How are ERGs elevating your brand?

Hopefully the title itself is polarizing enough to grab your attention and read what I have to say; as I know many of you that have been in the #ERG space for a significant period of time know we don't do this work for "I" it is done for the movement of "we", and "us". But at what point does the work "you" do need to be celebrated, recognized, and leveraged to elevate your brand?

As an ERG member and National Leader for nearly a decade now, I have helped our Fortune 87 company build & shape our brand & culture for our #Veteran, #Current Servicemember, #Spouse, #partner space, solely on my passion to make our company great in this space. As a retired #disabled service member, I recognized there are inherent gaps and opportunities in corporate American when it comes to this special community of heroes, so it has been my mission to close those gaps and tell our story.

Along the way, I have seen the challenges that companies face in the #diversity space; social, economic, political, geopolitical, religious, financial, and more. All of which presents it's own opportunities & difficulties for companies to navigate successfully for each community of folks they employ. Not easy to say the least and anyone who tells you it is hasn't spent much time in ERG work.

As a National Co-Chair, I often get asked the question "how can I get involved, how can I help"; to which I usually say what does your capacity look like? Most of you in the ERG world will be giving time outside of your day to day role on a pure volunteer basis. This may mean a meeting or two a week, a couple hours on a project, or more invasive roles like National team leadership where you are building programming, designing strategy, and developing the brand of your ERG, perhaps interacting with Senior Executives to influence outcomes.

Regardless of the level of your involvement, the factor of the matter is, you are doing something that nearly 99.9% of the rest of your company is not doing or volunteering for. You are building skillsets, capabilities, & knowledge that others are not getting exposure to yet most of us undersell our added value to the organization because ERG work is not designed to be selfish in nature.

As I'm winding down my time as a National Co-Chair and looking for ways to continue to make an impact while not leading the ERG directly, I've had time to sit back and reflect on my own journey over the past 10 years. Has the ERG work I've done elevated my brand?

For a long time, I never even thought about my brand and what our Valor ERG was doing for me, I just wanted to help our Vets. But as performance reviews went on year after year and I was able to articulate with certainty the impact the ERG we have built is having on the organization, while still crushing my day job goals/objectives; I noticed that I was getting higher ratings than others, I was engaging with Senior leaders like the CEO/CFO and ELT on a frequent basis, I was being invited to speak internally, externally, and my name was becoming synonymous with our companies success in the Veteran space. Brand elevating...

You see, when you put your heart and soul into something and your intentions are purely about helping others, you wind up where you want to be. Zig Ziglar has a quote that I live by that says

"You can have everything you want in life, if you will just help enough other people get what they want" ~ Zig Ziglar

The problem is, you can't be so selfless that you forget to be selfish; you have to tell your story.

To date, Valor has helped over 50 Veterans transition from active duty military and land full time jobs at Liberty Mutual Insurance . We have put hundreds of Vets/current service members/spouses/partners through our mentorship program, gave back to countless nonprofit Veteran organizations, sent 10,000+ care packages overseas to troops serving, hundreds of internal programing events aimed to "hear our voice" and changed numerous company polices to make our company best in class for our Valor community!

Maybe you aren't a National Co-Chair or on the National team, it's ok! Guess what, neither was I once upon a time, but I found a way to be a local pest for this community that elevated me to the National level driving top tier initiatives at a Fortune 87 company, and that is how you elevate your brand. This isn't a brag session for me, this is a help you figure out how you can use ERGs to better your work life while enhancing your professional future.

No matter how small you think your impact might be, you are driving initiatives that matter, that have meaning, and that your peers aren't doing. As we get to that time of year when your bosses are starting to evaluate your performance, are you ensuring your differentiators are loud enough or are you selflessly underselling the impact you are having on your organization?

"You may find that making a difference for others makes the biggest difference in you" ~ Brian Williams

Be big, be bold, be selfless, but don't forget to be selfish... in all the best way!

Cheers,

Eric Amstutz