You may be the boss of your company or you may be the head of communications/marketing in your organisation. Whichever side of that line you are can define how you feel about a CEO who wants to ‘build my personal brand’.
This isn’t a route for everyone - for every wise and respected figure in your world, there’s another bellowing ‘look at me!’ while offering trite gibber in place of genuine thought.
Many’s the time a review of corporate communications has said:
Biggest asset: Chief executive Biggest problem: Chief executive
The problems created by a CEO with an ego bigger than their brain and with a tendency to rattle off an answer before the brain has logged on to the question are manifold. The heads of comms in many places are over-familiar with the sinking feeling of watching a panel discussion at an industry conference and hearing the internal voice say ‘did they really just say that…?’
And yet, c-suite vanity aside, there is good reason for an organisation to build the personal brand of the Boss. Audiences, made up of people, prefer to listen to people rather than brands and a warm, wise, even witty voice will be memorable to those in conference audiences or who read newspapers and trade publications.
A CEO who exudes authority can give the rest of the company that same air of knowing - and that’s the company that people would turn to.
So how do you get yourself/your boss to be an industry big shot? Try these…
Be patient
The first response of anyone in communications when tasked with the ‘make me famous’ task is - ‘this will take a while’. And that’s not stalling, it’s just true. The idea that deciding you want to be a bit more known/respected on a Monday and that by Wednesday you’ll be in the FT just doesn’t work. So remember - it takes time, consistency and good delivery.
What do you want to say?
There is very little value in being a rentamouth. The CEOs who will have opinions on everything from Brexit to the price of fish will find the value of the utterances declining rapidly. Stick to your industry and talk positively about how it can grow, how it can provide wider value and the wider good it can deliver. People like positive voices. Unless you secretly want a career in politics, in which case mouth off all you like.
Who do you want to say it to?
It’s always about the audience. If you want to be respected and listened to - then who by? Are you talking to industry peers? Or to audiences? It makes a big difference in everything, from the tone of voice and terminology you use, to the topics you discuss and the places you discuss them in. Be focussed about who you want to impress.
What are you good at?
This isn’t about your workplace skills, but about your communications offer.
Some people (clearly) write badly but present well on platforms. And vice versa. Be honest with where you in your best light and where you feel comfortable. If you prefer the stimulus of conference platforms and off-the-cuff discussions, then look to the conference circuit. If you’re better on the page, then it’s about writing content. It might even be videos for social media. Feel free to try all options, but it’s better to find out where you are most effective and go for that.
Who will be interested? And why?
So you’ve decided on your plan of attack, be it the platform or the publication. Understand what they will see in you. Is it the power of the company you lead? Or the other names on your CV? Are you an innovator, an industry leader, or a disruptor? Once you’re established, it’ll be the quality and relevance of what you deliver, but when you’re getting started, understand what your pitch is and why editors and conference organisers should care about you.
Once you’ve worked out why you’re interesting, then who will be interested? Which publications to target? Pitch to them, meet the editor for coffee, and introduce yourself at events. Trade publications, and national ones, need content and they are happy to be pitched to - they won’t take everything but they need new blood too.
Build your social profile
Sometimes the only platforms that will take your opinions are the social media ones. So post on your platforms of choice and do so regularly. Don’t fall into the boastful trap of others on LinkedIn, for example - keep the tone, authority and industry expertise that you decided on at the start and keep to it. Build audiences - there are many a publication which will take submissions from people based on their social media profiles as they think that will get them a bigger audience. So build those profiles and don’t be afraid to boast about your numbers in a pitch.
Keep it up
You can’t post a blog every now and again, and write a couple of opinion pieces every year and hope that that will do it. It’s time-consuming - but write something every week and find somewhere to take it (or post yourself), and put in for those conferences every week, make those videos for your social media accounts. Regular publishing breeds awareness and that means people will start to take notice.
It may be that you start with writing for your company blog - but the first step to the opinion pages of the national press starts there. And it means editors can see what you write and the people picking panels can see what you think. You become an option to be put in front of the audiences you want.
There will be mistakes on the way - thoughts that were best not said and opportunities missed, but keeping going and learning will drive that brand or thought leadership if you must so that your industry has a new voice and your company has visible leadership. And who knows where that will lead?
Jimmy is a world-renowned expert in high-level PR, having worked as head of digital communications under two British prime ministers. Drop us a line if your CEO has had the bright idea of leaping into the spotlight. We can make this work for you, for them, and for your organisation.
