LESSONS FROM LEADERS:

Building Your Personal Leadership Brand

Executives don’t reach the upper echelons of corporations alone – they are influenced and supported
through peer networks and interactions with other senior leaders. In this glimpse into the ExecuNet
General Management and Human Resources Roundtables, we offer some of the most pertinent advice
from executives on personal branding.

“I would like to start to develop my own personal brand and was interested if others have done it and what
resources they used.”
—Debra Santolini, Manager of Marketing Operations, Life Sciences
“A personal brand is valuable only if it is positioned correctly. If
there is no market, then the brand is worthless or at the very
least, diminished in value (Who wants the best-made, most
attractive dial phones anymore?)
Executives should focus their efforts to gain maximum
exposure to their target market. Determine where these
decision-makers linger and gain presence in their actual
and virtual worlds. The goal is not just to be there but to
establish credibility and develop trust in your abilities in
order to promote a warm personal relationship that might
be taken offline – resulting in referrals, recommendations,
mentoring, exchanging ideas, mutual support, access to
coveted leads, etc.
This is a process. It doesn’t happen overnight. You can
accelerate the results by starting off in the right places
and communicating a consistent, focused and compelling
message. Remember that personal branding is intended to
differentiate individuals, to distinguish among competitors,
and demonstrate to employers and colleagues that someone is
remarkable. In turn, the benefits are generating a memorable
positive impression that will be etched on contacts’ radar
screens and will be recalled at opportune moments, enabling
that branded professional to access appropriate leads and be
connected to potential sources of career and personal progress,
now and in the future.”
—Debra Feldman, Executive Talent Agent, Career Management
“The following are five key components on personal branding
that I learned from reading Sherri Thomas’ book, Career Smart
– 5 Steps to a Powerful Personal Brand.
l Core Values: What drives you the most? (Even from a
non-business perspective.)
l Passions: What really excites you?
l Personal Characteristics/Differentiators: Are you a leader,
follower, creative, analytical, etc?
l Signature Talents: What are you absolutely great at? (I am
great at event planning; I create great marketing plans; I
analyze financials very well; I launch new products well.)
l Successes: What accomplishments are you most proud of?
(They tend to highlight the other things, but also serve as
examples that typify your personal brand and what you bring
to the table.)”
—Randal Gustafson, Managing Director,
Strategic Marketing Consulting
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LESSONS FROM LEADERS
“I think personal brands are extremely important. We have
entered the age when a person no longer works for a company
for an extended period. We are more or less contractors to the
companies for which we work. We provide a service, and they
provide income and benefits. The average tenure is less than four
years. So you now are your most important product. Ask any HR
person and they will tell you that they use the Internet to find
and validate potential employees.
There are a number of things that can be done to promote
your brand:
l Keep a personal blog and/or a personal website.
l Get on Facebook, LinkedIn, Naymz and Jigsaw.
l Comment on other people’s blogs.
l Publish e-articles or an e-book.
l Get on the agenda of local industry groups, or a committee.
Just like any good marketing program, you need to think
through what you want your brand to represent, and make sure
you keep a consistent look and feel. Over time, you want people
to associate a specific thought with who you are. This is the trend
in the new job market – the more recognizable the brand, the
higher the premium.”
—Tomme Stevenson, Founder and Principal, Business
Development Consulting
“Your introduction on ExecuNet is your brand. I suggest you start
with it, and see if it describes you as a professional. It has a good
deal of what you have done; now you need to turn that into
future tense. Give it a try and post it here.”
—David Wit, General Manager, Hospitality
“I use several social media platforms (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter,
Plaxo) to build my personal brand and nurture my network.
However, I have found the combination of a thought-leadership
blog on LinkedIn and Twitter to be very effective at increasing my
personal ‘searchability’ on Google.”
—Alan See, Vice President of Marketing, IT
“I find that by participating in targeted networking groups,
volunteering for committee work and maintaining high visibility
amongst your peer group, you’ll get the name recognition
required for branding yourself.”
—Stephen Smith, Principal, Architectural/Engineering
LESSONS FROM LEADERS
“The best advice is to customize your résumé for each position
you pursue. As a practical matter, it forces you to investigate the
company and the job, so you will be better prepared to have a
good interview with a hand-picked résumé. Also, it increases the
likelihood that your résumé (if you are qualified) will be picked
up by the keyword search and/or recruiter’s review since you will
have likely added the pertinent keywords from the job posting to
your résumé. The key is to be able to show the value you can
bring to the position in question by putting your qualifications in
the context of their need.
The personal brand is what makes you unique and desirable;
by optimizing each résumé for the job in question you ‘spin’ your
brand for each individual opportunity.”
—Jonathan W. Cohen, Senior Consultant, Telecommunications
10 Branding Strategies
Catherine Kaputa, the founder of SelfBrand, a New York City-
based brand strategy firm and the author of U R A BRAND! How
Smart People Brand Themselves for Business Success, outlines 10
different branding strategies in this excerpt from an exclusive
ExecuNet FastTrackWebinar.
1. Be the first and narrow your focus. Ask yourself if there is
a product, customer segment or service that you were the
first to create at your company.
2. Be a leader. You could be a leading salesperson in your
company, in a product, with a customer segment; or you
could be the leader of your team, department or trade
association.
3. Be a maverick, the opposite of being a leader. It involves
identifying the leaders in your company or arena and
determining the opposite of that brand image, point of
view and action plan.
4. Own an attribute. Look at the product area or company
