The Identity Effect: Learning from the Inside Out

The Identity Effect: Learning from the Inside Out (PDF, 1.1MB)

When it comes to building employee engagement and business performance, companies often look to others for best practices. For the most part, we’re ‘outside-in’ learners. What new research shows, however, is that having a strong identity is a prerequisite to engagement – and that learning from the inside-out is where to start.

Thought Leader Interview with Larry Ackerman (PDF, 406KB)

An interview with Larry Ackerman in McGraw-Hill’s Management Monthly newsletter for educators, January 2010 edition — Identity and the future of higher education

The Identity Imperative: Turning Employee Engagement into Value Creation (PDF, 221KB)

The case for employee engagement is compelling: High levels of employee engagement correlate to performance in areas such as retention, productivity and customer loyalty. Still, there is something missing; something which can dramatically accelerate the case for employee engagement. The missing link is a strategic frame of reference that fuses the deepest needs of organizations with the deepest needs of human beings: the need to create value in the world and to be recognized for it in return.

The Power of Identity in Brand Building (PDF, 912KB)

A healthy corporate identity comes from building a vital, visible relationship between the institution and the society of which it is necessarily a part. Making this connection clear, promoting it and living it, is how successful companies attract and retain great talent, create sustainable partnerships with valuable customers, and — in the end — are able to keep shareholders happy.

The Identity Code: A Tough Nut to Crack (PDF, 580KB)

Identity provides the human model of how a company works, just as economics provides the capital model of how a company works. In the context of strategy, ‘cracking the code’ on identity is a way for leaders to unleash the unique capabilities of the corporation — and turbo-boost performance in return.

Reframing the Rules of Value Creation (PDF, 177KB)

For all the time and attention paid to sophisticated economic analysis, market trends and technology, creating successful business strategy designed to drive long term value is never a sure thing. Where value creation is the goal, however, managers must begin with a clear understanding of the source of that value — the identities of their organizations — or risk putting their companies on a path to inevitable decline.

The Psychology of Corporation (PDF, 2.65MB)

Understanding the fundamental identity of one’s company — the source of its traditions and shared values — can help explain — as well as foreshadow — success and failure. In fact, an organization’s identity may be the principal internal influence on the company.

Secrets of the Corporate Brand (PDF, 1.22MB)

For too long, brand has been equated with advertising taglines, names and logos. When developed and lived on the timeless strength of a company’s core identity, however, “brand” reveals its true power — not only as a foundation for communications, but as the center of gravity for unearthing and capturing the organization’s true value creating potential.

Living the Brand (PDF, 1.95MB)

There are as many definitions of brand as there are people to ask. Some talk about the consumer as “owning” the brand. Others address brand equity in highly quantitative terms. At bottom, a brand is the “promise” a company makes to all stakeholders, based upon its innate identity — who it is and how it creates value. Without understanding the company’s identity first, branding can be a frustrating, expensive exercise, and ultimately, futile for all concerned.

Humanize Strategy for Change (PDF, 2.73MB)

Change is as much a human process as a business process. Yet, the “logic” of each is vastly different. Left unresolved, these two processes invariably collide, causing change initiatives to implode. Resolution is only possible by dealing with the “transformation paradox:” the need to make the hard stuff — business strategy and economic goals — “soft” and the soft stuff — vision and values — “hard” and thus implementable company-wide.

Finding New Value (PDF, 902KB)

Seeking to rise above its 50-year old forest products image, Boise’s senior management discovered a new lens for comprehending what business they were really in: its identity. Suddenly, separate operations including paper, construction products and office supplies — when looked at collectively — revealed new possibilities for understanding Boise’s value creating potential as one enterprise. It was never just about “trees.”

Fixing Strategy’s Flaw (PDF, 557KB)

More than any other discipline, strategic planning transforms quantifiable facts into crucial insights. But this is also strategy’s flaw: Quantifiable facts do nothing to explain a company’s true identity, which operates beneath the surface of those “facts.”

Branding for Integrity (PDF, 947KB)

Leaders need to remember that their company's integrity and brands are much the same thing. Neglecting one can damage the other.

Identity Is Destiny: Leadership and the Roots of Value Creation

Business Marketing Association Keynote by Larry Ackerman

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Leading Through Identity — AARP Keynote Address, Washington DC, June 2006 (speech)