4 Lessons from 4 Visibility Icons and More.....

A key way to build visibility is to learn from others who have been successful at building theirs. This is the central premise of the Visibility Icon Miniseries . To demystify the various elements of visibility and break down easy, tangible steps so other female leaders too can build globally visible and relevant thought leadership brands.

On the series so far, we have discussed everything from finding your voice as an executive, building executive presence, dealing with impostor syndrome to how to build a globally relevant brand and much more.

These lessons have been distilled from Forbes Coaches Council, LinkedIn Top Voices and Leadership experts and authors who have been published on globally renowned platforms such as Nadia Ahmed Abdalla ; Dr.(hc) ‘Jumoke Aleoke-Malachi (workplacewithJAM) , Fela Durotoye and Priya Kartik .?

On finding your voice and building an authentic brand?

Nadia:

"I found my voice by being authentically me. I realized that one of my key strengths is my voice and my visibility…I was very intentional with my voice, I speak out. I share the challenges and the hardships"

Jumoke:

"Know your why because that is where authenticity is built. When you know your why and you are walking in it, others will come on board.Go on a self awareness journey because whatever you do from that premise you do without feeling the need to impress"

Fela:

"Your voice is going to be found in your stories and your stories are made up of all the things that have happened in the course of your life, the things you have mastery over and the things that have brought you misery as well"

Dealing with impostor syndrome and building confidence?

Nadia:

"Impostor syndrome is not something you get rid of completely, it comes and goes. Every time I feel like an impostor somewhere, I sit through it, I try to understand where the source of the problem is and then I get up and tell myself, “‘It’s ok, It's fine, You are human”, You can never be perfect. Don’t fight your impostor syndrome, acknowledge that you feel it and after that keep going on because you never know what is going to happen next"

Jumoke:

"A healthy dose of self-esteem will do you a lot of good in life. Know your magic, own your magic and bless others with your magic. I want to do good work because I know the magic I bring, I know what I can deliver"

Priya:

"You need to know what you bring to the table and be comfortable bringing it to the table."

"Each and every time we listen to that “what if”, we take a step back in confidence because it puts us back in our shell and that is the biggest enemy."

"Whenever you are speaking in front of people…if you have butterflies in your stomach, pat your back and say “hey, I’m a human being”. Every human being has butterflies in their stomach whenever they are doing something new."

"All of us are ambitious, we talk about ambition a lot but I believe that more than ambition, “humbition” is more important where the humility part of it and the ambition part of it has to go together."

?"The moment we start the process of identifying our strengths, then we are opening neural pathways in our brain which makes it easier to access these strengths faster and every time in the future."

Fela:

"When building confidence, build courage first. Because courage is what you need to take the step forward and confidence is what you build when you have taken that step."

"People are inspired by your confidence not your arrogance. Arrogance is when you feel you are better than everyone else and confidence is when you feel like you are good enough to be here because of what I bring. Make sure your presence inspires confidence in others."

On attracting the opportunities you deserve?

Fela:

"Preparation is the substance of what you are hoping for, preparation is fixed in what you are trying to attract."

"Your desire is what creates an energy field that attracts what you desire because the moment you know what you want, not only will you be able to attract it, but you will recognise it and it will recognise you."

Nadia:

“Opportunity meets preparedness – Boldness opens doors. As long as you are prepared and you have the confidence, send that DM, send that message, give that person your email address/phone number."

"Opportunities are everywhere but what is it about you that makes that opportunity better when it is put next to you?"

"Humility is important but if you are prepared, be so bold to walk into a room, be so bold to share your voice, and be so bold to have your head up and just take that opportunity."

"Learn the act of tapping into opportunities with zeal and learn the act of opening that door even when you don’t have the key. Sometimes you need to diplomatically bulldoze into certain rooms."

How to build your brand?

Fela

“You need to be consistent because repetition enhances retention. You also need to be focused. Focus means you zone into something at the exclusion of everything else. Discipline [the outcome of your brand building process] will be measured not by the things you say yes to but by the things you say no to."

"Your name should be the address for a solution to a problem. Be clear about your message but make sure you use every opportunity to strengthen that message and to speak about that message. Make sure you have a globally relevant message, a globally relatable message and a globally acceptable message."

"You must be intentional about being memorable. Your presence has to be memorable because people see you before they hear you"

"Attracting global platforms starts by building global networks"

"In our branding, let’s make sure we are branding with words that people can remember, let’s make sure we are branding in ways that people can remember us and most importantly, let’s brand for the things we want people to remember us for”

"Always remember what is the memorable message your story tells, who is that message intended to help and what is the mandate of your message. In the end, speaking is never about the speaker, it is always about the audience”

Next in the series

This week we have 2 amazing speakers - one of the most highly networked female CEO’s I know, Osayi Alile , an experienced Not for Profit Board Executive, we will be discussing how female leaders can build high powered networks and advocate for themselves in and out of the workplace.

On Thursday, I am specifically excited to be chatting with an Icon and we will be discussing how female leaders can engage in office politics and win! We will have HBR and Inc. Africa contributor and Leadership expert, Niven Postma who will be sharing with us how to better engage in office politics and how women can make their contributions more visible.?

And finally, to wrap up the series, on the 19th of May, we will be ending with experienced board executive, Nkemdilim Uwaje Begho F.SCGN on how to build a visible corporate brand that attracts board roles.

To watch all the replays of previous sessions and to join us for subsequent episodes this week, click here .?

Have you been attending the series so far? What lessons have you learnt? What lessons shared here resonated with you the most?

#Femaleexecutives ?#Executivevisibility ?#Personalbranding ?#Thoughtleadership ?#9to5chick ?#Careerwomen ?#africanleaders

About Glory Edozien (PhD): Glory is a personal branding and LinkedIn visibility strategist for African Female Executives. She is also the president of 9to5Chick Media, a media and visibility platform for Africa's most ambitious women.