Personal Digital Brand: Developing Your Strategy

We know that digital is the new normal. As Nike CEO John Dinahoe has put it, the customer today is digitally grounded and simply will not revert back.

With more aspects of our lives incorporating digital, a strategic personal digital branding programme is now an essential component of a successful career plan.  In a previous blog, we discussed the steps you should take in order to define your personal digital brand. This stage required you to think realistically and critically about your personal and professional talents, strengths, achievements, and aspirations. You took the time to determine your purpose, set out your short to mid term goals, audit yourself, and identify the key accomplishments, skills, and attributes you need to champion to align to future market needs. The next step is it to delve into the ‘digital’ element, and how you can begin to convey that personal brand online.

The ‘Digital’ Aspects of Personal Digital Branding

For many, their perception of a ‘personal digital brand’ may be limited to a social media presence. While it is arguably the area with the most opportunity for growth and experimentation, your social profiles are not the only place where your brand comes to life.

Your online presence needs to match who you are in every other setting and scenario of your professional life. Your personal digital brand identity should be felt in the text and WhatsApp messages you send to your contacts. It needs to come across in the email communications you have with partners and prospects. Is the tone consistent? Do you convey similar messages across your digital footprint? This echoes the message in the earlier blog about consistency being the key to authenticity. Your personal digital brand will only work for you if it truly reflects who you are and what you have to offer professionally and how relevant it is for the future market trends and needs.

Social media is not the only digital element of your personal digital brand, but it is definitely where it will be leveraged and showcased the most. It is a tool that is proving too vital to ignore. According to a recent report, the most social media-savvy CEOs had a 5% higher Glassdoor rating, with their companies being rated 3% higher, too. C-suite leaders from some of the world’s top brands use social media daily to advocate for their organisations, establish themselves as industry voices and thought leaders, manage reputation, and build their own personal digital brand. To see some strong examples of this in action, visit the LinkedIn profiles of Walmart Inc’s Doug McMillon, Nasdaq’s Adena Friedman, or Royal Dutch Shell’s Ben van Beurden.

Looking at how other leading executives are using their social media to leverage their personal digital brand online should provide you with inspiration for developing your own strategy. Here is some guidance from us to get you started.

Deciding which Social Medium is right for you

We recommend that you choose one platform and focus your efforts on actively engaging your shareholders, employees, prospects, partners, industry peers, and the general public there. You do not need to maintain a presence on every single site. In fact, if you allocate your efforts properly, you can usually secure better results from a single platform than you would from attempting to be everywhere at once.

Typically, LinkedIn and Twitter are the two most popular platforms for professionals. LinkedIn is the most popular platform for corporate leaders with 44% of CEOs having some sort of presence, while Twitter is second choice with 15%. The choice of which platform to use may come down to personal preference. Some executives may feel overwhelmed by the range of available features on LinkedIn, while others may find Twitter’s character limit to be a bit challenging for detailed thought leadership.

There is a vast amount of data available about social media usage, segmented by a wide range of demographic and psychographic characteristics. If you know who you want to target, you should definitely look into where you have the best chance of reaching them and how they actually use their chosen platforms. It will vary by site.

It is called social networking for a reason, so ask your peers, colleagues, and contacts what platforms they use and how they use them. Check out your competitors’ profiles to see how they exploit social media. If there is a person you particularly admire, learn from their profiles and note what you believe they are doing right.

Even if you already have a social media presence, there is always something you can learn from your peers. Social media is not static. Platforms, trends, and user behaviours change regularly, and your strategy will need to evolve.

Top Tips for Social Media Engagement

Here are some general social media guidelines to follow for those wanting to build their own personal digital branding presence

• Don’t Overwhelm Your Audience: The point of maintaining a professional social media presence is to get in front of your audiences, but there is a fine line between under sharing, oversharing, and just the right amount of frequency. You will of course want to post frequently enough to be seen and considered ‘active,’ but not so much that your posts become irritating and off-putting. If your posts clog their feeds, you risk your audience tuning out or unfollowing. A good rule of thumb is to post three to five times per week, and no more than twice in one day.
• Build an Online Community: Treat your social media community the way you would treat your wider digital or offline contacts. Follow or connect with your colleagues, stakeholders, partners, contacts, and prospects. If you attend an event or speak at a conference, connect with the other attendees or speakers. Also, be sure to follow key figures in your specific industry, news sources, or prominent companies. Interact with others’ content by liking, resharing with commentary, or leaving value-add or encouraging comments. LinkedIn has a Groups feature, which allows professionals to connect with and share insights with professionals they share interests or characteristics with. There is a group for almost everything. Start by exploring relevant groups for your industry or job function, and then look into others related to your geography, education, or other characteristics (i.e. ‘Women in Business’ groups)
• Be Personable: When reaching out to new connections on LinkedIn, be sure you always customise the invitation. These requests feel much more personal and are less likely to be ignored or denied. Your invitation should briefly introduce the contact to you, highlight any common ground you may share (i.e. attendance at a recent conference, group membership, mutual contacts), and close with a friendly message. Just as you would not lead with a sales pitch when meeting face-to-face, you should not attempt to sell overtly in these connection request messages.
• Content is Key: Ensure that your content reflects the goals you set for yourself and the personal digital brand image you defined early on in the process. Your content should not be self-promotion, and to be considered a thought leader you need to contribute to the greater conversation. Share third-party articles relevant to your industry job function, new regulations, or pertaining to other areas of interest or causes you champion. However, instead of simply sharing links, be sure to add some analysis or commentary. If allowed, keep your followers updated about the projects you are working on, the events you are attending and participating in, or the latest news from your company. Your content should reflect that you are tuned into what is going on in your industry and you have valuable insights to offer. Your followers should be able to get a good sense of your interests and positioning based on the content you curate.
• Pay Attention to Your Audience: Keep track of what’s working and what isn’t for your audience. What types of posts resonate the most or earn the most engagement? What time of day does your audience seem to be most active? Do not be afraid to experiment with different times and alternative types of content until you find what works for both you and your followers.

Your hard work in the early stages of digital personal branding will start to take a concrete shape once you begin applying the principles of your brand online. It will require trial and error, but so long as you remain authentic and stay focused on your goals, maintaining your brand will become a natural and integral part of your regular workday activity and attract opportunities you seek.

Don’t let complacency stall your career

Between a global pandemic, a double-dip recession, ongoing digital transformation and more, navigating an executive career move is proving to be both more complex and riskier across every sector. The world is changing around us, presenting new challenges and opportunities every day.

Some executives who may have been resisting digital transformation have had to quickly pivot in order to stay operational and competitive. Meanwhile, those who have been pushing for change in their organisation may suddenly find that they now have the internal support and resources needed to achieve their vision after facing periods of pushback. Some executives will unfortunately be made redundant, while others may feel bogged down by an organisation that is deeply concerned with tightening the purse strings.

Research indicates that in today’s world, the average person has five careers throughout their life which rarely follow a linear direction, instead taking diagonal or horizontal routes. This has been a growing trend, as professionals no longer feel obligated to remain in unfulfilling roles and have an abundance of opportunities for reskilling and changing course. Sometimes, these changes happen due to a desire to pursue a passion or find a more satisfying role. Alternatively, executives may change direction as a means of self-preservation, finding a new path before being made obsolete by plateauing organisations, new technology, automation or other threats. Many executives will be feeling these pressures in the current digital-driven climate, as artificial intelligence (AI) and other new technologies reshape the business landscape.

With new challenges come new opportunities and dilemmas for professionals whose current situation no longer suits their career path, organisation, or industry. These professionals must decide whether to stick it out in their current career trajectory, or to twist and change course towards something new, fulfilling and future ready. But when faced with such a massive dilemma, how do you determine your next step?

Establish Your Priorities

Circumstances are not created equal, and every executive has their own set of personal and professional considerations. When deciding your next step, it is crucial that you understand your own individual circumstances. Perhaps you have fiscal or familial obligations that you need to fulfil. Maybe your hand has been forced due to changes to your role or within your company or industry. The factors driving you to change course will absolutely play into the decision-making process and should not be an afterthought.

The most important consideration to make involves your own personal and professional fulfilment. In our recent blog on developing a personal digital brand, we discussed the importance of determining your ‘Why’ when attempting to understand who you are as a professional. The same principles apply here. Having a clear idea of who you are professionally, what skillsets you’ve gained that will add value, what is important to you, and what goals you would like to achieve will help you assess whether or not you are receiving the level of fulfilment you need from your current career path. You need to ask yourself what your objectives are in order to continue to be successful and fulfil your ambitions. What is it that will satisfy you personally? What do you need to change or find in order to achieve that goal?

