Personal Branding Interview | Alexia Leachman & Hung Lee

Here is an interview I did recently with Hung Lee aka Wise Man Say.

Some of the things we talk about include

  • Brand Creation vs Brand Discovery
  • Brand Values = inflexibility? Or does it allow for inconsistency in life?
  • Brands get ossified as they mature – harder to change as you go on – implications for young people?
  • Transparency of social media – effect on personal brands
  • Language – and the need to do better. Bring in your ‘personal capital’

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What have your strengths got to do with your personal brand?

Style & Substance

There’s so much resting on making the right first impression, that we often hold ourselves back or worse, project what we think the other party wants to see. Yet, any attempts to control our persona will usually mean all parties lose out.

But isn’t that what Personal Branding is all about? Shaping our persona so that we’re making the right impression?

In a word, no. That would be separating Style and Substance and deluding ourselves by thinking that Style can substitute for depth.

Ok – should we focus on Substance and forget Style?

Well it’s definitely where we should start. Substance comes from who you are at your core. The characters strengths that shape what makes you happy, how you see the world, where your success will come from and what others will value you for.

At Lovephool we call them your Buzz Strengths, because they are the strengths that energise you from within and get you – Buzzing!

In fact, your top 5 Buzz Strengths is what defines your ‘Substance.’ Based on the latest research from Positive Psychology, your highest character strengths are the 5 aspects of your inner character that:

  • You’re known & loved for: The top 5 things that people see when you’re using your Buzz Strengths. It’s you at your natural best. You can’t help but shine and it makes others warm to you because they can relate to who you really are.
  • Make you happy: The times when you’ve felt most energised and alive are probably when you’re using your top 5 strengths, even if you didn’t realise it at the time. It’s your comfort zone; you at your most chilled and content.
  • Might save your life: When the chips are down, you’ll naturally rely on your top 5 strengths to pull you through. Again you may not have known it before, but deep down, these 5 Buzz Strengths are part of your core character that pulls you through.

Great – so I’ll find out what my Buzz Strengths are and I’m done?

Not quite. Knowing your Buzz Strengths will help you discover the substance behind your Personal Brand, but it’s of little value unless you apply it.

The ‘Style’ part of Style and Substance is what people will remember you for. It’s the act of applying your Buzz Strengths so that you create value in your own life and in the lives of people around you.

That’s when your Personal Brand begins to flourish – effortlessly

When you use your Personal Brand as a way of recognising and apply your Buzz Strengths to add value; you’re showing people who you are. And they’ll believe you.

People will know who you are when you meet them on-line or face to face. They’ll know what to believe because you’re clear on who you are. That combination of Style and Substance is the difference you make.

Believe me, they’ll remember you for it.

Guest post kindly written by Kuldeep Brar @missybrar from @lovephool. Get your character strengths profile now at www.lovephool.com.

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Personal branding & consistency: the great debate #2

My last blog article Personal branding & consistency: the great debate #1 certainly prompted a lot of comments – feel free to have a peek.

Essentially, I wrote how about I came across the idea that consistency is not something to strive within the context of branding as it’s predictable and boring. An idea that for me I found hard to swallow. It was one event of two last week that ruffled my feathers! The second disruption of the force came from Hung Lee @wise_man_say when I came across his blog article entitled 5 reasons why Gen Y hates personal branding.  It’s a brilliant article that is well worth a read, so please do check it out. It raises some of the great issues of personal branding, and many that I felt compelled to comment on (read the comments section!). But it’s the consistency thread that I’ll pull out here…

Hung writes

“… the tension that exists between the twin tenets of Personal Branding – Authenticity and Consistency; it is essentially inauthentic to be consistent. Are you, my fellow humans, consistent? Almost certainly not. You have good days, bad days, every other kind of day in between; this is self evidently normal. However, the concept of Personal Branding doesn’t capture this dynamic; instead, it rails against it, preferring the static position of ‘always on’.”

But for me… [or at least my response to this was]

Consistency in brands is when the entity in question (person, service, product etc) behaves consistently according to their values. This still allows for massive inconsistencies in behaviour day to day. You’re unlikely one day to be tirelessly motivated by money, success and recognition, and the next day decide that lobbying for Greenpeace is actually more important to you in life.

