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You won’t know what’s “on-brand” at first.

Here’s something I’ve learned after years of helping people clarify their brand: you don’t always know what’s “on-brand” until you’re standing in the middle of it. Your positioning statement can tell you what you intend to be. It can’t always tell you what you actually are.

That distinction matters for a few reasons. Knowing what “on-brand” means for your business doesn’t come from a document you write once and put into a drawer; it’s a constant lens you carry with you, and the work of defining your brand trains you to recognize your best work when it shows up, especially when it shows up unexpectedly.

That’s important because your best work often skips the plan entirely. The moments that reveal who you really are rarely come from a slide that says “this is what I bring to the table.” They come from pressure, ambiguity, and opportunity. Like improv comedy, when you have to respond to what’s actually needed in the moment instead of what was scripted.

Recognizing that moment while it’s happening isn’t natural; it’s a skill. It’s what turns a one-off moment into something you can repeat and lean into on purpose.

Here’s the thing…

A few weeks ago, I sat down for a regularly scheduled board meeting for a startup organization I serve. Just a typical monthly board meeting. Except we didn’t have quorum: no votes, no formal decisions, and as it turns out, no formal agenda.

So instead, we started talking about issues and ideas that had surfaced at a recent board retreat that were still loose, still unconnected, still unresolved.

About five minutes in, I grabbed a pen and walked to the whiteboard. I didn’t plan it. It was instinct.

I started capturing ideas, asking questions, making lists, then rewriting them. One list spawned another. Priorities started to emerge, and with them came dependencies, targets, metrics, and action items.

Before I knew it, I’d slipped into facilitation and roadmapping mode.

Ninety minutes later, that unstructured conversation had become a strategic roadmap for what this organization needs to accomplish over the next four months. Everyone in the room could clearly see where we were headed.

A few board members thanked me afterward for “taking the reins.” But what stuck with me wasn’t the thanks. It was how energized I felt.

That meeting was supposed to be a routine board meeting, one where we’d discuss official business and make decisions. Instead, it turned into a genuinely productive roadmapping session, and a reminder of the work I do best. I didn’t walk in that day planning to facilitate. But I responded to what the moment needed.

So here’s the question worth sitting with this week: where did your “oh, that’s ‘on-brand’ for us” moment show up when you didn’t plan for it? And are you paying enough attention to notice it when it does?

If you want my help with that, just reach out.

That’s all we have time for today.

Until our next BrandTherapy session…

Thanks,

Andy

P.S. Get a jump on Q4. I want your business to succeed in Q4. I’ve opened additional spots in my September schedule for BrandTherapy Sessions. If there’s a brand, marketing, or growth decision you need to get clear on, we’ll spend a focused hour one-on-one working through it and determining the best path forward. → Book a BrandTherapy Session