Crafting a personal brand.
Looking Outside Influence
Is thinking about your personal brand necessary for it to be successful? Or can you just rely on your great work speaking for itself alongside a good reputation. More and more I think a personal brand should be something you craft, but in a way that’s uniquely showing a part of you - you’re not trying to be someone else after all.
This was a really resonant conversation I had with Mark Schaefer on the Looking Outside podcast. The more I put myself in the public eye, through public speaking or the podcast, the more conscious I am of how that is framed and received.
Especially when I get positive feedback, I think, “Great, I’ll do more of that”. But shouldn’t I just keep doing more of what I’m doing without over-analyzing it?
Sometimes I ask myself why I’m even doing it. Maybe it becomes easier when you have a massive audience like Mark does, because you know you’re doing it in part because it’s really needed by people; that it adds certain value for your audience. But when you’re just “starting out” it feels a little strange, at least for a little while. One big motivator is that slow growth of your audience, and the positive feedback you get from people who appreciate your work. Precisely what Mark touches on. This isn’t something that comes instantly, most of the time, Mark says you put in 18 months at least before you should stop and review whether you’re even on the right track. For my show that happened a lot faster, within five months my audience doubled. But regardless it’s a long time to wait to put yourself on the line, trying to figure out not just whether you’re onto something that’s worthwhile, not just to see if it’s worth the effort you put in, but if it’s something that fulfils a need in the world that’s unique. For me, that’s been really important. I don’t want to be another Tik Tok influencer generating content that matches what (even) 100 other people are doing.
Harvard Business Review says, often, we confuse our reputation with our personal brand. That the two are not one and the same; the status you earned, the reputation built through your outputs don’t necessarily automatically translate to a brand. I’m not sure I agree with that, but certainly the success of that brand, the ability for it come across and achieve whatever it is you plan for it to achieve, must be more intentional than that.
On the Looking Outside show, Mark shared his experience, research and perspective on this, as we discussed the traps and tricks of successful influencing. There are three killer points he landed on this topic:
1. Create a spiky point of view.
It’s not being controversial for the sake of it but standing out by providing a voice to something that no one else has. A voice that others, who think and feel the same way, can respond to, ‘Yes! That’s what I’ve been thinking about too’. The spikiness of your perspective can put you on the line, but that’s important if you want to stand out and stand for something. To date I’ve had a few spiky guests on my show. These people show counter-thinking to the common train of thought, who go against the public narrative in many ways: Mark Pollard, Sarah DaVanzo, Tom Goodwin and Costas Papaikonomou. For anyone who follows these people on their pubic forums, that’s not a surprise; they are known for bringing that uniquely brave point of view on topics. But if you listen to them on the show you can hear something else - a gentleness. They approach their need to better understand what has seemingly already been understood by the media with a passion and vigor, certainly, but also with a sense of care. Particularly when people are involved. They each champion diverse perspectives, and they champion those who feel like they haven’t been represented or understood. So their personal brands are successful not just because they are spiky, but because they are open, and they care about their audience.
2. Consider how you can be spiky in a way that’s comfortable for people.
Simon Sinek famously said “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe.” There is a bit of the ‘Golden Circle theory’ that both Mark and I disagree with, but that statement brings to life well what Mark is saying with this second point. Intention is really important. Particularly when you’re sharing a unique, pointy, perspective. I’m a big proponent of counter intuitive thinking and healthy debate, we need more of that to be able to form our own opinions about things, and to practice the skill of unpicking an argument through critical vs algorithmic thinking. As JFK famously said, “Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”
But it’s easy to see how that can put people offside, how it creates a divide and pushes people to either play for the blue or the red team. What happens to the people in the middle? They get a dodgeball in the face. What happens to the people who want to switch teams, even for a while, to see what it’s all about? They are traitors, naturally. It’s important to set the scene before the game, or critical discussion, starts. That’s kind of what I’m attempting with my podcast, I want to hear more diverse perspectives of those topics that we talk about in business sometimes in a one-sided way.
Particularly now that I’m working for a decentralized global organization. More than ever before, I see how important it is that we spend time to truly understand why different markets might be at a different maturity stage, why they might feel differently based on their customs, why this might not be relevant for them ever because of their geographic boundaries. It sounds like a no-brainer for anyone in a global business, but perhaps I feel this more acutely now because our business is run by those markets, not dictated to.
The key is in being curious to understand. And you can’t open yourself and your audience to that kind of curiosity without setting your intentions first. Mark Schaefer talks about this with his Discord group, where he’s built community rules. Those rules aren’t just a do/don’t for behavior on the social platform, they’re also setting the purpose of even joining it. Intentions matter. Your actions might show your intentions, but it’s important to work out first what your intentions truly are.
In an article on the influencer marketing hub, there is a point made about the need to do some zen-like introspection when you’re about to brand yourself personally. But then they say something seemingly contrary to that: “You want your personal branding to match your targeted clientele.” So should your brand be a true reflection of your inner needs and passions, or should it be tailored to match to your audience. The truth is probably a little bit of both. But there is something interesting in the idea that no matter your knowledge of yourself and what drives you, no matter your positive intentions, what you put out to the public isn’t always – and shouldn’t always – be 100% you. Which leads us to the last point.
3. It takes time and thought to shape your personal brand into what you want it to be.
Something so crafted can’t be genuine, right? What makes us think that any of the major influences in our life are spontaneous? Martin Luther King’ speeches, while they came from the heart and had unscripted elements, were formed through careful consideration and planning. If something matters to you, you put effort in to make sure you convey it precisely how you want to it to be interpreted.
A modern day public figure I admire greatly, Jehan Casinader, wrote about this recently, when he said you should never just get up on a stage and ‘wing it’. Sure, if you know your content, you should be able to have a conversation with anyone at any point confidently about it. But if you’re getting up in front of a large audience, it’s our responsibility to make sure that you know which points we want to land, both in the heads and hearts of those listening. No one likes a presenter who is reading a script or fluffing about going off on tangents for that matter. The sweet spot in the middle – where you are practiced and prepared, but also natural – takes skill. And that skill is built through practice.
For those of us starting out in the public sphere, trying to shape our personal brand, we should consider what point it is that we’re trying to land. What we stand for and what we don’t. Otherwise what unique value to the audience are we bringing? Forbes did an article a few years back on this, and their first “golden rule” for personal branding was focus; to be specific in what uniqueness you’re offering. That’s quite similar to the first point made in this blog. But perhaps without forethought, planning and preparation, all of that goes out the window. If you don’t communicate your personal brand in the way you set out for it come across, what does it matter how you set out to position it? Some things need to be filtered and some things must stay private. Kudos to people like Russell Brand who are extremely vulnerable and open to their audience. But you can guarantee Russel, a very thoughtful speaker, crafts what he chooses and does not choose to present, based on his intention for his brand (the Brand brand, ha).
It’s for our benefit just as much as his. And it doesn’t make it any less genuine.
Listen to the Influence episode with Mark Schaefer:
