600 and day out. I've picked up so much learning from other sales leaders that 217 00:15:09.639 --> 00:15:15.080 are featured on the show. One of my favorites is seven things marketing wish 218 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:20.840 sales knew about nurturing leads. So check out the sales engagement podcast wherever you 219 00:15:20.919 --> 00:15:22.950 do, you're listening and by the way, if you're not following Scott Barker 220 00:15:24.149 --> 00:15:26.830 on Linkedin, you should do that too. All right, let's get back 221 00:15:26.830 --> 00:15:31.389 to the show man. I love that day. So start with identity. 222 00:15:31.789 --> 00:15:37.220 How you communicate that, how you act on that and demonstrate what you're communicating 223 00:15:37.259 --> 00:15:41.139 and so that there's not alignment there and just, let's call it what it 224 00:15:41.259 --> 00:15:45.620 is, hypocrisy. And then that leads to delivering value. I love what 225 00:15:45.740 --> 00:15:48.659 you said there. If, if the end goal is delivering your unique value 226 00:15:48.700 --> 00:15:52.769 which is going to propel you forward in your career, is going to help 227 00:15:52.769 --> 00:15:58.250 you land that job because you're communicating that value and demonstrating it. You started 228 00:15:58.330 --> 00:16:00.210 with the identity, which a lot of people say, well, who are 229 00:16:00.250 --> 00:16:03.320 you and it you know, it can sound a little fluffy. You brought 230 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:07.639 it home right there. You said WHO can you help? And I don't 231 00:16:07.639 --> 00:16:11.519 think there's any any more timely thing for us to think about, especially as 232 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:15.799 we deal with with the COVID pandemic and everything. No matter what sort of 233 00:16:15.879 --> 00:16:18.990 role, what your company's going through, if it's going through, you know, 234 00:16:19.110 --> 00:16:22.389 a contraction, if you're, you know, somewhat leveraging this, if 235 00:16:22.429 --> 00:16:26.429 you you know, there are some folks that are seeing kind of both sides 236 00:16:26.509 --> 00:16:30.230 of the economic coin right now, right, but if you focus on who 237 00:16:30.230 --> 00:16:33.860 you can help one that may open up new opportunities for your company. Say 238 00:16:33.860 --> 00:16:37.700 you're in marketing, hey, we could really help this sector and I think 239 00:16:37.700 --> 00:16:41.779 I have a something there. Now I'm contributing to that messaging. Or, 240 00:16:42.259 --> 00:16:45.340 you know, who can I help? Let's just talk on a personal level, 241 00:16:45.340 --> 00:16:49.009 right when we get out of our own heads of I'm stuck on Day 242 00:16:49.090 --> 00:16:52.610 ten of quarantine and you know, we don't only have this much toilet paper 243 00:16:52.649 --> 00:16:56.889 left and I'm sick of the family and we're cooped up, or whatever the 244 00:16:56.009 --> 00:17:00.970 case might be. It even in small ways, personally and professionally. I 245 00:17:00.210 --> 00:17:06.400 want people to hear that starting with who you are and who you're uniquely positioned 246 00:17:06.599 --> 00:17:10.039 to help through your gifts, your experience, variances, whether you started out 247 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:12.960 as the doctor, went to an an actor, became a bartender, became 248 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:17.630 a marketer, whatever your story is, starting with who you can help. 249 00:17:17.950 --> 00:17:21.589 It is a great place to start. I just I have to camp out 250 00:17:21.670 --> 00:17:22.950 on that for a second day. What do you have to add there? 251 00:17:23.190 --> 00:17:26.269 Yeah, no, I think you nailed something. In the book I talked 252 00:17:26.309 --> 00:17:30.339 about that. I talk about having a purpose statement, and your purpose statement 253 00:17:30.500 --> 00:17:34.460 starts with I help people. So if I asked you what do you do, 254 00:17:34.819 --> 00:17:37.099 a lot of people would tell me their title, they did, they 255 00:17:37.180 --> 00:17:41.299 tell me their job, function, their industry, and what I've tried to 256 00:17:41.339 --> 00:17:45.210 get people to do is identify themselves by the people that they help. So 257 00:17:45.369 --> 00:17:48.369 if I say to you what do you do and you say I help people 258 00:17:48.890 --> 00:17:53.609 blank, that's your purpose. So think about the people right nowadays where a 259 00:17:53.690 --> 00:17:56.609 lot of us are cooked up at home, but there are people who are 260 00:17:56.730 --> 00:18:02.000 still out there, nurses. Who are they helping? Right? When you 261 