and then determine the attributes that are prized within
the industry and which your brand could own. If you
describe your brand with one word or attribute, what
would it be?
“
“Branding at its core is really about attaching an idea to a product.
It’s the same with people,” says Kaputa.
5 Steps to a Personal Brand
Personal branding is the image, emotion and thought that
you invoke in the other person after you have interacted and
communicated with them. Learn how to stand out from the
crowd and how to build your personal brand in this excerpt
from an exclusive ExecuNet FastTrack webinar featuring
executive coach “Coach Nick” Papadopoulos, of Sky’s The Limit.
1. Define your vision and your mission.
2. Define your value proposition, the unique set of talents
that you offer.
3. Identify your target audience.
4. State your brand promise.
5. Determine how you will execute your brand.
5. Find a new process or magic ingredient. Ask if there is a
new process or component that could solve a customer
problem in your company.
6. Be the expert. Ask if there is an area that you know very
well. What can you do to become an authority or be
perceived as an authority? Writing articles, newsletters or
books are important platforms for people executing this
expert strategy.
7. Be preferred. Determine if there is a customer segment
that could become the focus of your self-brand identity.
8. Set a high price. High price means superiority. It’s the
whole idea that a consultant who charges $400 an hour
must be better than one who charges $100 an hour.
9. Know your special heritage. This involves determining
what connections you can leverage. These connections
include family, schools, training programs, awards, country
of origin and companies.
10. Owning a cause. Is there a cause or issue you are
passionate about?
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Building Your Personal Leadership Brand
By Marji McClure, execunet editor
In today’s volatile economic climate, only the strongest brands
will survive. This is true for businesses and for the executives who
lead them. Just as major consumer packaged goods companies
promote their core products to the marketplace through
extensive marketing and branding campaigns, executives need
to do the same to promote themselves within their company and
their industry.
With increased competition in the job marketplace, it’s
crucial that executives create a brand for themselves that
accurately depicts who they are as leaders and positions them for
continued success within their current organizations as well as
success in future endeavors.
What Does a Personal Branding Campaign Entail?
“Personal branding involves knowing what your core
competencies are and being able to leverage them to move your
company, your department and your initiatives forward,” says
Rahna Barthelmess, president and chief marketing strategist
for Connecticut-based Beacon Marketing. “It involves shining a
spotlight on those competencies so that others recognize what
you bring to the table — so that those skills can be brought to
bear over and over again.”
Barthelmess stresses that personal branding has to be
authentic. “Personal branding is not a cloak you can put on
or something to mask flaws or deficiencies,” she says. “Your
personal brand radiates from within you and represents your core
values and beliefs expressed outwardly by your actions. Putting
up a ‘fake persona’ is a surefire way to be discovered as a phony.”
Branding experts agree that executives need to take
ownership of their plan because it is such a personal concept,
and one that can make a large impact on an executive’s
career management strategy. Everyone has to have a personal
career marketing plan today because individuals have to be
responsible for creating their own opportunities, says Judit Price
Marketing 101: The Benefits of a Personal
Branding Plan
l Attract the right kinds of projects.
l Attract the right kinds of companies or clients to work with you.
l Clarify what you stand for, what your purpose is.
l Help you do things “on purpose.”
l Allow the right people to find you.
l Help you attract opportunities to shine.
l Enhance your performance and experience.
l Delineate your fit within an organization.
l Increase your stature within a group.
Source: Rahna Barthelmess, Beacon Marketing
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LESSONS FROM LEADERS
of Massachusetts-based Berke and Price Associates. Companies
no longer look out for an executive’s best interests — executives
need to do this themselves, she adds. “The executive should view
himself/herself almost as independent contractors who must be
their own advocates. As we know, old-fashioned loyalty is largely
gone. The only person executives can count on is themselves,
their skill sets and their network,” says Price.
Yet, at the same time, executives must be able to self-
manage the process in a way that is effectively, but not overly,
promotional. It’s important that executives are clear with their
personal marketing objectives and don’t alienate others along
the way. “The executive must strike a balance between his or her
personal needs (personal brand) and corporate needs (corporate
brand),” says Dan Schawbel, a personal branding expert and
author of Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career
Success.
“If the executive engages in too much self-promotion, then
his constituents will be turned off and the company culture will
be tarnished,” adds Schawbel. “The executive should promote
other executives and people in various departments as well.
Executives should understand their career strategy at that level.
Are they looking to build their company and then sell it? Are they
looking to become the next CEO? Once the executive realizes
what his or her next step is, then it’s about carefully planning
how he or she is going to get there.”
“Building a brand is an intentional communication effort,”
adds Karen Armon, creator and founder of Colorado-based
MarketOne Executive. “It isn’t done haphazardly. Therefore, the
best way to protect one’s brand is to have a very tight theme,
with very specific execution plans, and then measurements that
provide feedback on that plan. I believe building your career as a
business and launching your product (you are the labor service/
product that you are offering) is what is required.”
Developing Your Brand Plan
Barthelmess says that the process of developing a personal
branding plan is similar to writing a marketing plan. Three
necessary components to consider when crafting the plan are:
strengths of the individual, target audience and communication
methods.
Sometimes it can be difficult for executives to recognize their
