One of the most important roles of a leader is to make courageous decisions.

Recently I was in a meeting with an executive team that was working hard to make a very important decision about possible revolutionary changes to their brand.  The outcome of the decision would have quite an impact on all of the people that are involved with the organization, both internally and externally.  As opinions flew around the room, the CEO sat quietly letting everyone speak their mind.  Finally it was time for him to speak, and he said something very profound (this is my paraphrase), “There is a lot of history and existing brand equity for us to consider. But we have a vision of where we are to go from here, and we owe it to the vision to make this decision based on that future.”

Courage is one of our three core values represented in the Matchstic flag, and the piece on our website says:

Excellence comes at a risk. Risk of humiliation. Risk of failure. In order to risk, one must have Courage. Courage to act in accordance with beliefs, in spite of criticism. We must also encourage our clients to take the risks they need to take in order to accomplish their dreams. Courage is not easy, but it is a vital component of building a brand and working at Matchstic. Red represents that courage.

When making decisions about the future of your business and your brand, understanding history and existing brand equity are very important, but ultimately the decisions should be based on vision.  A vision that has yet to be realized.  And those decisions require great courage.

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