Building and Reinforcing Your Executive Brand
FountainBlue's April 11 When She Speaks, Women in Leadership Series event was on the topic of Building and Reinforcing Your Executive Brand. Below are notes from the conversation. Whether they came from technical or marketing backgrounds, or took the college path after they started their career; whether they have worked at the same company throughout their career or switched industries and roles across companies, our inspiring and talented panelists thought carefully about how they came across to others, and how to message what they do for whom, making the message appropriate for their goals and their audience. Whether they were coaching execs and team and others to help them present who they are in the appropriate context and language for the audience, or whether they were positioning and shifting their own brand as they evolved their career, they each recognized the importance that branding has on the trajectory of their career. Below is some advice they shared about building and reinforcing your executive brand. Be Self-Aware and Authentic
Know who you are, what you stand for, what your strengths are before you communicate it. Always act in alignment with same.
Authentic, genuine communications will take you a long way in building relationships and resolving conflict.
Don’t covet the educational and technical pedigree or titles and salary of others. Build success on your own strengths and terms.
Be Strategic
Know with whom you’re communicating and the purpose of same prior to connecting with them.
Be other-centric. Listen more than you speak.
Know where you’re going and why, and be strategic, folding in the right support, mentorship, education, and results to help get you there.
Build Relationships
You can’t make friends during a crisis, and it’s hard to plan the timing for a crisis, so make a network of friends and contacts prior to any crisis.
Collaborate with responsible parties to focus on the fixes, not complain about the problems.
Know the political landscape without playing politics. Don’t be threatening to people, but do tell it straight, without an agenda. Know with whom to connect when to make those fixes happen.
Make those around you successful and look good, as that’s good for everyone.
Make a Stand
Promote for yourself in a way you feel comfortable about. Being too self-deprecating and unassuming may leave you out of the running, as someone who may not be interested enough or skilled enough or passionate enough to reach higher.
Have the integrity and vision and fortitude to do the dirty work, be the leader, even when it’s difficult. Make a stand, without attacking anyone and be authentic to who you are.
Have an educated opinion, based on your experience and outlook and background. But be willing to change your stance and opinion if necessary. Speak and tweet on points that may support your stance.
When you stick your neck out and have an opinion, sometimes you stand out and are a target. This can’t always be comfortable. So get support, resources, network and grounding to increase your likelihood of success.
Manage Yourself
Manage the emotional side of you so that you come across as rational, gracious and team focused, even when things don’t quite go your way. Sometimes it’s just a test to see how you would handle a difficult situation or decision.
Invest in yourself and your success, while supporting that of others in your group.
The bottom line is that your executive brand is the perception others have of who you are, and needs to be actively managed. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but the way you handle the brand messaging mis-haps will be also a part of your brand. So be bigger, stronger, and better with every mis-step, and connect with those who will support you in that journey. See also Katja Gehrt's blog about the event at http://sv.iabc.com/building-your-own-brand/. Thanks also to our hosts at eBay, who have posted a video of the event.
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Please join us in thanking our panelists for FountainBlue's April 11 When She Speaks, Women in Leadership Series event, on the topic of Building and Reinforcing Your Executive Brand: Facilitator Jerri Barrett, VP of Outreach, SENS Research Foundation Panelist Shaya Fathali, Senior Manager, Technical Communications, Altera Panelist Katja Gagen Gehrt, VP Marketing, General Catalyst Partners, former Senior Executive Communications Manager for Cisco's President, Development & Sales Panelist Tamara Lucero, Director of Inside Sales, Cypress Panelist Emily Ward, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, eBay
Thank you also to our gracious hosts at eBay.