true assets. Kathy McAfee, president of Connecticut-based Kmc
Brand Innovation LLC, advises asking for feedback from people
(from clients to colleagues) who have worked with you. Such
individuals can provide an objective view of your capabilities.
McAfee suggests asking the following questions:
l What value did I/do I create for you?
l Why is that so important to you?
l What do you think I do best?
l If you have to describe me to another person in four words or
phrases, what would they be?
LESSONS FROM LEADERS
Ira Blumenthal, co-author of Managing Brand You: 7 Steps to
Creating Your Most Successful Self, explains that individuals
separate brand identity (what you believe you are or what you
want to be) from brand image (what others believe you are). He
suggests making a list of five-to-ten words that describe what
you believe you are (such as trustworthy) and then ask friends
and associates to list the words that they feel best describe you.
If their words don’t make your list, Blumenthal suggests it’s
time to repair your brand. He notes that such repairs can be as
simple as staying at the office later if people think that you’re not
dedicated. If they think you’re not a team player, volunteer for an
extra assignment. “We believe that if executives take a look at
themselves and use others’ visions, they will find what their flaws
are,” explains Blumenthal.
Overall, an executive’s main goal is to take his or her own
observations along with those of colleagues and friends and
determine the kind of brand he or she wants to create for
himself or herself and perform activities that will help you
emulate that brand.
“When everyone knows what you do best, your name and
reputation will be equivalent with your brand,” says Price. “For
example, people call me the ‘career lady’ wherever I go. They
know I write a biweekly column on careers and employment and
I appear on local radio and TV regarding career issues. As a result,
I have the brand as being the career lady of the Merrimack Valley.”
Such branding is most effective when it encompasses an
executive’s internal (with the company) and external (within
the industry) presence. “Building your brand within the
company means communication and aligning, both through
your position and your influence, a brand that will help you
meet and exceed business strategies and goals,” says Armon,
author of Market Your Potential, Not Your Past. “Building your
brand within the industry is about positioning yourself as a
thought leader and using your position and influence to change
the course the industry is headed.”
The strategies necessary to build an executive’s internal
brand differ greatly from those used to build an external brand.
But together, they should create an image that will help an
executive be successful regardless of the venue.
Your Internal Branding Plan
The main concept of an executive’s internal branding campaign
involves ensuring that individuals at all levels within that
executive’s organization are aware of and value the executive’s
contributions. “Visibility is paramount for any leader who wishes
to have people following him or her,” says McAfee. “If you only
spend time with the same people all the time (or project team
or the C-suite), then you are limiting your reach and exposure.
By practicing ‘internal networking,’ you will reap the benefits
of establishing more connections — many of which can evolve
into mutually beneficial relationships. You want to establish this
before you need it.”
McAfee says that executives can accomplish this by leaving
their desks and visiting other employees. She suggests having
lunch in the company cafeteria instead of in your office. “You
must show your face and appear to be approachable and
accessible,” advises McAfee. “Mix and mingle with different
people in the organization. Think of them and yourself as human
beings and learn to relate to each other. It will help to enhance
your visibility and connection with your colleagues.”
Your External Branding Plan
Creating and building an external brand requires executives to
position themselves as thought leaders and experts within their
industry. Illustrating to all that they are a true authority in their
field is vital to an executive’s external brand.
“Thought leadership is the act of sharpening your
knowledge on a certain narrow subject that you are passionate
about and sharing your insights about it to a larger audience
(including inside and outside your company and immediate
world),” says McAfee. “Thought leadership is not the act of selling
and marketing your company’s product; it’s about standing for
something larger (concept, cause or problem) and increasing the
awareness and advocating for it.”
Ways executives can demonstrate thought leadership
include writing articles for newspapers and magazine, being
quoted as an expert in those publications, and presenting at
industry-related conferences and events.
“The benefits of doing all of this work are that you are
adding equity in both the short-term and long-term,” says
McAfee. “You are enhancing your reputation, your visibility and
your value to more people. You are building your brand, and that
will go with you your entire career.”
The Social Media Component
References to executives online are lasting impressions, and
executives need to understand the importance of creating (and
then monitoring) an online brand that also effectively promotes
their capabilities. Social media is becoming an increasingly
important component in personal branding, especially as
recruiters and hiring managers use such sites as LinkedIn as a
resource to find and research potential job candidates.
According to 2008 ExecuNet data, 86 percent of recruiters
surveyed said they have used search engines to uncover
information about executive candidates. “If you’re not there,
you may not be found by the people you most need to position
yourself in front of,” says Meg Guiseppe, a New Jersey-based
personal branding strategist and master résumé writer. She
warns, “You could be missing out on golden opportunities.”
Guiseppe stresses the importance of having a profile
included on LinkedIn, but she adds that an executive’s
participation in this particular networking site shouldn’t end
there. “You should also make connections and leverage all of
the available activities (such as Answers; Groups; and giving
and asking for recommendations) to build evangelism for your
personal brand,” says Guiseppe. Many experts, including Price
and Armon, suggest avoiding Facebook because it not as strongly
business-focused as other sites, like ExecuNet or LinkedIn.
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 LESSONS FROM LEADERS

