A lot of well meaning people out there are giving bad advice. Inadvertently. Unintentionally. But, nonetheless, bad.
Those of you that know me well, and those of you who read my posts (thank you, by the way), know I’m a big fan of Kelsey Grammer, particularly as Seattle Psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane. His character epitomizes a strong personal brand.
For those of you who don’t watch (or don’t remember) the show, he famously had a bumper sticker reading, “I’m Pro-Opera & I Vote.” Not only do I find it funny as a politicker, but I love what it stands for. It’s an open statement saying, “Why yes, I am part of a small and select group well-outside the mainstream. And, I’m passionate about it.”
I’m a New England Republican. A Chamber of Commerce Republican, but a Republican nonetheless. And a very open one at that. Invariably, including just this last Saturday, people will come up to me at a function saying something like this:
“You’re a Republican?” They then fill me in on their Republican beliefs, some of them quite strong. They follow it up with, “But you really can’t say any of that around here.”
And therein lays the problem. Our personal brand is what? Come on, I expect audience participation here. I’ll ask again. Our personal brand is what?
Yes, thank you to whoever said that. Our personal brand is indeed… personal.
This means that you are what you are. It means that you build your brand around who you are. If you build your brand around what you think your “target market” wants, you won’t ever have a personal brand. Your personal brand is supposed to be a differentiator. Something that makes you different than the guy down the road who does the same thing. And, don’t fool yourself, there is some guy down the road who does what you do.
Why are you better a better fit? That’s really what your personal brand tells the world, right? Now, the reality is that you can list off a host of technical skill sets, ability levels, and price points that help you differentiate.
But, we do business with people we like and trust. That’s a natural law of business now that we live in a global economy. Because, while we don’t want to hear it, there is somebody, somewhere in the world who has a similar or better skill set, with a similar or better marketing plan, willing to work at a similar or lower cost.
Instead, we rely on intangibles:
Is Ed really a cultural fit for my firm? This is an issue for every firm and corporation, large and small. And, the more senior the position being filled, the more important that the person fits in with their senior management. Rapport needs to be established. Trust needs to be established. Would you ever hire an executive assistant, operations manager, or EVP who you didn’t believe would “fit in” with your firm’s culture, regardless of experience and salary ask? Of course not!
Can I trust Jill enough to refer her to clients? In the age of networking, this question is even more apt. No matter the event you attend, people are looking for referrals, whether for employment or potential clients. Can you trust them? How do you know? I am very hesitant to refer or to open my Rolodex, regardless of accolades, experience, or successes. Those things are inescapable, obviously. Of course, we expect to deal with professionals. But, more than anything, before I’m willing to make a referral, I need to very much like, trust, and respect the person I’m endorsing.
Even more, can I trust Jill enough to interface with my clients? This is huge! To find a vendor or subcontractor who you can trust to interface with your clients is like finding a giant golden nugget while hiking in the woods. I don’t care if Jill is the best creative director in the world, if she interfaces with my clients, she is then not only a reflection of my business (as she would be in a referral or introduction), but she’s also a reflection of my brand.
And this is why a personal brand is completely useless unless it’s, well, personal. I’m not telling you to be controversial for the sake of being controversial. I’m not telling you to pretend to be unique for the sake of being interesting. I’m telling you to be yourself. If you’re a Republican in New England, come out of the closet— no pun intended. If you’re an Alabama feminist with a passion for blogging, go for it. If you’re a die-hard New York Yankees fan in Atlanta (and if you’re a baseball fan, you know how divisive this can be), embrace it! Embrace your personality. Embrace your uniqueness. If you’re the world’s greatest living expert on remote Amazonian tree frogs, turn your passion into your strength.
Business… work… life. It is all about passion. Don’t stir the pot just to stir the pot, but embrace your passions and promote your strengths. Sure, you can hide it. You can pretend that you don’t have passions to try to appeal to a wider market. But here’s something you should consider:
Your potential client or employer also has a passion for something. If I meet a guy (we’ll call him Gerry) who tells me about winning an award for his homegrown heirloom tomatoes, I may very well know somebody who would be interested in meeting him for that very reason, their shared passion. Or, maybe I have a passion for homegrown tomatoes, in which case, we now share a bond, and because of that bond, I am more emotionally invested in helping Gerry find a new position.
If you tell me that you live for project management, internally, my response is a) yeah, right, and b) this guy is no different than the other ten thousand PMPs out there looking to be picked up. If there isn’t somebody out there who discounts you because of your personal brand, then you don’t have a personal brand. It’s that simple.
How many potential clients out there don’t like my style? A lot of them. I don’t do suits. I don’t do mornings. I don’t speak corporat-ese. And, I’m not particularly politically correct, if you haven’t noticed. And I’m just getting warmed up. Heck, I’m a younger, Republican version of Joe Biden, and we all know how many critics he has. But, let’s not forget… he did become Vice President.
Nevertheless, the bond I create with those who value my honest, real approach is far stronger than I could ever create by being an average Joe (and for the second time in one article, I apologize for the play on words). Then there are those who disagree with me ideologically, yet are impressed that I don’t fall into the Republican stereotype. I’m pro-legalization, for example. And, I’ve never been in favor of a government shutdown for any reason at any time.
There is an element of trust that forms when you realize that you don’t have to agree with everything, or like everything, about somebody’s personal brand in order to respect and work with them. Just as you don’t need to love everything about somebody to stay (as opposed to fall) in love. As much as sometimes you may want to leave them on the side of the highway when roadtripping through Kansas, you generally decide not to, right?
In business, we replace the word love with synergy. If you can share a synergistic connection, then you’ve already won. The object of networking is not to have the biggest Rolodex of people who don’t remember you. It isn’t even to be known by the most people. The object is to find a synergistic partner. If over ten years, you can find ten synergistic business allies, and you hold the ultimate synergy with 80% of your clients (or your colleagues if you’re in Corporate America), you’re in a position to succeed like no other.
And so it works with developing your personal brand. Don’t hide from it. And don’t be offended when somebody becomes abrasive after they understand who you are and what you stand for. It’s okay. That means you are somebody. You stand for something. Whatever your passion. Live it. Love it. Embrace it.
And for those opportunities you lose by embracing your inner self, you’ll gain in spades by those who are entranced by your passion. You heighten your switching cost. And, there’s little more valuable than a heightened switching cost. Passion is contagious. No matter what you’re passionate about. Besides, the chances are, you don’t want to work with those other guys anyways.
Now, share your story. What’s your passion? How has it aided in your success over the years? What makes you comfortable enough to give a referral? Have you ever left your significant other in Kansas? Now’s your chance to talk back!
If you enjoyed this article, please share it with those who need some encouragement in their quest to begin to break free of generic-ism (and no, that’s not yet a word… yet).