How the Founder's Personal Brand contributes to business success?
A few months ago Elon Musk’s resume was doing the rounds on LinkedIn (1). In quite a few conversations with friends and colleagues, I kept hearing “the design of that CV reeks of Musk”. It was funny then. It got me thinking. I don’t think a lot of them read what was on the CV, but were rather blown away with the way it was structured. It could have been a hoax for all you know, but the reactions were strong! You may neither drive a Tesla, nor be on your maiden journey to space; but you’ve heard of Elon Musk and probably feel that he is synonymous with disruptive innovation in moving humanity forward. Much like the “Howard Stark (Iron Man’s Dad)” of our times. He is exploring space and moving beyond fossil fuel driven vehicles. He is designing our “tomorrow”. And he says, we are already late!
What about Arianna Huffington? Have you read the Huffington Post? Arianna Huffington has built perhaps one of the most successful and well - reputed blogs focused on politics which receives millions of hits monthly. She has a big personality and is willing to be controversial. This earned her a spot in Time Magazine’s list of 100 most influential people. She is also incredible at creating visibility – her google results yield 11mn+ entries (as of today) and has recently started a weekly newsletter which is already becoming popular (2).
If you are reading this, chances are you follow Gary Vee on some of his social media. This guy has transformed the way people look at content- earlier thought to be only informative and written ‘after the fact’. Gary Vaynerchuk’s ideas and experiences and experiments help you take social media engagement to another level. He says that one of the things that people struggle with is actually being very real with themselves. It’s the difference between understanding who you are versus who you wish you were. He’s the Guru out there on online branding and marketing. Today, VaynerMedia has grown into the best-in-class provider of capabilities in paid media, strategy, full-service creative, influencer marketing, IoT & Voice, eCommerce, personal branding, small business marketing and in-house consulting (3).
And then there is my #Shero Melinda Gates most recently making headlines for her book ‘Moment of Lift’. Melinda Gates is #6 on Power Women 2018 and maintains her position as the most powerful woman in philanthropy as co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. As part of the foundation's mission to help all people lead healthy, productive lives, she has devoted much of her work to womens’ and girls' rights. In her next chapter, Gates' mission is to close the funding gap for female founders, through her investment and incubation company, Pivotal Ventures (4).
What comes to your mind as you look at these personal brands?
Elon Musk- Visionary
Arianna Huffington- Fearless
Gary Vee- Purebred Online Entrepreneur
Melinda Gates- Empathetically Powerful
Interestingly - their work and their business reflects the same ethos. A business leader’s personal brand is created through personal and consistent inputs on various media (social/ digital) platforms and their physical presence of course.
So how does the Founder’s Personal Brand help the business?
Brand Recall: Basically, it puts a face to your organisation that is more than the logo and the color scheme and your marketing. When you think Tesla, you immediately imagine Elon Musk, white shirt, arms folded in front. Plus the presence of the Founder with a strong personal brand on social media, keeps the business alive in the memory of customers/ clients/ prospects. For the organisation, this largely unaided brand recall is a great marketing tool.
Better access to Talent: No social media person worth his/ her salt will pass up an opportunity to work with Gary Vee, no matter what the exact role is. If they get to work at VaynerMedia, they will come in touch with Gary Vee’s thought process or his ideas or him in person. Similarly a lot of non-profit professionals are vying to work at the Gates Foundation. The talent pool tends to view businesses and brands akin to a human, with a specific purpose, personality, ethics, and behaviours apart from the actual role and the experiences that place might provide. The Founder gives a face and creates that much needed emotional connect with the business brand.
Retention leading to depth of expertise: If you want to get into political journalism and are offered a role with Huffington Post, it’s a no brainer for you. It’s a high risk, volatile sector, but you know that the Founder is considered fearless – which means it is one of the best place for you to learn and grow. Interestingly the business is also able to retain talent, because you associate the knowledge and expertise with the owner/ Founder, you take a leap of faith and you don’t jump ship easily. Given a choice, we always want to work for and with somebody who knows what they are doing! The other result of retained talent means the business develops a depth of expertise.
What does this mean for you, as you travel your own Personal Branding journey?
Do not put your personal brand on hold because you are working at another company or building your company. It’s unforgivable. Both what you are doing now and what you are trying to build will benefit from your process of building a Personal Brand.
Get out of the mode of “what you are supposed to be”. Don’t be afraid to try things that come naturally to you, but may be a stretch for others. Don’t fit into a category, simply because there is one. Your personal brand is as much an exploration of yourself as it is an extension of your company’s brand.
Back your personal brand with actual substance by keeping yourself updated and investing in up-skilling yourself. Personal Branding is a dynamic process and it evolves as you evolve.
The Personal Brands of founders make for a heady cocktail of realistic and aspirational. These founders are emotionally involved in their own brands and that of their organization, but only a genuine, consistent and relevant brand resonates with stakeholders. Always get inspired from the best.