A peek into my origin story

Hello,

During National Small Business Month, I’m reflecting on what it was like to grow up working behind the counter of my dad’s corner drugstore in Brooklyn, New York. There, I got a hands-on understanding of the grit, passion, attention to detail, relationship-building, and innovation and data-informed mindset that go into building and sustaining a business. 

These are skills I have honed across leading institutions, and that I support my students and clients in building and activating every day. 

Please read on for guidance on creating a business code of ethics, the essentials in developing your brand origin story, and more.

How to Create a Business Code of Ethics

“Top management only talks about ethics when something goes wrong in an organization,” is a statement that 55% of employee respondents agreed with in the recent edition of the ECI Global Business Ethics Survey. 

Recently I worked with a team to co-create a new code of ethics. The game-changing experience made the team realize just how important it is to approach ethics before something goes wrong — especially when introducing new technologies.

Here’s how your team can take a proactive approach to ethics:1. Engage a diverse team of employees to create recommended principles for the organization’s code of ethics, including two or three behaviors describing what living each principle looks like.

2. Include a wider audience, ideally all employees, to vote on the top principles to be adopted by the organization.

3. Integrate the code into employee communications, performance feedback, and annual appraisal processes so that everyone is aware of and accountable for applying the principles in their own decisions and actions.

In my work, I am privileged to guide organizations in defining and living their values, strengthening the foundation for creating enduring stakeholder value, and preempting business and societal risks while leveraging the tremendous positives of emerging technologies.

What’s your origin story?

Recently, I encouraged a client to share their origin story when introducing their company to a prospective, corporate customer. They were reluctant to do so, and preferred to recite the usual credentials: years in business, awards, marquee clients, and satisfaction ratings — all of which are expected and unmemorable. 

Whether in a business pitch, on social media, or when introducing oneself at a conference, sharing one’s origin story may be a better way to foster connection and be remembered. To get started, ensure that your original story is:

1. Authentic, giving insight into who you are
2. Relatable, sharing moments of struggle, growth, and triumph
3. Enjoyable, providing an opportunity to share memories or passions
4. Differentiating, setting you apart from a sea of profiles, resumes, and company “about” pages

Even for an introvert like me, sharing sound bites about my past, as I did above, is invariably an easier, more natural, and jargon-free way to connect through conversation. So, what’s your origin story? I’d love to hear it.

I will leave you with this critical reminder: Understand underlying drivers of customer behavior and how they affect your financial outcomes.

If you’re looking for non-obvious, actionable insights into customer behaviors that drive sales at your organization, you are not alone. I’m proud to work with diverse companies to execute on those insights, transforming culture, employee behavior, processes, collaboration, and more, and creating sustainable growth.

Send me a message — I’d love to set up a time to discuss.

Warm regards,