Overcoming the What-ifs in doing Brand Strategy
By Levina Kusumadjaja
What if you don’t know how to sell strategy? What if you only know design, and you know nothing about brand strategy? What if you quit your job and then nobody wants to hire you? What if later on you find out that you are actually not fit to be a brand strategist, that you are forever meant to be just an order taker? What if I’m just an impostor? What if...
So. Many. What-ifs.
To start doing and selling strategy, something that you probably have never done in your life, would feel like jumping off from a plane without knowing how to release a parachute. You know you are tired of being an order taker, and you know you want to get paid to think. But what if...? The reality is, you and I will never finish exhausting the list of of possible what-ifs in our lifetime. The inner dialogues we have with ourselves are something that we have to face in the process.
The right what-if questions can help us dream bigger and encourage us to see what’s possible.
The what-if questions aren’t necessarily 100% bad. What-if questions can help us dream bigger and encourage us to see what’s possible. What if we can change people’s lives through our services? What if we can work with Apple and Nike? What if we can build world class brands? These are awesome what-ifs to ponder about. Unfortunately, far too often, our what-ifs imagine the worst possible outcomes, not so much the possibilities. What if we don’t get clients? What if we fail? What if don’t have what it takes to be a successful brand strategist? And so on.
“A few solid pros are more powerful than dozens of cons.” - Steve Jobs
Here are things you can do if you’re finding yourself stuck in your what-ifs as you make the pivot from being an order taker to a strategist:
Set achievable, realistic milestones to reach the ultimate goal that you want to reach. Sometimes what’s causing the anxiety is us feeling like the dream is so big and so far from us.
Assess the risk objectively and move forward accepting the risks.
Set actionable steps based on the milestones, but accept the possibility that things might not go according to plan and you might need to change some things along the way.
See failure as a part of learning in the journey, instead of a concluding statement.
Write down truth and power statements (For example: you are loved, your work isn’t who you are, just because you have failed doesn’t mean you’re a failure, and so on) in places visible to you, so you can speak it over yourself daily.
Nothing valuable comes with zero risk.
I’m not saying that we should completely ignore the risks, but I’m saying that focusing on the worst outcomes won’t help you get to your goal. Whenever we choose to do something new and different, there’s always a risk. Choosing to pivot from being an order taker to getting paid to think is a big leap, it does take a lot of courage. But instead of allowing ourselves to sink into the whirlpool of endless what-ifs, let’s objectively weight out the pros and cons and then take calculated risks. You were never meant to be just an order taker. Be bold and start taking those baby steps!
Cheers!
Levina
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About the author:
Levina is a writer based in Indonesia. Because of Melinda Livsey, she recognized the power of brand strategy for every creative. She is sharing about her learnings as she goes to help creatives have fun in their growth and journey of building brands. Connect with her on LinkedIn and say hi!