The Wisdom of The Wizard of Oz.

Glinda:
You’ve always had the power to go back to Kansas.

Dorothy:
I have?

Scarecrow:
Then why didn’t you tell her before?

Glinda:
Because she wouldn’t have believed me. She had to learn it for herself.

Tin Man:
What have you learned, Dorothy?
Dorothy:
It wasn’t enough just to want to see Uncle Henry and Auntie Em.

…If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than my own backyard. Because if it isn’t there, I never really lost it to begin with. 

Glinda:
That’s all it is!

Music swells.  Fade out…the big AHA revealed!

I love movies.

One of my all-time faves is The Wizard of Oz.

It’s chock full of business wisdom and timeless leadership lessons.

The yellow brick road a.k.a. the perilous journey every entrepreneur takes.

The knowledge that along the way, you’ll likely face unforeseen obstacles, soaring simians and wicked witches.

“You’re not in Kansas anymore.”  Things are never what they seem.

Don’t be cowardly. 

Have a heart.  

Work smarter.

“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” 

Be wary of putting people on a pedestal

Especially those who claim to be your savior. 

Yes, you need to be bold, compassionate and adaptable if you want to succeed.

Yes, you will meet larger than life characters who will seduce you with false promises of instant fame and fortune.  

But for me, the most valuable takeaway is I call “Your Dorothy Moment.”

I work with a lot of brands – start-ups - as well as mature brand who have lost their mojo. 

As they search for success, they all share the same desire.

“We want to be the AirBnb of xyz category?

“The Warby Parker of Paint.”

The Apple of whatever. 

They are continuously seeking some shiny object to add. 

Thinking it will enhance their essence.

In doing so, they lose sight – and fail to celebrate - their own unique and special power. 

The WHY they were created in the first place.

So how do you find your brand’s very own pair of Ruby Red Slippers?

My dears, you’ve had the power all along.  

Your clarity of purpose.

Your authenticity.

It’s often right under your nose.

You may have forgotten, failed to see or leverage to its fullest potential.

To find the answer, deconstruct your brand.

Take an inventory of all of your assets.

Consider them one by one.

Not as the clutter they have become.

Pull forward the one that rings truest.

Assign a different value to it.

Approach it from a new angle.

Give it a new voice.

Reconsider even the smallest ones that seem trivial, insignificant or inconsequential.

But don’t devalue it.

It may seem ho-hum to you after all this time - but to your audience it may be just what they’re looking.

Your clear advantage will suddenly appear in Technicolor.

Let all the other points serve as reinforcement. 

Reasons to believe.

Remember, everything you’ve been looking for you already have. Right in your brand’s very own backyard.
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