By Emily Soccorsy + Justin Foster One of the greatest pains of modern thinking is our addiction to dualism. While we are used to seeing this us-versus-them, black-or-white approach in politics or religion, it’s also incredibly prevalent in businesses. This is where we encounter it the most. Too many Old World leaders still believe that for-profit companies should be run with lightning ...
An Open Letter
We believe every great brand is a spiritual experience. A movement. A brand is the only place in business where your inner world is experienced by the outer world. For too long, we have accepted the belief that these worlds are supposed to be separate. We say no. When these worlds are kept separate, dissonance occurs. Identity crises emerge. Leaders drift from the mission. Employees feel ...
What is your brand’s MLE (minimum level of excellence)?
By Emily Soccorsy and Justin Foster A brand is an organic, living thing. It is both a practice and a discipline. And yet there is also a baseline, or minimum, level of organic environmental excellence to create for your brand to grow and thrive. Without this brand primordial soup, you may inadvertently stunt the growth of your brand and reduce its vibrancy and reach. Most people begin ...
Synthesis Episode 10: Ron Price + Stacy Ennis on Growing Influence
LISTEN HERE (audio + video) Synthesis is a Root + River hosted webcast featuring nonconformist leaders whose ideas make them — and us — see the world differently. Our tenth episode features Ron Price and Stacy Ennis, authors of Growing Influence: A Story of How to Lead with Character, Expertise and Impact, which was recently published and is now available. Growing Influence is a modern ...
Why Ego Kills Brands
By Emily Soccorsy + Justin Foster To be a leader you need a healthy ego. Leading with your ego will kill your brand. Discuss. Not sure what to discuss? We got you. First off, we need an ego. It keeps us alive and moving. It looks out for us and spurs urgency. This is why the ego makes a great employee but a terrible boss. Leaders who allow the ego to lead are making themselves highly ...
Market As You Would Like To Be Marketed To
By Emily Soccorsy + Justin Foster In our world, the most egregious violators of the Golden Rule are marketers. By in large, they do not market unto others as they would like to be marketed unto. Sadly, the marketing industry supports this disconnection between humanity and marketing. Way too many marketers go for tactics that use the ball peen hammers of coercion, scarcity, and intrusive, ...
3 Corporate Habits that Will Crush Your Entrepreneurial Spirit
We heart entrepreneurial people. We heart them wherever they may be, and whenever they might find us. In the last year, we’ve seen an increasing number of what we term ATLs, or “about-to-launch,” folks who have finally found the corporate structure too oppressive to their souls to abide any longer. As they prepare their escape, they reach out to us. We meet at the junction and help ...
Amor Fati and Your Brand
As humans we love to quantify. Predict. Determine. Forecast. Around 300,000 years ago (when we as a human race began) predicting, determining and developing and sharing systems of knowing provided us humans with the opportunity to, well, not get eaten. So we became pretty attached to these systems. And we carried them through the various phases and eras of human evolution. These ...
Synthesis Episode 4: How to Make Deep Connections, a Conversation with Kristi Hall
EPISODE 4: Kristi Hall LISTEN HERE (video + audio) Synthesis is a Root + River hosted webcast featuring nonconformist leaders whose ideas make them -- and us -- see the world differently. Our fourth episode of Synthesis featured our visit with Conscious Connections founder, Kristi Hall. Kristi is driven by the belief that each person is here to create magic in the world. Her ...
Know Thyself: A 21st Century Branding Principle
One of the most surprising moments of a Root Session is when our beloved client has the realization their brand was already inside of them. We did not tell them what their brand is. They discovered it. How is this possible? It’s been taught that branding is an external thing. Something you want to be, some construct you build, one aspirational and slightly delusional brick at a time. The ...