Tomorrows CEO must build an authentic personal brand to maintain a competitive edge

With the public’s overall perception of CEOs as a class being at near all-time lows, there is much work to be done in the arena of CEO Branding.

Most CEOs readily understand the need to build brand equity at the corporate level or for products, services, intellectual property, etc. However while times are changing, there are still very few CEOs who understand the substantial benefits that are created from increasing their personal brand equity.

The simple fact is that many chief executives completely miss out on one of the most powerful branding strategies available in today’s market…the creation of their own authentic personal brand. In personal branding, the clarification of a brand allows one to make better and more authentically driven business decisions.

One of the world’s largest PR firms, Burson-Marsteller, completed a survey about the role of the CEO in the company’s perceived image. The results indicated that, based on the CEO’s reputation:

•    95% decide whether or not to invest in a company
•    93% would recommend a company as a good alliance/merger partner
•    88% recommend the company as a good place to work

These results by themselves show us the importance of a CEO’s reputation to the success of the company. If you think about it, these results should not be a surprise. The CEO is the public face of the company, and many times the CEO will be involved in securing the largest contracts.

A Personal Image Is Not a Personal Brand

Everyone has a personal image. It’s the collection of qualities people identify with you: your sense of humour, your hairstyle, your clothing, your favourite food, your physical characteristics, and so on. Together, these qualities help people form a mental picture of you. A personal brand is different because it is what people say about you behind your back, it’s the words they use to describe you to others and it’s how you make others feel about you – just like a corporate brand or a product brand.

Personal branding is far more than an ego-play. It is not just about creating a great image – a superficial image that doesn’t reflect your true individuality and personality will always be transparent and clearly be unauthentic. Creating a powerful personal brand goes much deeper than that. It’s what you stand for — the values, abilities and actions that others associate with you.

There are three important component parts to a person’s personal brand that we must bear in mind if we hope to create our own compelling personal brands. First, our personal brand is our personal identity. Second, it must stimulate a meaningful emotional response. Third, our personal brands must be the embodiment of the specific value and quality for which we want to stand.

If you don’t know how to create a strong personal brand as a CEO the following tips will start you in the right direction:

1.    It’s not what you think, it’s what they think. Since your personal brand exists in the minds of your audience, the only way to determine if your brand is successful is to find out how your audience perceives you. If there is a gap between what your audience thinks and feels about you and what you want them to think and feel about you, your personal brand should be adjusted and strengthened.

2.    Make those around you successful. While some CEO brands are built at the expense of others, or on the backs of others, the most highly regarded CEO brands are built on the success they have created for others. Think “selfless” as opposed to “selfish”.

3.    Earn credibility. Credibility comes down to audience perception regarding your decision-making authority, competence, expertise, trustworthiness or character. Thus, your credibility resides in your audience’s mind rather than in your objective credentials and skills. This means it is especially fragile. You can lose it in a single moment of poor judgment, miscalculation or misconduct.

4.    Hire a coach or mentor. This is something that many CEOs initially struggle with as their pride can be a barrier to seeking the wisdom and counsel of others. However this is one of the single best investments you can make in building a powerful, sustainable and respectable personal brand as a chief executive.

5.    Invest in continuing education. Never sacrifice or forego learning because you think you don’t have time, or worse yet, because you think you already know it all. Picking up new skills on an as-needed basis used to be a reasonable strategy. Not anymore. You need to revolutionize your portfolio of skills consistently to remain relevant.

6.    Learn to work the media, or hire someone to do it for you. When it comes to the media you only have three choices: a.) you can try and remain invisible, but anonymity won’t help you build a brand; b.) you can be a target for the media, and while controversy is not always a bad thing, it causes more unnecessary brain damage than you will likely want to incur, or; c.) you can be a friend of the media and serve as a subject matter expert who is available as a resource for the media.

7.    Become a relationship builder. Have the right mind-set, attitude and skill-set to build genuine internal and external business relationships. Move beyond tactics such as handshake and business card exchange rituals to build mutually beneficial relationships based on trust. Develop a comprehensive networking plan to communicate your personal brand.

The core of branding, beyond telling truth, is to be true to yourself. You have to work hard to understand, develop and communicate a powerful personal brand. Most importantly you have to reinvent your personal brand continuously through self-development.

About the Author

An internationally renowned networking and business relationship building expert, Karl Smith helps individuals and organisations excel in networking, business relationships, referrals, personal branding and personal repositioning. Using keynotes, workshops, seminars and coaching, Karl enables individuals and organisations around Africa to better connect and reap the dividends of trust.

He is the author of Beyond The Business Hand Shake: Dare to Build High-Trust Business Relationships and Secrets To Getting Referrals. He is also the co-author of One Goal- Many Paths and founder of Business Networking South Africa.   An engaging, content-rich and straight talking speaker, he has spoken before a variety of industry and functional groups. He is consistently ranked by audience surveys as “knowledgeable”, “insightful,” “entertaining,”  “motivating” and “pragmatic”.  By the conclusion of the sessions there will be no doubt how to use what is learned as well as how to apply it to other current and future situations.

If you are looking for a dynamic, pragmatic, interactive, inspirational and thought-provoking presentation for your next event or staff, you must have Karl on your side! Some of Karl’s clients: Standard Bank, ABSA, Old Mutual, Cape Chamber of Commerce, The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants, Cape Law Society, Independent Regulatory Board of Auditors, entrepreneurs, professionals and many others!

Some of Karl’s international conferences include: Women Leadership in Politics, International Women Entrepreneurial Challenge (IWEC) which is a joint project with the Indian Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Manhattan Chamber Of Commerce, and the U.S.  Department of State. His life's work is to inspire a new generation of business developers, entrepreneurs, leaders and managers to be more of what they were created to be… winners with themselves... to show them how to win with others…and to show them how to help others to win with themselves.