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:07.279 think about those essential job functions that you're allowed to move around. I'm from 262 00:18:07.319 --> 00:18:11.160 New York and so a lot of New York is basically shut down, shelter 263 00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:15.109 and place. My son works for the new stations as a video editor and 264 00:18:15.390 --> 00:18:18.630 so he can't do his job from home, so he has to go to 265 00:18:18.750 --> 00:18:23.630 work. Right. So his function is to help people be informed. And 266 00:18:23.869 --> 00:18:29.339 so when you think about how you help people, that is so important and, 267 00:18:29.500 --> 00:18:33.579 like I said, it drives your sense of purpose. So if you're 268 00:18:33.700 --> 00:18:38.740 just there for the paycheck, then you are basically that's external motivation right. 269 00:18:38.819 --> 00:18:42.369 You're not focusing on your purpose and that comes back to, you know, 270 00:18:42.569 --> 00:18:48.009 the the idea for the book which tip again stands for. Take it personally, 271 00:18:48.210 --> 00:18:52.250 in the bar industry, what's a tip? You know and what's a 272 00:18:52.289 --> 00:18:53.930 tip? And when you sit there you see these tip jars all over the 273 00:18:55.009 --> 00:19:00.759 place and tip people have always thought stands for to ensure performance or to ensure 274 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:03.920 promptness, basically to say hey, I've got, you know, your tip 275 00:19:04.039 --> 00:19:07.759 in my hand and you better do a good job, otherwise you're not going 276 00:19:07.799 --> 00:19:11.509 to get any money, and that's where I think the the the idea came 277 00:19:11.549 --> 00:19:17.710 from was when I was bartending and my wife was also a bartender. That's 278 00:19:17.710 --> 00:19:21.269 how we met actually, but we also had our day jobs. Mine was 279 00:19:21.309 --> 00:19:23.150 a plot, and thinkins it had a plot, does it? That she 280 00:19:23.420 --> 00:19:27.339 was she was in the corporate events business, and so it's funny. She 281 00:19:27.460 --> 00:19:30.980 came home one night and she said, you know, this, this whole 282 00:19:32.500 --> 00:19:34.220 this whole corporate thing, like if I just put a tip cup on my 283 00:19:34.380 --> 00:19:37.539 desk and then when somebody asked me to go do something and they threw, 284 00:19:37.609 --> 00:19:41.569 you know, a couple of bucks into the tip jar, you know that 285 00:19:41.609 --> 00:19:44.609 would make it easier. And we laughed about it right, and we thought 286 00:19:44.650 --> 00:19:48.089 other wouldn't be funny. But in essence, when you really think about what 287 00:19:48.250 --> 00:19:52.809 that is, that's that's external motivation and that only lasts so long. And 288 00:19:52.920 --> 00:19:56.920 so when the title goes away and and the paycheck goes away, why are 289 00:19:56.960 --> 00:20:00.160 you doing what you do? So when you think about tip, take it 290 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:03.640 personally. What you're really should be taken personally is not what people say about 291 00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:06.559 you. Because if I don't take it personally, that's not what we're saying 292 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:11.750 here. It's more about take the experience of your customer personally, and your 293 00:20:11.869 --> 00:20:15.950 customer could be a patient, if you're a nurse, your customer could be 294 00:20:15.349 --> 00:20:19.710 your boss, it could be a client, it could be an entire industry 295 00:20:19.789 --> 00:20:23.500 that you're that you're marketing to. So when you think about that, when 296 00:20:23.539 --> 00:20:29.740 you think about take it personally, it's take the entire experience of your audience 297 00:20:29.779 --> 00:20:33.900 personally, and when you do that you're going to feel that sense of purpose 298 00:20:34.339 --> 00:20:40.410 and you're going to drive the messaging in in a more holistic way so that 299 00:20:40.529 --> 00:20:44.569 that audience feels like, Yep, that person cares about me, cares about 300 00:20:44.650 --> 00:20:48.210 my experience, and isn't that what we're trying to do with any audience is 301 00:20:48.329 --> 00:20:52.039 really make them believe that they really are the only the only person or the 302 00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:55.799 only company or the only team that we care about at that moment? Yeah, 303 00:20:55.839 --> 00:20:57.599 yeah, absolutely. I was just thinking on a walk last night about 304 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:02.519 you know, how I was. I was writing copy for an email that 305 