WHY I’M SCARED FOR CEOs?. When you hear the word personal…
Tags: Executive Coaching, Brand Strategy, Brand Marketing, CEO, Personal Branding

WHY I’M SCARED FOR CEOs?

When you hear the word personal branding, what comes to mind? Personal branding means different things to different people.

Some people see it as your image in the public world. Some see it as the way you carry yourself as an individual.

But as a CEO, executive, or entrepreneur, what is your perception about personal branding?

Whether you know it or not, you have a personal brand.

Your personal brand is not something that’s fixed. It’s something that evolves as you grow.

How can you master the art of personal branding to take you to the next level both in your personal and professional life?

The era we find ourselves in

Gone are the days when you had to pay a huge sum of money in order to be featured in a very prominent newspaper, blog, or even radio station.

Gone are the days when having a personal website was the privilege of a chosen few.

Gone are the days when people couldn’t get any information about you online.

That era is gone and gone for good. In the era you find yourself in, people can obtain information about you at the click of a button.

People no longer have to meet you in person before they can gain substantial information about you.

You can share your thoughts on issues and almost anyone in any part of this world can get to read or hear about it.

You can now own your own website, publish your own blog, manage your own presence on social media, and all.

Whatever you are doing is being archived on the internet. People can always see your digital footprints.

The world is currently moving to a stage where everybody can know anybody just in a matter of seconds.

You can connect with people on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook all in a matter of seconds.

The CEO, executive, or entrepreneur who doesn’t take personal branding serious will later regret it.

When you study the course of history, many of the major changes that took place were regarded as fads or a buzz that weren’t supposed to last.

People never thought that humans could communicate using the phone. People never believed that humans could fly in the air.

When the internet dawned on us, people were still skeptical. Then came social media. People never took it seriously until it became a necessary ingredient in our society’s fiber.

Personal branding has been with us for a long time but it’s undergoing a seismic change that is being powered by technological advancements.

The CEOs, executives, and entrepreneurs who are able to catch this trend and align themselves with it will greatly benefit from it.

The ones who disregard it will be proved wrong in due course.

It’s no longer about your expertise or position

Personal branding is a holistic aspect of your personality.

Branding is not just about the position you occupy, the company you work in or the number of years and expertise you have.

A personal brand also has much to do with how you convey your experiences, skills.

You can be the CEO of a very prestigious company and still not have a solid personal brand.

You can be running a very successful business and still not have a successful personal brand.

Your personal brand is not only about what you do but who you are and the values you espouse.

What makes you special amongst the several CEOs, executives, and entrepreneurs in Africa?

What is your life’s story?

What have you gone through that has shaped your value systems in life?

Imagine yourself in a room full of CEOs, executives, and entrepreneurs, what is it about you that will make you stand out?

Your brand, when developed meticulously, can never be copied.

The reason is that it embodies your very unique personality.

Your personal brand is something that you carefully and consistently craft. It doesn’t come by itself and neither does it happen in a day.

Are you creating your brand by design or by default?

In life, it is either you’re creating your own brand or others are creating it for you.

Your failure to control your personal brand doesn’t mean you will not have any brand.

The brand you will have will be the perceptions that people have of you and that can be misleading at times.

The same way you plan your house, set targets for your company, and design your life, so should you have a plan for your personal brand.

Creating your personal brand takes time but it’s worth it for the rewards and benefits that you’ll get from it.

Many people wouldn’t bother spending huge sums of money on their physical appearance.

But whilst that investment is also good, have you ever considered taking the time to invest in your overall personal brand?

Your personal brand can take you to places where your position wouldn’t take you.

Your personal brand can make you meet people that your degree and qualifications wouldn’t.

Your personal brand can also bring monetary benefits to you even when you are done with your professional working life.

Your personal brand is not a short term activity you engage in. It is something that you will continuously work on.

You can lose your job, you can lose that position, that business can collapse, but one thing that you’ll forever have control over is your personal brand.

How are you represented online?

Your image online is one crucial part of your personal brand. When someone checks your profile picture on social media, what impression do they have about you?

When someone reads your Bio on LinkedIn, what goes through their mind?

Are you seen as a thought leader on social media or you only have an account there?

If a potential partner, company, or investor is to check your profile on social media, would they be impressed with what they see online?

Your digital footprint is one aspect of your personal brand that you should really pay attention to.

There are so many CEOs, executives, or entrepreneurs who moved to their next level all because someone checked their brand online and was impressed with what they saw.

In the same manner, people can check out your digital presence and decide not to network with you, invest in that business, or even give you the next major career move you’re looking for.

When someone Googles your name, what shows up?

This is the acid test of how strong or weak your brand is. Can your name even be found on Google?

The opportunity of a lifetime

Technology has become a great leveraging tool that everyone has in our world of today.

There is now no excuse to give when it comes to building and managing your personal brand.

From the comfort of your home, using a smartphone, you can begin to reinvent your personal brand.

You don’t have to meet people physically before you start working on your personal.

Even before you meet people in person, it’s the impression they have about you that’ll first dominate their thinking.

As a CEO, executive, or entrepreneur, you need to build your personal brand if you want to:

Expand your current brand outreach and contribute to a bigger audience in your industry or company.

Create a compelling brand that distinguishes you from the rest.

Be seen as a thought leader in the industry that you’re in.

Establish a stronger career or obtain a greater executive presence.

Reinvent your brand for your business.

Position yourself for your professional development.

Lord Klukpui is the founder of Drout Consults, where he helps CEOs, executives, and entrepreneurs develop and build stronger personal brands. He is also the Editor for The Personal Hub, a personal branding focused publication for African CEOs and entrepreneurs on Medium.