Where to Find the Right Blogs

Personal marketing and branding experts agree that blogging — either creating your own blog or contributing to others — is a
great way to help bolster your online brand and further position you as a leader within your industry and the business community
as a whole.
Personal branding strategist and résumé writer Meg Guiseppi offers the following suggestions for executives who are looking
for blogs that can help them accomplish their career branding objectives:
l Visit Alltop.com and Technorati.com and source relevant blogs by category. Also, look for recruiter blogs.

l Set up Google Alerts for relevant keyword phrases that will lead you to the right blogs.

l Enter the names of industry thought leaders and experts into a search engine to see where they’re blogging.

l Search relevant keywords for your industry or field and your areas of expertise.

l Look at the blogrolls on any of the relevant blogs you uncover to find other blogs of interest.

When posting comments, keep these ideas in mind, advises Guiseppi:

l Keep your comments brief (one to two paragraphs) and on-topic.

l Add value to the conversation and position yourself as a niche expert.

l Although bloggers love to read “Terrific post!,” offer more than just kudos.

l Link back to your LinkedIn profile as your website (unless you have a website or blog).

Peer interaction that occurs in platforms such as ExecuNet’s
Roundtables also serve as venues in which executives can
demonstrate expertise in a particular subject while also
becoming valued resources for solving business problems.
Blogging, either by creating your own blog or becoming a
guest blogger on other blogs, can also be an effective way to
share your industry insights with a broad audience. However,
before you start such an endeavor, Barthelmess stresses the
importance of being clear about your objectives for the blog.
Know what you want to accomplish.
Schawbel says that executives need to commit to posting
at least one or more times each week, “Be open to criticism and
have something interesting to say.” He cautions against enlisting
a ghost writer to write blog posts because if that person is
revealed, it will lead to a lot of negative press for the executive.
Armon doesn’t recommend executives maintain a blog
because it is such a huge time commitment. “It is labor intensive;
[it] requires a lot of marketing to get people to notice and
respond to a blog and can often make you feel like you are talking
to an audience of one — yourself,” she says.
For similar reasons, Twitter — a service in which users post
short comments (“tweets”) — might not be the best venue for
executives to communicate their thought leadership either.
“I can’t recommend that every executive has a Twitter profile
because, much like blogging, you’ll have to send multiple tweets
a day for anyone to care,” says Schawbel. “Most executives
aren’t on Twitter and instead cling to LinkedIn because of how
professional it is.”
Most importantly, executives must know the audience they
want to reach and pick the social media platform that those
individuals are most likely to frequent. “You must think about
those whom you are trying to influence,” adds Barthelmess.
“If they are the type of people who would never follow you
on Twitter, then Twitter should not be part of your personal
branding plan.”
At the same time, when executives identify the most
effective online platforms for your branding campaign, it’s
crucial that they ensure that what is revealed about them on the
Internet doesn’t prevent them from making viable connections
and securing new opportunities.
Since not all web references are positive, executives need
to closely manage what is being said about them online and
counter with more positive content. Forty-four percent of
executive recruiters surveyed by ExecuNet in 2008 said they have
eliminated a senior-level candidate because of information found
on the Internet. [ExecuNet offers a career guide, Dealing with
Your Digital Dirt, with recommendations on how executives can
positively enhance their online reputation. A downloadable copy
of the full report is accessible via the Career Center tab on the
ExecuNet website.]
Schawbel says that some executives enlist the help of
a public relations professional to monitor the blogosphere
traditional media outlets to ensure the integrity of an executive’s