If you’re not being consistent, it probably means one of 2 things: 1. you’re trying to be someone you’re not and you’re “borrowing” values, but can’t help defaulting to your true values. Or 2 you have a value conflict going on that is pulling you in different directions. But this pattern in itself will have consistency.”

Hung’s response to my comments were

“Brands Attached To Values, Allow For Inconsistencies In Day To Day Living. I agree that that Brands that have value embedded into them are more powerful than those that do not; however, I do not agree that this allows for the inconsistencies of authentic living. A brand is an abbreviation – a shortcut for people to understand who you are, in as short a time as possible. People do not have the time to process the ‘full you’ – hence why we create badges we call ‘Personal Brands’ so that overloaded consumers won’t have to have the hassle of dealing with you a human being. Any deviation from this and you are forcing your audience to do just that and, make no mistake, you will be penalized for it. Try it – tweet all day about something that really pissed you off (can’t think what..) and see what happens to your market. Something will.”

The problem we have here is a two opposing views that are unlikely to ever meet and so the debate could carry on indefinitely….

But before I move on, I just want to return to the idea of conflict between authenticity and consistency. I don’t see any conflict here. When you are true to yourself and behave in accordance with your values, you have integrity and when you have integrity, you are naturally authentic. People who are inconsistent in their behaviour are unlikely to be described as authentic, because they are clearly struggling to understand who they really are, and hence behave in such a way that reflects their true essence.

I decided to ask a few knowledgeable brand peeps how relevant or important they felt consistency was in the context of branding and this is what they said.

Will King, founder of @KingofShaves, says

“King of Shaves brand: “It is what it does, it does what it says”. Don’t just shave, King of Shaves #brandconsistency critical”

@BenAfia, Founder of Afia, an agency that helps brands to stick/engage through language

“Very important, but we need to let people’s (cust serv) personality come through too, Social media is changin things fast.”

@MalcolmLevene, Personal Branding Expert

“I put ‘reliability’ above ‘consistency.’ Reliability enables one to constantly raise the bar & change for the better.”

But it was @RachelElnaugh’s comment that really hit the nail on the head for me

“it’s about integrity – if you are true to yourself you can never be inconsistent!!!”

So, what do you think? Are consistency and authenticity happy bed fellows or never the twain shall meet?

If you want to read part 1 of this article go here: Personal Branding & consistency: the great debate # 1.

Thanks to Stockie for the image

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Personal branding & consistency – the great debate part 1

As an ex-brand marketer there are certain tenets of branding that just can’t be played with. I’m a Leo and I’m stubborn. I can’t help it. One of these is consistency. All great brands are built on consistency. Without consistency, people don’t know what they can rely on you for or what to expect from you.

People need to know which box to put you in (in their heads) and if you confuse them, they can’t put you in a box and you’re a floater. Floaters drift off never to be remembered again. It’s a sad story.

So, you can imagine the sort of week I had when not one but TWO instances dared to suggest to me that consistency is not only something NOT to strive for, but that in the context of personal branding, impossible to achieve while being authentic.

WTF?! I know. If you need to take a moment and grab some fresh air, I understand. I’ll still be here.

[caption id="attachment_782" align="alignleft" width="144" caption="courtesy @snowbadger"] [/caption]

The first chink in my week came when Simon Manchipp @manchipp (he on the left) let me have a sneak preview of his design agency’s new website. Simon’s desgin agency SomeOne are a highly respected agency and are sought after by big brands for big branding projects. One of their current projects includes the Eurostar rebrand. Yeah. This guy knows his stuff.

So, to get a sneak peek of their new website is not something I’m going to pass by. I’m a tad nosey too.

The page headed Manifesto got my attention so that’s where I started. And that’s where I found this

It stopped me dead because somewhere I felt that they were saying that consistency = bad. I stared at the words, lost in thought. But they’re not. They’re focusing on the extreme definition of consistency which helps them to reinforce what they’re about; creating memorable brands.

Memorable is hard with consistency. That’s not the role of consistency. What makes you memorable is the magic and the sparks. Think Seth Godin’s Purple Cow. It’s the little surprises in life that make it delicious and interesting. And if you can harness magic moments into what you do, you’re more likely to be memorable.