Being fully aware of your personal brand and how you compare with those in the same playing field will be a major advantage here. You will have a better sense of what your skills are, what you enjoy doing, and what you bring to the table. You will also be able to shape what upskilling, reskilling or cross-skilling may be required.  This self-awareness is key for deciding your place in the evolving landscape. For example, you may lack tech savviness, but are a gifted creative or strong strategic thinker. Instead of scrambling to adapt to new technology, you may choose to seek out a role that plays to your strengths. An honest assessment of your own skills, passions, and abilities will help you to ascertain what you have to offer, what you want to do next and where the gaps might be for you to compete given prevailing market trends.

Navigating a career in the face of technological advancement

At Rialto, we advise our clients to consider all of their options when it comes to career progression, whilst being increasingly mindful of the role that technology is playing in the future world of work.

For some, a career transition involves taking a step back to reassess your skillset and what you can offer your industry. This usually means allowing automation and machines to do what they are designed for and to take over the space you previously occupied. This does not mean you are regressing or bypassing innovation. Rather, stepping in this direction involves narrowing in on your talents, skills, and passions in order to develop a specialisation that is not currently serviceable with automation. This specialisation may fall into a field where there is no feasible business case for implementing new technology, or where a human could potentially be more knowledgeable. The focus can be on a skills gap that machines cannot currently fill.  There are niche pockets within every industry that are not currently hot targets for mechanisation, and while some of these niches will stay this way, others may become targets later on. Professionals who step in this direction typically pivot to roles such as those requiring creativity, empathy, or vision. Developing a foothold in these pockets presents an interesting opportunity later down the road for professionals to help drive the development of technology and tools in their specialty.

For others, stepping forward to drive the development of future technology and tools is the answer to immediate progression. While this sounds technical, it doesn’t necessarily have to be. Technology and automation are a huge asset to businesses, but it takes human minds to understand the ways that technology benefits specific areas of the business. This direction can involve taking on more transformational, strategic or advisory roles but equally be more hands-on and require you to work directly with the solutions and technologies.  You may lend your expertise to overseeing the work carried out by automation, essentially managing the technology to ensure it runs smoothly and accomplishes what it’s meant to. Or you may need to push aside any previous hesitation or cynicism and fully embrace new tools in your existing role. Machines are incredible things, but even with all of their incredible capabilities, they still require some human involvement to ensure the outputs are right. By choosing to head in this direction you are acknowledging your acceptance of the more hybrid workforce and demonstrating an openness to embrace these tools for the success of the organisation.

As the old saying goes, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” With the amount of change that is taking place daily, we as professionals cannot possibly expect that our careers will not need to evolve as a result. The worst response is to resign ourselves to complacency. This does not always necessitate a full-on career switch. Sometimes, it’s simply a matter of thinking differently about what is happening, what is possible, and what role you would like to play in a world being reset.

A select few words accurately describe business life over the past 6 months.  Top of the list for many has to be the word “uncertainty.” Since the lockdown in March, leaders and decision-makers have faced tough choices regarding pay, staffing priorities, customer needs and propositions, and the future of their business, all while having no indication of what may lie ahead.

As we enter October 2020 and the seventh month of restrictions, there is no clear path forward for UK businesses. The Government’s existing furlough scheme ends and even with alternative schemes in place, it is likely that many more employers will have to make difficult staffing cuts, downsize their operations, or close completely in coming months.

No executive chooses to deal with such tough choices such as these, but it comes with the territory of managing and leading teams, and/or owning a business. What counts, is the way that you approach these situations, not just for the future of achieving business goals, but also for your people. During tumultuous times, management and senior executives are looked to, to be the stabilising force. It’s essential that they lead with confidence, assurance, high emotional intelligence and compassion. When this is lacking, morale and retention issues soon surface.

Battling Blowback

Making staffing cutbacks is one of the most challenging tasks for a leader. However you choose to carry out this duty will ultimately serve as one of the greatest testaments to your leadership abilities, and will shape how the rest of the organisation views you moving forward.

Delivering negative news with a cool and detached demeanour may feel like a professional and clean approach, but it can create the impression with both departing and remaining staff that you are callous with no concern for staff feelings and no appreciation for the time they invested in the organisation. Alternatively, displaying guilt, sadness, or remorse may ease the blow for departing staff, but remaining team members might then question your confidence in the future of the company, and fear for their own jobs.

It is a fine line for any business leader to walk. While supporting organisations as they develop their change management strategies, our team have found the most successful programmes are those where leaders spend as much time on their exit strategies as they do on their hiring and induction strategies. Providing support to the staff that your organisation needs to let go of due to redundancy and treating them empathetically is paramount, as is keeping a level head and optimistic outlook to inspire remaining staff’s confidence in the future of the organisation. Otherwise, you risk disengagement, lower productivity and reduced customer focus as remaining staff may no longer feel motivated to go the extra mile for a leader or organisation that they do not feel values staff or their efforts. Worst case scenario, you may even create retention issues, as employees may lose faith and seek out a leader and organisation they feel they can better rely on.

