Building and Reinforcing Your Executive Brand
FountainBlue's April 9 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.
We were fortunate to have inspiring, authentic, practical, courageous and resilient panelists who spoke so candidly about their brand and their work challenges and experiences. They ran the gamut, representing marketing, legal, sales, HR and everything in between, and they came from all walks of life, a myriad of life experiences.
It was remarkable when they spoke of their initial business experiences and the learnings they had from those experiences. It showed how women like those on the panel paved the way for the rest of us, and also that we have come so far so fast in the business and leadership world, so there is much to celebrate!
From their personal and professional experiences, they each began to understand and articulate their brand, with the intent of becoming more effective at what they wanted to become, what they wanted to achieve. The road was rocky at best, but resilience and perseverance were a hallmark of strength for each of our panelists, as they model how we can each remain consciously authentic to our brand, while also remaining in alignment with the goals of our company and our team.
They each advised in different ways that we should seek alignment with the company we select, so that we can bring out the passion in ourselves and in those around us. Alignment is not an easy thing to keep, especially when there will be others who will challenge us and push us to doing something with which we don’t feel comfortable. But finding the support, resilience and strength to stand by your values and principles will lead to your internal happiness and also to a more positive perception others have of you, and the effectiveness and value you bring to the table.
The panelists ended by speaking about the business and technology trends ahead: Expect that the pace of change will accelerate, so be agile and embrace the chaos. Be nimble, transparent and open.
So whether you stumble into your brand by consistently being who you are, or consciously shift your brand as you move from one place/position/role/company to another, make stretch goals for yourself and those around you and authentically pursue those goals, accepting that fear is a given, and failure sets you up for the next success.
Resources:
The Start-up of You - Reid Hoffman
Multipliers - Liz Wiseman
Four Portals to Power - Dean Herman
Difficult Conversations - Douglas Stone / Bruce Patton
Personal Branding for Dummies by Susan Chritton
Laura Owen's blog about the event http://community.polycom.com/t5/The-View/Polycom-Hosts-When-She-Speaks-Women-in-Leadership-Panel/ba-p/71663
Please join us in thanking our speakers for FountainBlue's April 9 When She Speaks, Women in Leadership Series event, on the topic of Building and Reinforcing Your Executive Brand, and our hosts at Polycom:
Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Barbara Adey, Vice President of Business Development, HP
Panelist Amy Rubin Friel, Marketing Director, Nokia Technologies
Panelist Margaret Hughes – Sr. Director, NA Field & Channel Marketing, Dell Cloud client-computing
Panelist Laura Owen, Chief Human Resource Officer, Polycom