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:07.069 was going to go out to several customers and instead of pulling up my template 306 00:21:07.150 --> 00:21:11.309 software or a Google doc or something, I open the composed window and literally 307 00:21:11.750 --> 00:21:15.789 started it to one customer and wrote it like it was just to that that 308 00:21:17.349 --> 00:21:21.900 one individual and that helped me write it. That's so that it would it 309 00:21:22.099 --> 00:21:26.059 could go out to to multiple but it was written more personally. So just 310 00:21:26.299 --> 00:21:30.140 just kind of an aside there. But I love what you're saying, David, 311 00:21:30.339 --> 00:21:33.130 starting with who you serve, how that leads to your personal brand. 312 00:21:33.210 --> 00:21:37.609 As you know, as fluffy as that might sound to some folks, and 313 00:21:37.650 --> 00:21:40.369 I know it's been talked about a lot in marketing, but I love the 314 00:21:40.450 --> 00:21:42.849 twist that you've kind of given to it today, especially in light of everything 315 00:21:42.930 --> 00:21:47.009 that's going on. It also aligns with a lot of the things that we're 316 00:21:47.089 --> 00:21:51.759 trying to to share from our own brand experience here at sweet fish. One 317 00:21:51.799 --> 00:21:55.519 of our core values is own the results, which aligns with your take it. 318 00:21:55.599 --> 00:21:57.799 Personally, it means, okay, I'm not just responsible for the action, 319 00:21:59.200 --> 00:22:03.309 I'm responsible for the result. Did we launch that podcast on time? 320 00:22:03.509 --> 00:22:07.589 Is Our customer show successful? Do they feel prepared to host their podcast, 321 00:22:07.630 --> 00:22:11.509 interviewer, whatever? Now that's very granular and very down to what we do, 322 00:22:11.710 --> 00:22:14.829 but I see that it's so just want to connect kind of the high 323 00:22:14.869 --> 00:22:18.579 level to where the rubber meets the road for for us here at sweet fish 324 00:22:18.779 --> 00:22:23.259 and we are on a mission to help to inspire people to own their careers, 325 00:22:23.420 --> 00:22:26.180 because one of the stats that we've seen is that, you know, 326 00:22:26.220 --> 00:22:32.490 you spend ninetyzero hours of your life in the current environment at work and so 327 00:22:32.650 --> 00:22:36.769 many people don't have ownership of their careers. They they feel like they don't 328 00:22:36.769 --> 00:22:40.569 have control and at the very least, they don't even necessarily like it. 329 00:22:41.049 --> 00:22:44.289 So, you know, whatever the factors are, whether you're finding yourself in 330 00:22:44.319 --> 00:22:47.599 a job hunt right now or you're finding yourself in a job that you don't 331 00:22:47.640 --> 00:22:51.480 like, or whatever the case is, I hope that you know what you're 332 00:22:51.480 --> 00:22:55.759 sharing here, Dave, today is going to help folks be able to take 333 00:22:55.880 --> 00:23:00.430 that ownership of their career. So thank you so much for doing your best 334 00:23:00.470 --> 00:23:04.230 to inspire folks today and take next steps. Any parting thoughts on on Next 335 00:23:04.230 --> 00:23:07.670 Steps for folks that you want to leave them with today day? Yeah, 336 00:23:07.670 --> 00:23:11.549 I think it starts with how they view themselves. When I first went into 337 00:23:11.589 --> 00:23:15.460 the insurance industry and I walked into a room and I asked people what they 338 00:23:15.579 --> 00:23:22.299 did, a woman who was an adjuster for claims kind of shrug that. 339 00:23:22.339 --> 00:23:23.900 I said what are you doing? She goes, I'm just an adjuster, 340 00:23:25.740 --> 00:23:30.009 and that term just made it into my book. When you describe yourself as 341 00:23:30.170 --> 00:23:33.130 just as something. I'm just a salesperson, I'm just, you know, 342 00:23:33.250 --> 00:23:37.650 a nurse, I'm just whatever you are. Just what you're doing is you're 343 00:23:37.650 --> 00:23:41.009 dvaluing yourself and I see it all the time and I hear it all the 344 00:23:41.089 --> 00:23:44.359 time, and I speak a lot to young talent as well when they're starting 345 00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:47.400 out in the industry. I'm just an intern, you know, I'm just 346 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:52.480 an assistant right. And No, you're not. You're a valuable piece of 347 00:23:52.599 --> 00:23:56.990 the puzzle. You're a value. Wouldn't be there if you weren't valuable. 