The Blue Reality

Dylan was a great kid. He was only eight when he was taken from us. Far too early in his and our lives. We are not as complete without him as we were with him. The loss is deep and will be with us until we cross over. The reality is, that he is gone from this world and marched boldly into the next world.

The memorial service for Dylan was very touching and hopefully, to those who were closest to Dylan, especially comforting.

Even at eight, Dylan knew what he wanted to be when he grew up. Dylan was going to be a law enforcement officer. More specifically he was going to be on a SWAT team. His super hero was Spider Man and I am sure that watching Spider Man fight the criminals and really bad people inspired Dylan to one day wear a SWAT badge on his law enforcement uniform.

When the Law Enforcement agencies learned of Dylan's untimely death and moreover his professional aspirations they mobilized to see how they could somehow make a difference. What a difference they made!

One of the most moving facets of Dylan's memorial service was when the members of several local law enforcement agencies marched, in full uniform, down the aisle and stood in reverence, as the appointed member of each team addressed Dylan's Mother. Each agency had special items to give Dylan's Mom including a Texas Flag that had flown over the State Capitol and a SWAT patch making Dylan's professional aspirations a reality. The emotion and dedication these professionals demonstrated was incredibly powerful and, just like Dylan, their actions will never be forgotten.

These are the very men and women that would have risked their lives to save Dylan or any one of us should the situation call for such dedicated action. They stood in reverence and grace as they paid their respect and offered condolences with their presence and their words. Dylan would have been proud of these consumate professionals who have a heart for the broken hearted.

The Blue Reality is that the vast majority of law enforcement professional are dedicated and honorable people who deserve our respect, support and backing. I hope they have yours. They most assuredly have  mine and if he were still with us, they would have Dylan's.

Your Brand

What do you like and what do you dislike?

When it comes to brands, everyone has a bias. You either like a brand, love a brand, dislike a brand or disdain a brand. There is no grey area in branding. Rarely, went it comes to labels, does anything conjure up more decisive emotions than when a brand appears.

Brands are a big part of our everyday lives. Companies literally spend million and millions of dollars establishing, promoting, protecting and preserving their precious brands. Brand perception and realities can make or break fortunes.

Consider the colossal and apparently deliberate damage that the Volkswagen brand is currently facing regarding their diesel vehicles. Volkswagen is going to pay a massive financial and brand-damaging price for this breach of trust. I like Volkswagen and have since the Beetle, Sirocco and Karmann Ghia , and have held their brand in high esteem. I owned a Beetle (always wanted a Sirocco) and the car was extremely dependable. But alas, VW has made a huge brand blunder.

Brands can and do recover when they are damaged even when the wound is self-inflicted. But that recovery is not guaranteed and it is almost always lengthy, consuming and expensive.

My intention is not to bash any brand, simply to establish how important and valuable the trust we place in brands is and how relevant that value and trust is when we make decisions.

Just like companies, you have a brand. Your brand determines how people react to you and your depth of inclusion in their professional or personal lives. Being real and forthright is a fine avenue for building your brand. You need people to unambigouslly understand what you stand for.

Having a strong brand will get you consistently and considerably further than all of your working knowledge. People need to know that you are going to be true to your brand. The right people will usually and patiently accept whatever growth stage you are in when dealing with you, but they will not be patient or accepting if your brand is not a brand they can count on. A brand must be consistent.

First, build your brand, then establish your brand, then live your brand and once established continouslly and jealously protect your brand.