One of their blog articles, One big idea isn’t the big idea, refines this further

“Consistency is utterly misplaced as a central thought in branding. Coherence is what is important. Join it up everywhere, but don’t make it dull, repetitive and predictable (the very definition of consistent). Surprise, delight, entertain, inform and inspire.”

I realise this all sounds a bit corporate, but the same things can be said of personal brands. If you can surprise, delight, entertain, inform and inspire others, do you think that people will want to spend time with you? Do you think that people will want you on their team? Of course they will! By doing those things, in a coherant manner that makes sense to what you’re about, you’ll create an emotional connection with others that is sure to engage them. Once engaged on an emotional level, you’re on your way to build trust. And this is most defintely the best direction to be heading in.

So, while I’m going to stubbornly cling onto consistency as an an important aspect of branding (personal and business), I’m happy to relax my view and let coherence join the party too. But the soul of the party will most definitely be the magic & sparks!

If you want to read about the other incident that ruffled my feathers, I’m still writing it.. coming very soon!

So, what are your views on consistency in relation to branding? And how relevant is it to personal branding? Would love to know your thoughts! Leave your comment in the comment section below.

Read the follow up post: The Great Debate part 2

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Your digital presence and managing your online reputation

In the current information age where many of us are communicating, working and selling ourselves mainly through the digital space, how we present ourselves online is becoming more of a concern. The need for our digital brand to reflect our real-life brand is essential in order for us to present a consistent and authentic image. But how do we go about this? This presentation shares my thoughts on:

  • Understanding what your own personal brand is
  • Why it matters to present a clear personal brand
  • How this can be translated into the digital space
  • Online tools and networks that can help
  • How to use the online space effectively
Managing digital presence & your online reputation

Do you want to find out what state your personal brand is? Quick’N'Easy intro is just for you then! For just £99, you can find out what state your brand is in and what your top priorities are.  Find out more about Quick ‘N Easy Intro to Your Personal Brand here
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Is personal branding a fad?

This question “Is personal branding a fad?” came up on Quora recently so I thought I’d give my view which I’m happy to share here.

The term personal branding may be relatively new, but the concept has been around much longer. There is some misconception that personal branding is all about the hard sell and this is where the term gets a bad name (Obnoxious?). The reality is that we’re ALWAYS selling ourselves. Selling in this sense means trying to influence others to buy us / believe us / like us / hire us etc.

What’s changed is the environment in which we’re now able to do that. And it’s this that is forcing us to be much clearer as to how we choose to define ourselves. Before, it was adequate to merely be mindful as to how we presented ourselves in the flesh. This kept it pretty simple, as long as we dressed and spoke consistently in line with our image of ourselves and what we wanted to project, that was fine. But now we can present ourselves online in endless ways – blogs, personal sites, YouTube etc. And it is because of the extensive possibilities of online presences that we need to think a bit harder about what we want to say about ourselves. We cannot escape the harsh reality of earning cash. Nor can we escape the fact that we are all naturally nosey. So, if we are presented with the opportunity of possibly working with someone (hiring them, buying their stuff etc), we are going to seek out information about them. Just as we would before purchasing a product. Hence the need to be clear as to what you want to say about yourself and to present that consistently. We know from the world of corporate brands that to be bought you need to build trust, and this is done through communicating a consistent message and delivering upon a promise consistently. So it’s no surprise that people are now adopting these practices. Let’s not forget the fact that the world is more competitive in terms of jobs, and those that have grasped this are those that are getting the work. So, it will soon be a neccessity for the majority if they want to keep up.

So, to answer the question, no it’s not fad. At least the concept isn’t. It’s here to stay.

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Storytelling and your personal brand

We all love a good story don’t we? That’s because we are hardwired to tell stories. Did you know that 70% of everything we learn is through stories? Such is the power of storytelling.

If you want your personal brand to have impact, a great way to achieve that is to wrap it up in a story. All great brands have stories. A great story can be engaging and memorable. If you want a strong personal brand, you’d better get yourself a great story. So, what’s your story?

“But what am I going to do with a story?”

Think of your story as your personal pitch or your elevator pitch. So, in the same way that you would use those, you story is a great thing to share with people that you meet. It’s a great way to get a conversation going. And conversations are the beginning of great connections and relationships. And who doesn’t want one of those?

