But if you drill down, and drill down some more, and drill down even deeper, can you identify ONE word that defines what drives you to do all that (and, no, it’s not money ). The answer is “yes” you can do that. It takes time, tenacity, insight, and the help of others to give you “outside-in” feedback, but if you work it hard enough and want it enough you’ll get there. And when you think you have it, you might still be wrong. Let it gel, sit with it for a week or two, and then think again. Your gut will tell you when you’re right — when you’ve really got it.

Once you know what drives you to do all that you do, you’ll likely have your brand. That’s when you can separate out the market-facing activities you do every day – JJ, your writing, blogging, etc.– and figure out the value proposition for each of those. But without knowing the bedrock foundation, without knowing their genesis, you’ll be working with a big handicap.

Think about great brands – Fed-Ex is valued for getting it there overnight, but what underlies that? What vision and passion drove Fred Smith, the founder to build that business model and make it happen after he developed the model in his famously-rejected college term paper? Would it have happened without that?

Think Bill Gates, no matter what businesses or foundations he runs, what underlies his determination to do what he does? What do Microsoft and the Gates Foundation have in common? Certainly a sense of purpose. And seemingly a sense of “make it happen” and we can fix the glitches along the way—let’s just get it moving.” What drives that? What drives that is likely Gates’ personal brand, and Microsoft wouldn’t be the same without that foundation, no matter who is running the company.

Steve Jobs, on the other hand, is all about “make it innovative, beautiful, seamless, easy, bug-free (or nearly so), and then make it happen”. In a sped-to-market, profit-at-the-expense-of-quality world, would Apple be that focused on innovation and quality were it not for Job’s brand? Hard to say, but we can’t imagine Apple without it.

What of Jason can we not imagine JibberJobber without?

Now, on to your education question of today’s post –

My ramblings above really do relate to that because once Jason’s/JJ’s brand and value are clear, the education part becomes far less complicated. You’ll have the “what and why” pinned down so clearly that the value (why use JJ) is obvious. You’ll just need to solidify the “how to.” And the “how to” needs to be simple to start and get more robust as you drill down. You’ll need a “JJ snapshot / quick start” so you don’t lose people before they even begin.

Deb Dib ~ The CEO Coach (and Jason Alba fan / JJ contest sponsor)
”Unabashedly passionate about helping visionary, gutsy, fun leaders with a conscience build great careers, mold great companies, and even change the world a bit!”