The views expressed by the business participants are their own.
As the founder of the world’s leading personal branding agency for CEOs, I’m always looking for lessons we can learn from people in the public eye. Even if they are not entrepreneurs or business owners themselves, their experiences often provide things we can take on our own leadership journey.
As a Ukrainian-Canadian, I have no political side in the American political story. However, I watched the recent presidential debate through the lens of personal branding with interest — and in this article, I’ll share my thoughts.
Debates in the US are taking place over what could be considered the world’s most populous stage. While we may all be distant from the world of politics, as leaders working to build a leadership reputation, we can learn some amazing lessons as we watch the presidential candidates.
Clarity is one of the fundamentals of building a brand. Before we put ourselves in the public eye, we need to be clear about the WHY behind our brand structure (ie, our goals), clear about our unique strengths, clear about the audience we want to speak to and clear about the messages we want. to deliver to those viewers. We also need to prepare ourselves both intentionally before any public appearance and the criticism our appearance may attract.
Let’s take this further.
As you begin to build your personal brand as a leader in your organization, you need to:
Related: How to Build Your Personal Brand in 5 Steps
1. Be clear about your goals
Why are you on stage (literally or physically)? Why are you writing an article? Why do you agree to a podcast interview?
Harris’ goals were clear. He got rid of the reputation of not having words, not being comfortable on stage and laughing in the place. To get rid of this picture, he obviously prepared himself a lot. He clearly repeated not only his talking points but also his body language (from his physical posture during Trump’s remarks to a smile to a mouth that was “absolutely not true”). How do we know he was intentional and practiced? Because of the high volume of repetition we have all seen.
Lesson for you: Don’t just “go with the flow.” When building your personal brand as a leader, do it with purpose and clear goals in mind.
2. Figure out your strengths and play to them
It is when we feel that someone is “there” or not. What does being “on brand” look and feel like to you? This will work in all situations: from a morning meeting to a leadership strategy session to an industry conference you might be speaking at.
Trump’s undeniable power lies in his words. Quite a few viral highlights in the discussion are proof of that. Harris, on the other hand, stumbles and stutters, and we’ve seen it a few times when he falls for Trump’s trash.
Lesson for you: Don’t look at someone else’s style and try to imitate it. Instead, be clear about your strengths and highlight them more, even if your style receives criticism.
3. Paint the story
We live in an age where, for better or for worse, words are now more important than actions. Many people were asking X yesterday why the candidates were not fact checked. Although to what extent they have been and continue to be debated, the truth remains: If someone says something, then it is generally believed to be true.
Harris appears to be entering the debate with the intention of painting the Trump story as mysterious, dangerous and out of control. He’s focused his storytelling on that particular story and has strategically rescued Trump to make sure his speech fits his narrative. In many ways, this turns what should be a fact-based debate into an implied game of verbal ping pong, but there is a lesson for us here, nonetheless.
Lesson for you: If you’re going to make a name for yourself as a leader, you need to be a powerful storyteller. Stories are memorable, they create emotions, and they create relationships.
Related: The Biggest Mistakes CEOs Make With Their Personal Brand (And How To Turn Those Mistakes Around)
4. Define your audience
Your audience will be closely tied to your goals, so the first lesson is always important. If your goal as a leader is to attract top talent to the organization, this means a very different audience than a leader who wants to secure more board work, for example.
Once again, Harris came to the discussion with clarity and purpose. He was clearly casting a wide net and made it clear by continually referring to middle-class Americans as “all Americans.” Trump failed to address the audience, and it remained unclear whether his intention was to focus on his existing supporters or to speak to a wider audience in hopes of trying to sway voters.
Lesson for you: Clarity of the audience leads to clarity of the main points of the speaker. Define yours before you start creating any content, be it a LinkedIn post or a speech on a big stage.
5. Learn to handle criticism
The bigger your exposure, the more you can expect to get backlash. It’s really not a question of “if,” but a question of “how much.” We’re all subject to the keyboard warriors’ boundless desire to criticize and virtue-signal, but how we react affects how others perceive us.
Trump made a critical mistake last night. He fell for Harris’ fraud over and over again. Instead of being clear about the goals and building his own story, he started responding about the size of the crowd at his rallies, world leaders mocking him and other cut jabs. Instead of remaining cool, calm and collected, he began to rant and rave. You may relate: Most of us have fallen for baiters at least once or twice on social media. What starts as an unpleasant comment from a stranger can quickly lead us to lose face and not put our best foot forward.
Lesson for you: Prepare for criticism. Have a way to respond, and stick to it no matter how hard someone tries to get you off track.
Related: 5 Secrets Your Famous Brands Never Told You
Ultimately, the important lesson for all of us is that intention matters. I have seen many leaders who go with enthusiasm when they build a name for themselves as leaders and then they are disappointed by the lack of results or they do not get the results they expected. This is where a strategy focused on clarity makes a significant difference. Clarity first, performance second, and consistency to win!
Source link
