Marketing for me was a significant learning curve and I struggled to see the point of taking it
for a degree in Human Resources. I will own my bias and mistakes, while I may not be
destined to work in private business, I do see how marketing and branding specifically is
important for my organization. The importance and value of a “brand” started out in module
one. This is when I started to realize that my municipal fire department needs to understand
equity as it pertains to those we serve as well as those we aim to recruit for employment.
The sustained economic boom, tied with a reduction in retirement benefits, and changes in
society’s respect for municipal workers and not wanting to do manual labor has led to a
significant shortage of police, firefighters and EMTs. We are in a crisis nationally to maintain
levels for the safety of our employees and those we serve (Ryll, 2022). Mod two helped
understand crisis management which I was thinking of applying to the employment crisis but
also understand how it can help when your “brand” or values are questioned. This information
is very helpful to have a plan ready in case of an incident that brings our values into question
(Gladwell, 2014). Module eight take the plan and provides a guidance on direction, response,
and communications to manage the situation as best they can. When one employee makes a
bad decision, it reflects on all those who wear the same uniform nationally. The ability to
manage a situation is critical to uphold the public’s trust and the moral of those good
employees who are being lumped in with the person who made a bad decision (Ariely, 2008).
Attributes of an effective leader
Like the first project where we talked about aligning ourselves with brands that we share
values with, we align ourselves with leaders that we share values with. I have heard the
expression, “people don’t leave their job, they leave their leader”. For brand traits I think of
honesty, trustworthy, respectful, resilient, intelligent, courageous, confident, caring etc. Those
are the attributes of an effective leader.
Personal Brand
My personal brand includes the attributes stated above and are simply tested by asking
myself, would my kids be proud of what I just did? Did I just demonstrate to my crew how I
