Building Your Personal Brand

So, I was wrong.

A month ago, I talked about interruptions (one of my favorite topics) and how interruptions might dominate the September 10th presidential debate. I was wrong. The muted mic format was a great way to handle the situation.

Perhaps we can implement
MUTED 🎤 MICS
in more places?

This past Tuesday was the Vice-Presidential debate. These debates are a field day for me, or anyone else focused on communication skills. I was watching for body language, voice (cadence, pitch, variance,…), messaging, and of course, personal branding.

When it comes to personal branding, you can see Harris going hard into her non-nonsense prosecutor persona and her middle-class upbringing. Trump’s personal brand is focused on his entrepreneurial business experience, “America first” and conservatism. Democratic VP candidate Tim Walz is the approachable “Coach Tim.” As for Republican J.D. Vance, I’m challenged to articulate his brand.

My point here is, personal branding is critical for your success – regardless of who you are and what you do.

You might be surprised to hear that there people who resist this idea of personal branding.

Recently I sat down to talk about this and a lot more with Harvard Business School professor Jill Avery.

Jill and I met years ago, when I was in my first year of the doctoral program at Harvard Business School and she was considering entering the program. We immediately hit it off! We both have backgrounds in CPG (consumer packaged goods) marketing and we both love school.

Recently when I was in Boston, Jill and I re-connected and decided to record a Talk About Talk podcast interview focused on Personal Branding. It was magical! You can check out our conversation in this week’s Talk About Talk podcast, ep.172.

Now – let’s talk about Personal Branding:

1. Why do some people REJECT personal branding?
2. Strategic Principle #1: Focus on what makes you UNIQUE
3. “It’s NOT A BUG, it’s a feature”

 

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1️⃣ Why do some people reject personal branding?

In my executive coaching practice, it’s not uncommon for the topic of Personal Branding to be rejected in the list of approved coaching topics. When I first meet with a prospective corporate client, we brainstorm what the specifc communication skills topics will be that we’ll cover in our coaching program. For example:

• confidence and overcoming imposter syndrome
• formal presentation skills
• demonstrating leadership
• storytelling,…
• and personal branding

A few times, when my clients shared their list with their manager, their manager said, “Yes to all topics, except personal branding.  No personal branding.”

What are they afraid of?  Maybe they think I’ll turn them into a social media influencer? Or encourage them to quit their job?  NO and NO.

Professor Jill Avery shared with me that she also hears push-back when it comes to personal branding, sometimes from her students.

Jill points out that we’ve grown up in a world that socializes us not to “toot our own horns.”  She also suggests that for some people, personal branding feels commercialized and not authentic. (In my last newsletter, you’ll see what Seth Godin has to say about authenticity.)

Perhaps Personal Branding has a branding problem.

Jill and I are not advocating inauthenticity.  Nor are we focused on creating social media influencers or monetizing your brand.  We are advocating doing the work to identify and communicate your true value proposition – your best self.

 

“You will be most successful and satisfied when you’re focusing on your unique strengths and passions.” Period.

 

2️⃣ Strategic Principle #1: Focus on what makes you unique

This principle of focusing on what makes you unique holds for both product brands and personal brands.

• What is your point of differentiation?
• Whats your unique value proposition?
• What makes you stand out compared to others who do what you do?

Instead of copying others and trying to fit in, focus on what makes you unique.  As I like to say,

“Unique is better than better.”

Here’s Jill’s take:

3️⃣ It’s not a bug, it’s a feature

This point has been coming up a lot lately, including in my conversations with author and speaker Ron Tite and more recently with Seth Godin.

“It’s not a bug, it’s a feature.”  What does this mean?

Simply put, that unique thing that makes you stand out, that thing that you try to hide, might not be a “bug” after all.  In fact, it might be your superpower;  an asset that you can “feature” as part of your unique brand.

Jill’s take on this:

How can you personally share your “bug” as a “feature” of your brand? It’s a mindset exercise.

• Are you introverted and shy? Maybe your superpower is listening?
• Are you new to the country? Your superpower could be your global perspective.
• Are you a jokester? Perhaps your strength is bringing levity to stressful situations.

You get the idea.

This is about controlling your narrative.

I ask you again, What makes you unique? What makes you different? And how can you frame it as a strength?