Only a few years ago, Al Gore was dismissed as a humorless stiff, a winner that lost and the self-appointed “inventor of the Internet.”

Today, he’s celebrated as a Nobel Prize winner—and the passionate voice for a movement to halt global warming.

There’s a valuable business lesson embedded in all of this: If you want to rebrand your company—or rebrand yourself—it starts by actually standing for something. Not by redesigning your logo or launching a new ad campaign. 

Connect with people on a level that matters. Commit to making the change real. And let the prizes take care of themselves.