How to know when it is time as a Leader to re-invent your Brand?

We know as a business, the rule is to eventually re-invent or die. That rule has grown increasingly true as the speed of change has grown and continues to grow exponentially faster. Re-invention is not meant in the purest sense of throwing everything out (We don’t want to throw the baby out with the bath water so to speak). However, it does mean bringing a new advantage to your offerings to your brand for your customer and/or stakeholders. It means reviewing what you provide and ensuring that it is as fresh or as aligned with the customer’s modern day needs as possible.

When you look at some of the greatest companies like General Electric, they consistently pressured themselves to re-invent their level of performance and re-invent the offerings that they were able to provide to customers. Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the greatest leaders of all times, re-invented himself by extending his fight for freedom and justice beyond blacks in the U.S. to those globally around the world.

As we look at what story is most interesting to many in the U.S. today, we wonder what potential leader will be the next President of The United States (POTUS). If you’re like me it is hard to guess at this point. However, looking specifically at Donald Trump on the Republican end, he has been a popular leader. Many support him because they align with his policy and others because he provides a seemingly raw shock value. Some find it attractive and see it as re-inventive in comparison to traditional politics. However, as his momentum began to plateau, we see Trump searching for a potential way to re-invent his brand, to sell a new flexible, non- negative side, to which we have not been exposed to up to this point.

There are many reasons why re-invention is so attractive to us. We want to continue to get better and receive better, we bore easily and many of us like new experiences.

Going back to the primary question at hand, when is it time for leaders to reinvent their brands? When the vision that they have set is no longer being achieved or progressing with the current strategy. When they know that they can accomplish more with a different strategy than originally thought possible. Of course, forecasting trends can anticipate a decline before one arises. Direction can be monitored to see when progress is plateauing or headed in a non- desired direction. Ultimately, leaders need to be more flexible than ever in their quest to maintain pace, reach goals and compete to higher levels of performance.