348 00:23:56.390 --> 00:24:00.390 So the question is, how do you make it more valuable? And I 349 00:24:00.509 --> 00:24:03.829 think if I could leave today with anything, it's that you are in control 350 00:24:04.150 --> 00:24:10.819 of branding and marketing yourself, your team and your organization. I have a 351 00:24:10.859 --> 00:24:15.779 good friend WHO's a risk manager for the chiefecake factory and he likes to say 352 00:24:15.339 --> 00:24:21.259 you are never not a representative of your company. So, if you think 353 00:24:21.299 --> 00:24:25.690 about it, you're never not a representative your company, your family, your 354 00:24:25.930 --> 00:24:29.930 community, your friend circle. So if you go out the door every day 355 00:24:29.930 --> 00:24:33.769 launching yourself out of bed with that one word of your promise that you're supposed 356 00:24:33.809 --> 00:24:38.160 to make to someone, then you're going to live an authentic and aspirational life. 357 00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:44.759 So don't be adjusted right and then try to be a representative of all 358 00:24:44.839 --> 00:24:48.960 the things that you value most and in return they'll value back. Man, 359 00:24:49.119 --> 00:24:53.309 I love that day. Don't be adjusted. To wrap things up for folks 360 00:24:53.349 --> 00:24:57.230 today, you know, those four steps identify your identity, which is not 361 00:24:57.390 --> 00:25:00.829 just about who you are in your traits, but who you serve. Again, 362 00:25:00.869 --> 00:25:04.589 I can't hammer that home enough to how do you communicate it? How 363 00:25:04.630 --> 00:25:07.299 do you then take the next steps with action, and then how do you 364 00:25:07.980 --> 00:25:11.819 deliver that unique value? So those four steps, I think, whether you're 365 00:25:11.859 --> 00:25:15.140 trying to take ownership of your career, you're trying to build your personal brand 366 00:25:15.140 --> 00:25:18.579 as as part of that career journey or as part of what you're doing as 367 00:25:18.740 --> 00:25:22.529 a marketer, whatever the case is, I think those four steps apply. 368 00:25:22.930 --> 00:25:26.170 They thank you so much for joining us on the show today, especially as 369 00:25:26.250 --> 00:25:30.089 we're podcasting from quarantine life right now in that vein orders some digital ways that 370 00:25:30.170 --> 00:25:33.809 people can engage with you. I know you're not doing as many. You 371 00:25:33.890 --> 00:25:37.799 know, public speaking gigs, at least for the foreseeable future, things that 372 00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:40.680 push a little bit. What's the best way for folks to get in touch 373 00:25:40.720 --> 00:25:44.839 with you right now? Social handles or any contact information you want to share? 374 00:25:44.839 --> 00:25:47.440 Yeah, so the easiest way to get in touch. Obviously you can 375 00:25:47.440 --> 00:25:52.309 go to the website. Dave Gordon dotnet. Is the easiest way to see 376 00:25:52.390 --> 00:25:56.430 all the stuff that I'm doing, and I talked about my social handle is 377 00:25:56.430 --> 00:26:02.069 Dave Gordon underscore nine. You can find me on twitter, you can find 378 00:26:02.109 --> 00:26:06.579 me on Linkedin, instagram and my email address, if you want to contact 379 00:26:06.619 --> 00:26:11.980 me directly, is Dave at Gordon CCCOM. So those are the easiest ways 380 00:26:12.019 --> 00:26:14.980 to get ahold of me. If you want to talk about your brand, 381 00:26:15.019 --> 00:26:18.809 you want to talk about your organization, how to be a better, better 382 00:26:18.930 --> 00:26:22.650 brand person, better marketer. I love this stuff. I love helping people 383 00:26:22.450 --> 00:26:27.250 identify and communicate their unique value to build stronger personal team and corporate France. 384 00:26:27.410 --> 00:26:30.730 That's my purpose statement, that's what I do. I love it. We 385 00:26:30.890 --> 00:26:33.599 come back to helping and purpose statements. Just to wrap it up with a 386 00:26:33.599 --> 00:26:36.359 nice little bow, Dave, thank you so much for joining me on the 387 00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:41.160 show today. Thanks, Logan. I hate it when podcasts incessantly ask their 388 00:26:41.240 --> 00:26:45.680 listeners for reviews, but I get why they do it, because reviews are 389 00:26:45.799 --> 00:26:48.869 enormously helpful when you're trying to grow podcast audience. So here's what we decided 390 00:26:48.910 --> 00:26:52.670 to do. If you leave a review for be to be growth in apple 391 00:26:52.710 --> 00:26:56.670 podcasts and email me a screenshot of the review to James at Sweet Fish Mediacom, 392 00:26:57.029 --> 00:27:00.349 I'll send you a signed copy of my new book, content based networking, 393 00:27:00.579 --> 00:27:03.660 how to instantly connect with anyone you want to know. We get a 394 00:27:03.700 --> 00:27:07.259 review, you get a free book. We both win.