Do we need a 'war cry' to succeed?

I have never been an avid fan of slogans, but as a story teller and a communicator, I do believe in the power of a thought or an idea that can empower, motivate, nurture and unite people to achieve the seemingly impossible. If you are looking for an article on: 'How to Write a War Cry', you might want to skip this one; this is a success story, a personal journey, and a professional lesson about why one must believe in the magic of a war cry or a uniting idea to create historic milestones for companies like ET has on March 1, 2018.

It is 3 years since I joined a passionate, optimistic and hungry company called ET. At the time, it was called Extentor Tquila. I was hired to rebrand the company to ET Marlabs because Tquila, the other business partner, was exiting. My first impression of ET, a Salesforce? Gold Partner at the time, was muddled. I didn't particularly admire them when I took on the role. I had not heard of Salesforce before entering ET's orbit, nor had I worked directly in an IT company before, much less a start-up (except my own, an ad agency I had started in 1995, but had to shut it down due to lack of funding); there was no reference point of what to expect from ET or how to propose strategy or change.

On my first day at ET, I was told - in no uncertain terms by the entire leadership team - that building a brand was one of the toughest challenges in the over-crowded IT services industry, because there was no 'product' to market. They weren't sure it was going to work in their case. But, they were willing to give it a shot.

While I was absorbing this stark style of communication, the supreme confidence and courage of a dynamic team along with experienced IT-professionals-turned-Founders (ex-Infosys), the leadership team debated with me on the need for a brand proposition, the difference between a brand promise and vision, and the values of the company. George Varghese (CEO and one of the Founders), emphasised that the company's Values would have to come before anything else at ET, be it brilliance, talent and or hard work. The vision was to become the go-to-partner for clients and exceed expectations.

That gave me hope, for I could never find inspiration to build anything for companies that wanted to market their brand to external stakeholders first, imagining that the internal perceptions weren't important in the context of creating business value.

The only thing that stayed with me on that first day was the company's approach to work. Even without having much context about the Salesforce? partners in India, I could surmise that ET was possibly the only one of its kind. The differentiating factor could be summed-up in one word: Passion.

Passion was not limited to work. It pervaded anything and everything people did at ET. Right from the Founders (George Varghese and Sreekanth Keshava), to the super smart Salesforce? developers and cheerful business-enabling teams, everyone was deeply committed and involved with whatever they did. It was not limited to late nights or complex client projects, festivals, sports, birthdays, celebrations, anniversary announcements; name it, and ETians took charge with gusto. The bonhomie with which all things were conducted or undertaken was intense and genuine; promises made to each other were kept. Each employee had the other's back.

There was even an Honour Code to safeguard each other's valuables and treat the office as if it were their own, leaving it as sparkling as one found it; and there was a ceremony to say farewell with an autographed teeshirt, akin to the retiring of a basketball jersey, for the outgoing ETian.

It was hard to ignore what was happening, because the sense of ownership was huge. ETians were a tribe. Over two months, after numerous discussions and meetings, it was clear that leadership team wanted to build and grow an idealistic, happy, and superbly charged high-performing company by putting passion and culture as the 'True North'. The excellent work they did for clients was a given. No stone was left unturned to leave the customer smiling. At the helm of all ambitions was Client Bliss.

My mandate was: a) To derive a USP or Brand Positioning that worked for ET (which we narrowed down to Think. Do. Exceed) and b) Arrive at a Brand Promise (we called it Client Bliss) that spoke volumes about the way we worked with clients, and also one we would actually honour.

Yet, that couldn't be the whole story. We needed more to harness and focus the vibrancy and energy of the growing team of Salesforce? professionals at ET; to go far beyond Gold partner status, we had to motivate ETians to keep the Brand Promise, without having to school or discipline them into delivering high quality output consistently. It was an unspoken agreement between the leadership team and myself: Everyone at ET aught to value the same things, in the same way, with the same sentiment that related to Customer Success and Client Bliss.

Was that even impossible? Could there ever be one idea or thought that could resonate with strong-minded, smart, go-getting, millennials who don't have time for advertising copy or speeches?

Obviously, it would have to do with something they shared that went beyond ET, above client requirements and pressing business goals. The main question was: What ET, as a collective group of people, was trying to be, and how different was that from individual aspirations?

Culturally, ET was different from other IT companies, given the sense of belonging, sharing and empathy integrated within. To carry ETians forward and sustain the momentum of the company's goals, overall success and individual achievements, we needed something direct, relevant and personal. That could be the only way to uphold it's unique ethos, progressive thinking and own Client Bliss.

Therefore, from within, began ET's brand's transformation journey in 2015 with a distinct and immersive 'war cry' - Be ExTraordinary . If there was one single driving factor that not only united and energised ETians, it was the will and drive to succeed. Each individual was talented, skilled, passionate, gifted, and most importantly determined to make a difference and stand out as a winner.

Be ExTraordinary was introduced to ETians with an internal campaign to bring together various sentiments, hopes and dreams of individuals, motivating them to go above and beyond their own capacities and test their spirit. Within a couple of months, without any effort from the leadership, everyone in the company was quoting it, thinking it and even writing it in their emails. Everyone wanted to believe they could be extraordinary. It was a challenge that each ETian took up on his and her own initiative, with no prompting further than the introduction to the philosophy behind Be ExTraordinary.

On March 1, 2018, when ET became a Platinum partner of Salesforce?, ETians proved that they were, indeed, being ExTraordinary. They went a step further to Be Platinum.

The war cry had taken on a life of its own. It had fuelled the passions of an invincible, passionate, skilled, courageous and high-performing group of people who chose to unite and work together under the Be ExTraordinary idea. ETians imbibed the spirit and passion of a compelling and life-changing idea, rising above every kind of unforeseen challenges of 2016 and 2017, and exceeding client expectations in all geographies.

From Silver to Platinum with Salesforce? (within a year) has been an adventurous and ExTraordinary journey for ET and myself. My faith in a 'war cry' to succeed in the face of insurmountable odds is stronger than ever, because it is more than a slogan.

In 2018, ETians embrace their achievements with a new mantra: Be ExTraordinary. Be Platinum.

And the story begins again.