grow with integrity instead of whim
how coherence can save you energy over the long game
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Good morning,
So much is shifting in this new world of work. As a result, I’m seeing many leaders, professionals, and creatives making hasty moves. Sometimes, following that fire is better than feeling frozen with fear.
But sometimes haste backfires, and most of us don’t have the corporate excess to move fast and break things, or to be careless people.
One founder I worked with was eager to launch a new program. But something felt off. As we explored more, it became clear: the offer didn’t connect with their deeper strengths or with what their community was truly wrestling with. The program failed our core tests: Does its design spring from your or your team’s genius strengths? Does it fulfill a key want your clients (heroes) have? Can you deliver on its promise in a way only you can?
This misalignment happens more often than you’d think. The result is often half‑baked launches, friction, and exhaustion.
What can guide us in this landscape besides whim, worry, and ego?
Let’s consider integrity, sustainability, and a sense of wonder.
Sustainable growth, the kind that lasts and actually feels meaningful, usually flows from business and brand coherence. And that coherence is not as difficult to achieve as you might think.
In this week’s Wonder Dispatch:
Jeffrey’s Main Wondering: 4 core elements of business & brand coherence
On Jeffrey’s and Team TW’s Radar: Resources to stoke curiosity
Welcome to our many new community members - whether you came by referral, our Wonder@Work Assessment, from a keynote I delivered, or discovery.
Note: In the coming weeks, we aim to offer more Tracking Wonder Foundations - for business, leadership, creativity, and deliberate living - that can anchor you with pragmatic possibility in these times.
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The Beauty of Coherence
It’s tempting to launch something new or add another product or program before doing the deeper work of cohering your business, brand, or creative elements.
Business coherence is the quality of alignment across your vision, values, offers, messaging, and operations—so that what you do, how you do it, and why you do it form a clear, consistent whole.
With coherence, you have a narrative and story that you confidently unfold and tell. Your revenue streams and more spring from that evolving story.
»> Coherence builds trust. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, 67% of customers are only willing to continue buying from brands they trust.
»> Coherence enhances customer loyalty and retention. A strong, consistent brand fosters an emotional connection with customers, encouraging them to remain loyal over time. A survey by Qualtrics XM Institute showed that 94% of customers who had a "very good" experience with a brand were more likely to purchase from it again.
»> Coherence boosts revenue and profitability. Businesses with strong brand coherence often increase revenue.
»> Coherence saves you energy! This point might be the most essential and palpable for you. When you have a flexible business coherence and narrative, then you can pivot or iterate more confidently.
A member of the TW Inner Circle MasterMind had planned to launch a signature program that does in fact stem from their business coherence. Yet recent cultural shifts directly impact her audience. The launch’s timing didn’t seem right. So, she’s postponing that offer and pivoting her business direction.
She can pivot confidently in part because her business has coherence, and because she’s experienced now in emergent entrepreneurship and in tracking an emergent business and vision.
Many leaders and creators want to grow their work to gain wider reach, more impact, and more income. But the ones I work with who flourish more than flounder are not chasing every new opportunity or trend. They’re not pushing harder at the cost of health or integrity. And growth without exhaustion matters more than ever.
When your business emerges from a strong narrative—one rooted in your distinct strengths, your real audience, the problems they care about, and the perspective only you can bring—your efforts can build momentum.
That might mean resisting the urge to add another thing simply because it seems like “the next step.” Instead, enduring impact often arises when offerings flow from a coherent story: your distinct strengths meet an audience’s genuine need, with a promise you can confidently fulfill.
4 Core Elements of Coherence
These foundational elements I return to with clients and Inner Circle Masterminders when the path forward feels scattered, foggy, or misaligned.
1. Genius Identity & Activation (Identity)
What makes you come alive in your work? Not what you're good at in a generic sense, but the patterns of effort, service, and creativity that energize you and that others value. When you identify and activate this distinct force of character, you move from copying trends to offering something genuinely different. And as amy colleague Sally Hogshead repeatedly reminds us, “Different is better than better.” What combination of genius traits, strengths, and skills truly energizes you? When you know this, you can align offerings with your authentic edge rather than chasing trends.
2. Audience as Heroes
Which people do you genuinely admire and wish to uplift? Viewing them as “heroes” shifts your approach from transaction to service, and can guide your creative intelligence toward discovering meaningful solutions. When this frame of mind, you can experience a sense of wonder toward the very people you are called to elevate.
3. Real Problem to Solve
What pressing challenge keeps those heroes awake? Tracking their experiences—through conversation or observation—uncovers the problems worth addressing. This can take time to uncover. It often requires conversations, curiosity, and attentiveness. But once you name it, your message and offers begin to resonate more deeply.
4. Clear Trueline Promise & Point of View
What is the promise your work makes? And why does it matter now? Your trueline expresses what your business or offer distinctly delivers and to whom in a clear and elegant manner.
Your point of view adds depth and gives you courage. It’s how you see a topic in your field differently from others, and why your perspective matters in these times. How would you succinctly describe the unique value you offer, and why does it matter now? A clear promise, grounded in your perspective on the times, helps your audience see why they should engage.
Adding more offers won’t help your growth if they’re not anchored to a throughline. Real growth often starts by returning to these essentials into what we call building a Working Business & Brand Story. From there, products, partnerships, and presence become more aligned and responsive instead of reactive.
A Mini‑Practice
Choose one element above such as your “audience as heroes.” Jot down three qualities you deeply respect in a segment of your audience. Then reach out to one or two people from that group with a simple curiosity: “What’s a current challenge you’re facing in [area X]?” Listen for insights before sketching any new offer.
Bonus exploration if you’re high in curiosity: Read the chapter Admiration: Mirror Facet of Wonder in TRACKING WONDER.
Your Turn to Wonder
»> Which of the four elements feels most urgent for you to clarify now?
»> What one simple conversation or reflection might shift how you approach your next idea?
Growing your business is vastly more sustainable when you track wonder along the way.
Feel free to reply or share in our Wonder HUB thread. I read each note.
On Jeffrey’s and Team TW’s Radar
»> The Practice of Delight (Ross Gay | On Being Podcast) - a reminder that joy is enwined with suffering
»> How This 105-Year-Old Movie Palace Got Film Fans to Fund an Extreme Tech Makeover (Jake Kleinman | Inc.) - good reminder of DIT Beats DIY - and engage your heroes
» The Power of Recognition (Steve Chambers, VP of The UPS Store | Inc.) - an important reminder for leaders and managers to acknowledge your people and peers genuinely
» The Cliffhanger Creative Life (
| Strange Alchemy) - this tracks with Openness, the Wide Sky Facet of Wonder»> A dark self-help practice: death (
| Big Think) - this tracks with contemplating mortality as a practice to track wonderWell, I’m honored to work with you here, and I’ll see you soon.
Thanks for running with me,
Jeffrey
Reintroduction to new trackers: I’m author of Tracking Wonder (Sounds True), a Next Big Idea Club finalist. Fast Company, MindBody Green, Psychology Today, and other leading outlets - I’m grateful to say - have featured my insights.
For over 25 years, I’ve equipped entrepreneurs, creatives, and teams to think more expansively and bring more meaning into their work so they can advance what matters most. Without burnout. Learn more about Tracking Wonder Consultancy here and The Wonder HUB here.
I also live as a poet, partner, and papa to two extraordinary human beings.
If something here resonates with you, one of the best gifts you can offer in return is to spread the wonder with others. Thanks.