What do you do if your personal brand clashes with your company's values?

Evaluate whether the conflict is fundamental or if there's room for adaptation and alignment. Reflect on your priorities, career goals, and the significance of the values in question. If compromise isn't feasible and the misalignment is significant, it may be necessary to reassess your fit within the company and consider alternative paths that better resonate with your personal brand and values.

A solid foundation for a personal brand is rooted in your values therefore, if that is misaligned with the company values then you have an important choice to make: a) Stay and continue compromising yourself b) Leave and find a better match. Life is too short to hinder your growth for money.

It's always essential to conduct a personal audit to align your actions and image with the organisation's principles. Start by reflecting on your values, behaviours, and public persona, comparing them with your company's mission and values. Identify any discrepancies and consider adjustments to your brand messaging, online presence, and interactions to better align with the company's ethos. This may involve modifying your communication style, social media content, etc to ensure consistency and harmony with the organisation's culture and values.

Determine if there's room for compromise or adaptation without compromising your integrity. If not, consider whether the misalignment is temporary or systemic. If systemic, evaluate whether it's feasible to pivot within the company or if it's time to explore opportunities elsewhere that align better with your personal brand and values. In either case, maintain transparency, professionalism, and a focus on long-term career growth and fulfilment.

When "irreconcilable differences" become clear, it's definitely time to pivot. Even some Fortune 500 brands don't know who they are, what they stand for, or what they represent. They don't demonstrate values, and are more interested in consumer's ECONOMIC VALUE than in their HUMAN VALUE. They focus on making transactions, not relationships. This isn’t the way it has to be. “HUMAN MARKETING” based companies think differently, act differently, and operate differently. They look to instill into their businesses the things they’d like to instill into their own children---INTEGRITY, HONOR, COURAGE, & RESPECT. They'd rather be known for what they stand for, more than what they offer. If you do leave, that's what you should look for.

This is a tough one as typically, if you do have a choice, my advice is to follow your personal values as long as they are meant for the greater good. If you don't have a choice for whatever reason (e.g. poor job market, lack of employment options), ask yourself if you can still apply your personal values in your daily work and in your client and colleague interactions. There should be some light at the end of every tunnel, so perhaps learn to perceive it differently to try and identify the bright spots you can still make a positive difference in.