I strongly believe that there are a lot of missed opportunities out there when people meet each other and they are asked to describe themselves or what they do. Mike Brown tackles this in his post “Personal Branding Decision – how do you describe yourself?”

In my view, too many people choose to identify themselves through their job title. Seriously. You are MORE than your job! There must be so many things that you’ve done with your life that you could share other than your job title. It’s do devaluing. How can you stand out and be remembered when you used a job title to describe yourself. A job title that zillions of other people have. You’ve just put yourself in a box! What a lot of people don’t realise is that when they’re asked the question “and, what do you do?” the asker doesn’t actually want to hear the answer. They’re just trying to make conversation. So it’s your job to create the platform on which that conversation can flourish. And while you’re at it, why not make it a memorable one?

On January 25th I will be giving a talk on Storytelling and your Personal Brand at the Personal Branding UK meetup. I will share my ideas on how storytelling can be used to enhance your personal brand and what I believe are the key ingredients for a great personal story.

I will also be running some “What’s your Story?” workshops in London and Nottingham in February and March. Details will be launched very soon.

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The rise of the digital coach?

Yesterday I attended a session run by Ecademy’s Thomas Power. They’re in the middle of recruiting what they’re calling Digital Coaches for their Ecademy Digital School.

Digital Coach is a term that was coined by Seth Godin in few years back. I’ve only recently come across it. If it sounds new to you, then let me take a few moments to share with you how they define such a person;

• A digital coach teaches you how to do things digital and how to get those things done.

• They help you to use value and optimise Twitter, Facebook, Ecademy, YouTube, LinkedIn etc

• A digital coach understands the difference between personal branding and company branding

• A digital coach is a friend, ally, support service, professional lifesaver, protector and brand guardian.

• They are someone who is a companion and change agent who helps businesses transition and benefit from the Digital World.

During the session Thomas spent a lot of time delivering a very clear message:

if you do not define yourself you will starve

If you can’t define yourself, then other people won’t be able to either. And, if they can’t, then they can’t recommend or refer you. Bummer eh? But you know what? Working that out isn’t a quick process. I have the T-shirt!

Thomas shared a great quote from Penny during the session

“Network value happens when others talk about you when you’re not there”

This quote is very similar to another great quote by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos

“Your personal brand is what people say about you when you’re not there”

So, what we’re talking about here is the same thing, we just can’t agree on a good name for it.

The old adage, it’s not what you know it’s who you know has never been more relevant than today. Thomas rammed this point home several times. Generation Zero have grown up having hundreds of friends, connections and followers. For them, having a network of people who know them for being them is natural. It’s everyone else who needs to worry. Everyone else needs to start thinking about growing their network. Not only that, they need to ensure that their network know who they are. And by this I mean, know what they stand for and what they can be relied on. Oh look! Now we’re back to branding!

So, both Penny and Jeff are talking about the same coin, just different sides. Yes, you need to know what you stand for and can be relied upon for, but then you need to leverage the power of the network. And today, that network is online. If you’re not engaging and publishing online, then you’re not visible. If you’re not visible, then you won’t be chosen.

Oh dear!

And that’s where Digital Coaches come in. They can help you to both these things and walk with you on the path to discovering and defining who you are.

If you’re reading this and thinking “I’m an employee not a freelancer or a business owner, I don’t need to worry about this sort of thing”

WRONG!

Just ponder this; in 2017 all of IBM’s 400,00 employees will become suppliers. How do you think that is going to affect other employees?

In the current climate of austerity and cutbacks, many businesses are moving to using contractors and virtual teams, so now more than ever, defining yourself clearly is a matter of survival.

Have you defined yourself?

If you want to have a chat about discovering and defining YOUR brand, give me a call!

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Choosing a name. Would you choose yours?

I came across an article today saying that parents-to-be in the States are hiring baby-namers to come up with baby names for their new arrival. For the princely sum of $350 they get “…a baby naming consultation that includes phone interviews and packets of name options with name histories, linguistic origins and personality traits.” Wow! All stuff you can find online, but when they put it like that….

As a parent-to-be myself I can’t help be interested in an article like this. But it is in my capacity as a personal brand coach that I’m really interested. After all, people’s names are their brand names. And, a brand name is the beginning of a conversation: a great brand name means that a great conversation follows which inevitably leads to a deeper level of engagement and a slight chance of making it into the memorable brigade.