brand. Either the PR professional or the executive can set up
search engine alerts, so they are notified when the executive’s
name appears in new content.
“The idea here is that you want to interact with people
who are talking about your personal brand, just like a product
or corporate brand, because that is how you put out fires and
establish new connections,” says Schawbel. “Executives should
[search] their name daily to see how they are represented by
their results and then react by signing up for social networks
or creating content so they can push bad press down if they
find it.”
The large majority (79 percent) of executives reported to
ExecuNet that they had searched for their own names online
but not as frequently as Schawbel suggests. Just 11 percent
conducted this activity more than once per month while 29
percent searched just once per year or even less frequently.

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LESSONS FROM LEADERS
Branding as a Differentiator
Experts agree that the demonstration of your personal brand can
also help improve the productivity of your job search activities
and make you a more appealing candidate. “When executives
build their brand, the exercise requires clear definition of what
the executives have to offer, what they do best, and who they
are,” says Price. “Armed with this information, communication
with the intended audience is clear and confident. The executive
can prepare for the job search better because the candidate has
already thought through and defined his or her vision, values,
passions, purpose and goals.”
Price adds that it is equally important to understand
the competition for positions; to know what skills sets other
executives who are seeking the same jobs possess. This can help
you further pinpoint how you should position your brand to help
you stand out from among that competition. “Armed with that
information, the executive should be able to create some unique
differentiators that separate the competition from the executive.
It is also vitally important to know who the target audience is in
order to be confident that the skill set is relevant to the target
organization’s needs,” says Price.
“Remember, you are more than just what you do or have
done on the job,” adds McAfee. “Dare to express your personality
and passions during the job search and watch your results grow.
Let them see and experience your personal brand, and remember,
in today’s economy, your experience and knowledge may not be
enough. Your success will be determined largely by your attitude
and willingness to put yourself out there and to help others.”
Published By
ExecuNet, Inc.
295 Westport Avenue
Norwalk, CT 06851
(800) 637-3126 or (203) 750-1030
info@execunet.com
www.execunet.com
©2009 Exec-U-Net Inc. All Rights Reserved
Founded in 1988, ExecuNet brings C-level executives together online and in face-to-face meetings to discuss business challenges, solutions and
opportunities, and share job leads. A recognized authority in executive recruiting and human capital, ExecuNet also provides members access to
confidential six-figure jobs listings, proprietary research, and pragmatic advice.
When organizations seek new talent, they will be more
attracted to those with a strong brand, those able to effectively
demonstrate their thought leadership. “Companies that hire
executives expect them to be at the top of their game, and in
this economic environment, that is the key strategy for talent
acquisition — to rotate out lesser talent for greater talent, which
includes thought leadership,” says Armon. “Branding builds your
thought leadership gravitas, which is exciting for recruiters and
hiring leaders alike. Thought leadership is the key that positions
you as a top talent and puts [you] in the sights of CEOs who want
to build the best team around him or her as possible.” n
Expert Resources:
l Karen Armon, MarketOne Executive
(MarketOneExecutive.com)
l Rahna Barthelmess, Beacon Marketing
(Beacon-Marketing.com)
l Ira Blumenthal, Co-OPPORTUNITIES (Iraspeak.com)
l Meg Guiseppi, Executive Resume Branding
(ExecutiveResumeBranding.com)
l Kathy McAfee, Kmc Brand Innovation LLC
(MarketingMotivator.net)
l Judit Price, Berke and Price Associates (CareerCampaign.com)
l Dan Schawbel, Personal Branding Magazine
(PersonalBrandingMag.com)
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