Developing a personal brand takes courage and skill

Welcome to the Strategic Leader newsletter! In each edition, I give you a perspective, resource (e.g. a tool, framework), and a recommendation (for a book, article, talk, service, or person).

If we haven’t met yet, thank you for joining me! You can learn a little more about me?here ?and by watching this short?video .

Perspective

Many leaders stand out for the wrong reasons. Inappropriate behaviour, bad decision-making, or poor performance. Only last week, Jeff Shell, CEO of NBC Universal was fired for sexual harassment.

The best stand out by delivering exceptional performance whilst transforming their organisation. Take the new CEO of Shell, Wael Sawan , or the CEO of General Motors, Mary Barra . Both are clear on what it takes to create cleaner, more sustainable futures of their organisations.

They also develop distinctive personal brands.

If you know them, I bet you know what they stand for, what they care about, and what they’re doing.

If you don’t believe me, check out their LinkedIn posts.

Others shy away the spotlight, fearful of criticism, rebuke, or failure. They’re more comfortable letting their business results speak for themselves.

If you’re one of these people, recognise that you are missing an opportunity to:

• convey who you are to people who look up to you for inspiration, guidance, and reassurance.
• create a distinctive premium for yourself in the eyes of your colleagues, sponsors, and stakeholders – enhancing your positioning and prospects.

Take a moment and think about yourself or the CEO you work for. How easily could you complete this statement?

‘She/he is focused on creating/solving/tackling [insert description] to create [these outcomes]. They’re particularly good at [insert description]’

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What does it take to develop a standout, distinctive reputation?

Here are some elements that will help:

1.?????Be clear on your goal. What do you truly want to achieve and become? Create a picture, persona, visual, or story that you can aim for.

2.????Define the audience you want to convince. Name real-life individuals, not just titles or roles. Build a picture of their interests, needs, styles, and expectations.

3.????Work out what you want to say. What points do you need to make to help you achieve your goal, convincing your audience? Ask yourself ‘why does it matter to them?’ and ‘why now”.

4.????Identify distinctive opportunities. Look for spaces, gaps, untruths in what’s been said already. What’s not being said? Which part of conventional wisdom do you disagree with the most? Do your homework – review the work of others to understand what’s come before you. But don’t get obsessive to the point that your focus becomes the voices of others.

5.????Delve into what you bring that is unique and special. For example, your experience, ideas, language, style, framing, background. Ask people, ideally in your audience, what they value in you. Go back to your successes and figure out what were the magic ingredients.

6.????Decide how bold you want to be. Do you want to create a new narrative (blue ocean) or a new take on an existing narrative (red ocean)? If you’re looking to stand out as a strategic leader, you’ll need to share a new perspective, challenging orthodoxy, backed with substance.

7.????Seek out new influences. Who and what can amplify your voice? By sharing ideas, combining your perspectives, or promoting each other?

8.????Digest daily. Read, listen, watch. Scribble down notes, ideas, themes. Go back to them to see if there’s a pattern, trend, or perspective you can draw out.

9.????Think in campaigns. How does a single article, presentation, podcast fit into your overall narrative? How do they all hang together?

10.??Test your perspective with your audience. Ask: how much do they care about the topic? Would they be convinced? Would they think ‘Gosh, I haven’t seen that angle before’ or ‘Perhaps I need to rethink this’. Ask some of them, selectively. Don’t over-consult, unless you’re asking for their experience and perspectives, as they will expect you to figure it out yourself.

11.???Anticipate the counter arguments. Flip the script – play the role of a devil’s advocate. Ask a friend who you know will tell you what they truly think. Look for weaknesses, flaws in logic, lazy arguments, or flimsy research.

12.??Hone your skills of expression. Learn to write well and speak with conviction and clarity.

13.???Focus on the channels that matter to your audience. Learn how to curate, distribute, and engage to create followership and community.

14.??Start and keep going. Avoid procrastination and start somewhere; otherwise, there’s a risk that someone steps into ‘your’ space (that’s happened to me and it’s super frustrating). It may take time to see results. Keep going and trust the process and yourself!

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My recent conversation with Amelia Sordell (which you can listen to here ) was a stark reminder about the potential companies have to use personal brands to enhance and promote the corporate agenda. They don’t because they worry people will be poached by competitors or that it’s a distraction (more on that topic below). I love her quote about being talked about in rooms she wouldn’t normally be able to enter – because of the strength of her brand. It’s a cracking episode, packed full of tips you can use to enhance your personal brand, immediately!

Resource

One of the most popular Lancefield on the Line podcasts focuses on what it takes to be a more confident communicator; James B. shares his wisdom and tips (you can access it here ). Well worth a listen.

Roger Martin , the CEO adviser and best-selling author, refers to the most important test (in his Medium article here ) for any strategy is whether a competitor can’t or won’t play. “The?can’t?part means that competitors may well try, but try as they may, they just can’t put in place a value equation that matches yours. The?won’t?part means that while competitors could succeed if they were to try, they choose not to try, ” he says. It’s such a good framework that can be applied to strategies from the top to the bottom of the organisation – or to an individual.

Recommendation(s)

If you’re looking to develop your personal brand and become a recognised expert there’s no better programme to take than Dorie Clark ’s. You get insightful, practical content on all of the topics you need to master, and you get to join an incredible community of like-minded people ready to help. The doors are opening up for this cohort so be sure to check it out. Click here to take her free test and she'll send you details of how to sign up to the programme if you're interested. I highly recommend it. It's been transformational for me.

Two of my articles have been published on topics that are dear to my heart. They’re part of my own campaign to infuse more human emotions, behaviours, and values into strategy – whether for organisations or leaders.

The first (you can read it here ) in Fast Company, co-authored with the brilliant Dina Denham Smith , focuses on how emotions can be asset when developing and implementing strategy. They help us understand the needs and motivations of our customers, ensuring high-quality decision-making, and inspiring our teams and organisation to rally behind a new direction.

The second (you can read it here ) in Harvard Business Review, focuses on how to overcome distractions when practising strategy. Avoid the temptation to micromanage and assert control to mitigate this risk. Instead, strengthen your strategic intent, improve individuals’ connections with the strategy, and encourage better discipline, channelling energies into more productive innovation activities.

Let me leave you with this quote from Oscar Wilde:

“Conformity is the last refuge of the unimaginative."

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Thank you for reading this edition of the Strategic Leader newsletter. I hope you found it insightful and useful. Here are some ways to access further perspectives, tips, and resources:

★?Follow me on?LinkedIn ?to join the conversation on my posts, and ring the bell????on the right hand side of my name to receive my new posts.

★?Subscribe ?to my Strategic Leader newsletter every other Wednesday.

★?Take my Extraordinary Essentials?test ?to assess how you stack up against six characteristics of strategic leaders.

★ Check out my services for CEOs and other C-Suite executives and their teams?here .

★?Reach out to me directly at [email protected].