Focusing Your Attention

As a leader, you face constant scrutiny. Every decision and every tough conversation you have has the potential to impact your overall productivity and trust in both you and the organisation. Focusing your attention on the right priorities during times of difficulty and uncertainty can help you to maintain rapport and skilfully chart a stable path forward.

When planning and conducting those difficult termination discussions, remember that those individuals who may leave your organisations may still be future stakeholders – be that of your product, service or brand. For those organistions who are financially able to, providing support services to help individuals shape a new career trajectory and deal with the uncertainty that change brings will go a long way in leaving a positive feeling on exit. Equally, don’t forgot those staff who remain. These individuals will be the future of your business. This should remain front of mind throughout the entirety of the decision-making, planning and execution processes.

Your skills as a leader will play a key role here. Adaptability, empathy and compassion are three of the most important traits for a leader to have in times of difficulty. The choices you make affect real lives, and that should not be taken lightly. These two attributes will be of paramount importance for all interactions or communications regarding departing staff.

Once termination discussions have taken over, other skills will need to take over. Strong communication skills will be absolutely essential for clearly expressing your plans, goals and strategy for the business moving forward. Confidence and assurance are also key. If you seem secure in the plans for the future, it will provide your staff with valuable peace of mind. Positivity and optimism help to support this and can even help inspire motivation, creativity or deepen attachment to the organisation.

One final essential skill here will be your ability to unite your organisation. Your remaining staff have just lost teammates, colleagues, and even friends. It is likely that the company’s culture will feel fragmented. Be genuine and sincere in all of your conversations and in any speeches or written communication. Be open and honest with your staff. Acknowledge the hardships but do not dwell on negativity. Provide clear directives and outline specific plans or goals. Establish a dialogue with your staff and demonstrate a willingness to listen to any concerns. It is your duty as a leader to reassure your remaining staff that good times will eventually return, and the organisation will grow stronger from these challenging times.

Growing Together

Another great way to focus your attention on your remaining staff while also benefitting the business is to reskill or upskill your people. Regular reskilling and upskilling is now business critical given the pace of change.  There is some debate about whether this should be the responsibility of the employer or the individual employees, and our stance is that the responsibility belongs to both.

An employer who invests in their employees creates loyalty, builds confidence and increases oragnisational competitiveness. Providing training or educational opportunities shows a clear dedication to professional development. In fact, these opportunities help minimise staff turnover in both the short and long term. Employees feel valued and invested in the organisation for the long haul, while employers reap the benefits of having a highly-skilled workforce to help carry out their roles.

Alternatively, employees should be encouraged to seek their own individual learning opportunities and pursue their own interests. This allows more freedom to explore areas that may not be directly related to their role, but might provide other value. Lifelong learning is incredibly beneficial and can provide the individual with many benefits to enhance their career professionalism and role impact.

No leader wants to find themselves in the position of having to make difficult staffing choices in the face of an uncertain future, but given the unpredictability of this pandemic it is reasonable to assume that many may have to do just that in the coming months. In these situations, it is important to stay focused on the future and the team you will have by your side moving forward.

The business world has witnessed dramatic change over recent years. Continued globalisation, accelerating technological development as well as fall-out from the global recession and instability in financial markets means organisations and entire sectors are operating in completely different environments than previously.

This white paper looks at how relevant and desirable your skills are perceived in the new world order, both in your current organisation and to those in the external market. For those who are considering a career transition or taking a step up, have you considered whether your capability in increasing value or decline?

Read our whitepaper to review the strategic career action in place, ready for that time when your ready to career transition.

As the global economic crisis rumbles on with continuing uncertainty and no light at the end of the tunnel, many employees are weary, worn down, battered and bruised.

They may no longer be inspired by their job but trapped by the economic environment, creating mixed feelings towards their employer resulting in them operating below their potential.

The motivation they feel is negative – pushing themselves out of a fear of what might happen, terrified of losing their job if they do not achieve targets and results. This type of motivation is unsustainable and leads to under performance, burnout and eventually the loss of skilled workers.

The challenge facing leaders is how not only how to engage workforces and get the best out but how to keep them focused, motivated and, ultimately, in the right mindset.