As someone with a great name (if I do say so myself!), I can testify to the benefits of having a name that can be the beginnings of many an interesting conversation. I usually get “Ooh, that’s a pretty name. Where is it from?” And, coupled with the fact that I don’t look terribly British, this can quickly be followed by “Are you Greek?” At this point, I may have been known to delight in sharing my mixed breed of a background that takes in France, Wales, England & Eastern Europe. As we sail past the initial moment of awkwardness, the conversation then picks up momentum and direction and we inevitably journey onto a flurry of great moments and exchanges.

So, for me the idea of choosing a name for my baby, I can’t help but think of the ramifications of getting it right, or heaven forbid, wrong! From my days in corporate branding, I know that when we were picking new brand names, we had to be very clear as to what we were trying to achieve with the brand (our goals & objectives). We also had to be clear as to who our target audience was so that the name appealed to them. And, who we were competing with, so that we knew how to stand out. And to help us out, we would often hire external agencies to help us with this erroneous task. Now, this is all great branding stuff, but nonetheless very important when creating a brand for maximum success.

But tell me, how do you do this for a little person who hasn’t yet decided what their goals and aspirations are? Or indeed who they’re competing with (perish the thought!). It’s like putting the cart before the horse.

For now I think I’m going to follow in my parents footsteps and pick a name that makes a great conversation starter and gives them a story to tell. And combining my background with that of my Maltese partner, there should be plenty for them to talk about!

Unless you guys have any suggestions… I’d be pleased to hear them… they say I might be having a girl!

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13 personal branding insights from Kelly Cutrone

If you want to read a straight-talking overview on why you need to think seriously about your personal brand, you should grab yourself a copy of Kelly Cutrone’s book If You Have to Cry, Go Outside: And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You

Cutrone is one of fashion’s most successful publicist whose business People’s Revolution has offices in New York, LA and Paris. Known for her renegade, ballsy and honest approach in an industry full of falsity, her reputation is unparalleled. Her book reveals her journey from small-town US school girl to NY PR maven told in a reverent, funny shooting-from-the-hip kind of way.

But that’s enough of the intro. The reason I’m sharing this with you is because she has dedicated a whole chapter to personal branding “YOU are the brand: normal gets you nowhere”. Her insights and stories should be enough to persuade anyone who needs to earn money that personal branding is here to stay and should be taken seriously. What happens if you don’t take it seriously? Well… you go nowhere, fast.

But there are some of you out there who would prefer the shortcut right? And, as someone who loves giving everyone else shortcuts, here is my list of personal branding insights as shared by the wonderfully inspiring Kelly Cutrone.

1. Personal branding is about figuring out who you are and what turns you on then monetising it.

2. The people who are actually making a difference in the world are people who are not like everyone else.

3. People become successful because what they’re selling is authentic and consistent. They found jobs that aligned with their skills and passions, and they brought their true selves – idiosyncrasies and all – to work every day.

4. Everyone is selling something these days, and if you don’t have a clear point of differentiation – something that makes you special, unique, effective – you won’t get far in fashion, or any other creative industry, and you certainly won’t succeed as an entrepreneur.

5. It’s time to figure out what you are selling and how you are going to make people want to buy it…. Consider your whole self, and don’t be afraid to embrace everything that makes you unique.

6. Your point of differentiation does not need to be edgy or groundbreaking, it just needs to be different, and it just needs to be you.

7. Follow you inner voice away from what feels wrong and towards what feels right.

8. When you find something that feels right…. commit to it. Doing one thing well will open doors for you. A plant won’t grow as high if it’s reaching toward five or six suns.

9. Successful people, and brands, are usually highly specialised. They do one thing, and they do it in a better or more interesting way than anyone else.

10. Every successful brand has a message, and that message must be painstakingly driven home, in both appearance and substance.

11. Good brands are authentic, consistent and focused.

12. Be careful not to let your personal brand overwhelm your expressed desire to learn. The point is, after all, to make people want to work with you.

13. Don’t think that creating and promoting your brand is a 6-month programme. I’m forty-four years old and I continue to build my brand… and it is much more powerful than it was when I started.

Nothing there I’ve not already said, but it’s always nice to hear it from someone else, don’t you think?

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