The Gift Of Inconsistency

Post on LinkedIn 2-5 times a week to grow your network. Reply to comments within one hour to boost engagement. Share your posts between Tuesdays and Thursday for maximum visibility. Ideally, do it between 8–10 AM or 12–2 PM.

If you fail to understand this secret sauce, the LinkedIn algorithm will push your content down the back burner.

When I embarked on my personal branding journey, I followed this so-called best practice to near perfection. And I wasn't alone. Some of my peers embraced the idea of personal branding to differentiate themselves, insulate their careers, and expand their influence.        

But a few years ago, I realised that there was something seriously flawed in these so-called best practices. When I started my career acceleration journey 11 years ago, my mission was crystal clear. I wanted to pursue deep and irrefutable expertise, run away from competition and become so good potential clients couldn't ignore me. I also wanted to extricate myself from suffocating environments and earn the freedom to choose whom I wanted to work with. Most importantly, I wanted to buy back time to spend with those dear to me and stay true to my values. I was sick of constantly attempting to "culturally fit in".

But a few years ago, I realised I had lost the same freedoms that inspired my thought leadership and entrepreneurial journey.        

The delineation between my work and my personal life had slowly dissolved. I had ceded the precious freedom I had worked hard to earn to the LinkedIn algorithm and external expectations. "LinkedIn Top Voices were supposed to show up constantly", I was told.

Posting content 3-5 times a week while attending to my clients' needs, building a startup, spending time with kids, and nurturing meaningful relationships with my closest friends became gruelling. The important line between who I am and what I do had suddenly gone up in smoke.

But I didn't walk this stressful journey alone. Over the years, I have mentored professionals struggling with imbalance. They created sparkly sheen brands on social media and were considered smart-as-a-whip. But when I asked clarifying questions, I found their core work neglected and suffering. They generated millions of social media impressions but nowhere near their employers' expectations.

Some heeded my advice and rebalanced their lives, while others thought their bosses were "jealous of their growing influence". Nothing could be further from the truth, no way seasoned executives cared they had received 237 likes on a LinkedIn post. When they eventually got thrown into performance management, their confidence was shattered beyond irretrievable levels. ?

But I have never been the one to avoid pivoting from sustainable practices.

Things changed when I understood five key principles.

1. I learnt that balance is where the personal branding game is lost or won. I am better off sharing occasional, deeply authentic posts than trying to keep up with LinkedIn algorithms and other people's expectations.
2. When conflicted between engaging on social media and my client's work, the latter always takes precedence. It sounds obvious, but you will be shocked at how many professionals get this wrong.
3. Every year, I take time to disconnect. I travel to deepen my experiences and connect with other cultures. I spend time with my kids. I have drawn clear lines?between who I am and what I do.
4. Bots don't get tired, but I do. I can't automate myself to post every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning.
5. Fifth, and probably the most important, my journey has been about developing deep and irrefutable expertise. Of carving out a niche and mastering an important subject until I eventually beat it into submission. A strong personal brand is an outcome of this higher mission. Elevating my personal brand beyond the underlying growth mission only feeds my ego, nothing else. I spend most of my time writing long-form articles, writing books, and immersing myself in research. To do this, I must take prolonged breaks from ?LinkedIn. Constantly reminding myself of this mission has been profoundly life-changing. It helps me rise above my ego and find deeper meaning in my work. Last year, when I retreated to work on our previous book, a friend asked, "When do you post next on LinkedIn? I miss your content?". To which I replied, I don't know.

Please don't get me wrong. Building a strong personal brand anchored on deep work (not fake-it-until-you-make-it mantras) is one of the best decisions I have ever made.

But when you fail to strike a balance, burnout, stress, and inauthenticity will soon clip your wings. The insidiousness of this imbalance lies in the fact that it happens slowly, but remember, it's the small leaks that sink great ships.        

In my coaching program, I spend a great deal of time with my clients, anticipating career-derailing personal branding risks and implementing rock-solid mitigations. If we can't sustain it, we're simply wasting our time.??

That's why I stopped being consistent and holding myself to impossible standards. I am posting this around 6PM ASDT. Some will see it, some won't, but that's okay; it fits best into my schedule.

I am keen to hear your experiences in the comments section. ?