Finding the Swagger of being Infectiously and Intriguingly You

It probably sounds like a cliché, when each year you hear people stating that this has been a breakthrough year, or watershed moment in a VUCA world (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex Ambiguous)… So in an attempt to avoid the pitfalls of rhetorical sensationalism, I am going to stick with sharing why I think it’s been a big year for me career-wise and what’s worked.

Now it hasn’t been an easy year: it’s been stressful, challenging, downright infuriating, unpredictable, and I’ve had to make some hard decisions. But this is the year when using LinkedIn and engaging with the LinkedIn community has really paid off. I won’t be sharing war-stories, but I will be sharing some take-homes that might work for you too.

FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)?.. Well, YOLO - You Only Live Once

In short, I reached a point of realization that YOLO, jobs for life are a distant memory, there’s so much noise and competition out there, and I was reminded by an old friend that the definition of a Professor is ‘a person who affirms a faith in or allegiance to something’. Therefore I decided that the best weatherproofing of my own mind, body, soul, and career was to find a way to be the best, most impactful, valuable, connected, self-sufficient, and natural me that I can be.

This was reaffirmed further by predictions from Futurist, Rohit Talwar, that Children can expect to hold 40 different jobs in 10 career paths over their lifetime; and by PeoplePerHour (2015) that by 2020, half of the US and UK population will be freelancers.

These made me feel that being part of diverse networks, at the centre of conversations, on dynamic platforms that give you a shop front, and having a stand-out personal brand had to be the new normal for professionals.

So Crossing the Rubicon meant finding a way to identify, hone, amplify, and communicate my own voice – moving away in some respects from my MBA and PhD training, which at times relies too much on demonstrating that you have acquired the skills to fit into existing rules and structures. There’s always someone further up the ladder than you and more connected – but if you create your own lane, that puts you in pole position.

Being a branding professional, naturally that meant holding the mirror up to my own personal offering and using brand thinking in order to enhance my standing – strategically, with cogency and a clear purpose. I’ve termed this approach P.L.A.I.C.E. – that ability to demonstrate Personality, Legitimacy, Authenticity, Intersectionality, Credibility, and Excitement/Empathy.

I also mentioned to an audience of 5,000 marketers in Jakarta last week that old social media thinking was very macho - in that it seems to be about being M.A.L.E.: 

…when it should be more F.E.M.A.L.E.:

So what am I doing now?

Well, Personal Branding has finally arrived as a mainstream term and legitimate professional activity for all professionals – not just the celebs. Everyone is vying for standout and to be that collective individual, who’s witty, plugged-in, relevant, and thought-leading.

One thing that I’m doing more than ever is engaging with information in a more intellectual and iterative way. Rather than simply reading or sharing articles, now’s the time to have dialogue with authors and professionals on social media. The idea is that if you deliberate, debate, and collaborate in public – it can enhance your personal brand and lead to work.

This is the new age of iterative transparency in thought and action. Information is no longer faceless – we’re giving a face to the melting-pot of globalization. Also, it's a more emotional activity – sharing who you are, where you are, how you’re feeling, and what you’re about matters to people more than ever.

This is the ‘T-shaped’ approached to knowledge – where you cover both breadth and depth. Being a general expert has never been more important and it reminds me of when we were back at school and had to study a broad curriculum. But at the same time people are looking for domain experts who can deep dive into particular areas.

Collaboration now means that you probably have intense experiences with a diverse group of people according to region and sector, surrounding a particular topic, and then once that’s been thrashed out, everyone moves on and forms another group tackling the next topic on the horizon.

For me, that meant tackling the slow and fast aspects of culture, and taking calculated risks - where I put myself out there commenting on areas that perhaps many would avoid in order to play it safe.

Some of the areas have been:

• Ethnic and Race issues
• Women in the workplace
• Fake News and tunnel vision tribalism
• Unconscious bias in Artificial Intelligence
• The future of University Business Schools
• Student employability
• Halal and Muslim markets
• Future trends
• Millennials and Gen-Z

Get yourself onto video

The second thing that I’ve started doing is producing more video. Now there are many people producing 1min, 3min, 10min, and 15min vlogs. Two years ago I spoke about 5 Second Marketing.

However, it seems that there is a place for longer video content. I’ve been releasing 30min and even 55min videos, which people are consuming in the same way that we now binge watch entertainment. We want an intense experience that goes into depth, and blends knowledge and insight with a feel good vibe, humour, and entertainment – we can call it edutainment.

If things are going this way, then this is the new secret sauce and superpower. Do you have what it takes to pull off this type of entertainment in the same way that a musician or standup comedian can hold a crowd? This is the new business art form that cannot be replaced by robots.

Learn the rules, then break them

Finally, another thing that I believe more than ever is that if you’re going to survive in a VUCA world, then you need to move towards being a trailblazer and doing this through creating your own lane.

That means, learning all of the rules in meticulous detail, developing a sort of muscle memory through continued and repetitive adherence to these rules - and then paradoxically making the switch towards deciding what rules you can break and new ones you can make. If you do it right, then you should rise in the ranks, because now you’re in pole position. Slavishly following someone else’s rules means that you can never really win the game.

After several years of them gathering dust on my shelf, I’ve been re-reading my ancient martial texts like Sun Tzu’s ‘The Art of War’ and Miyamoto Musashi’s ‘Book of Five Rings’ and Yamamoto Tsunetomo’s ‘Hagukre’. I would thoroughly recommend you picking up copies, as a break from all the articles talking about market developments and future trends. If you don’t take a longer philosophical view then you could go crazy being stressed out by how can you can continue to surf the current waves of activity.

There are some basic principles that are timeless and humans haven’t changed that much. We want to: have a purpose, learn and grow, be relevant and remembered, be surrounded by good people, be valued and respected, love and be loved.

Through my research I also came to discover that many successful people are actually incredibly lucky – so the key is identifying what can tip luck in your favour and make you more lucky, more often. For me, than means being ready for whatever comes your way, in the right state of mind and generating an infectious and immovable spirit that brings people towards you – oh and having your CV and elevator pitch on ice. I’ve found that LinkedIn has been a great way to tighten up my game.

So to round up...

Consider how you would answer each of the following points, using facts, figures and anecdotes, that I've termed, S.C.O.T.T.. This is the marketing blueprint and style guide that grounds your contributions strategically:

S.C.O.T.T.

Show your Game - that you have a competitive edge

Claim your Lane – where it’s clear what you’re about

Own that Name – your domain, sector, and personal handles

Take the Reins – make sure that you’re in control of your destination

Trade on Brains – demonstrate that you’re a connected thought leader

…And do the same again and again

Finally, just to tighten things up even more, refine this information into an elevator pitch. Learn how to communicate in different voices, to different word-counts and styles appropriate for particular platforms and audiences. One-size does not fit all. Inject emotions and poetic storytelling to make them more memorable.

Now that I’ve made these points, I can’t wait to meet and chew the fat with you all!