Why You Should Do Executive Personal Branding

When you know what you stand for, you’ll be better able to lead in your current role and better positioned to achieve your next career milestone.

Executive personal branding is something you should prioritize, even though you, like other CEOs, executives and aspiring leaders, are busy and have to-do lists a mile long.

Simply put, it’s because knowing yourself will promote personal growth. It will help you lead more effectively in your current situation. And it will help you more rapidly achieve the next milestone in your career.

Personal Branding Success Stories

That sounds good in theory, you say, but how does executive personal branding really apply in the real world? What are the tangible benefits of doing it? Let me tell you about Jodie, Sydelle and Richard and how excavating their brands using Revealing Genius’s time-proven ETA™ (Excavate-Tell-Affirm) process led to exciting personal growth for all of them.

During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jodie got downsized from a Fortune 25 company. At first, her job search didn’t seem to be gaining any momentum. But within 30 days of defining her brand statement and learning to tell the stories of her achievements in engaging the workforce, a CEO hired her as COO on the spot.

Sydelle is an M.D. and singer who wanted to merge music with writing prescriptions. But Sydelle was doubtful she could successfully pull off connecting the two. After doing executive personal branding—and affirming what she truly stands for and believes—Sydelle created and published end-of-life protocols related to musical medical interventions, launched a related podcast and medaled in international vocalist competition.

Now, let me tell you about Richard. In his 46-year career at the same company, he moved from controller to CEO. He never had a résumé because he never needed one. Two years after retiring, he wanted to get back in the game by being on a board, investing in a growing company or doing consulting. At a conference hosted by a private equity firm, Richard was harshly humbled when he tried to network with another attendee and couldn’t articulate a moving answer to the age-old question, “What do you do?” After transforming his executive personal brand to one centered on the two-word purpose statement of “imparting wisdom,” he has be able to invest in four companies and earn a board seat.

When CEOs, founders and leaders excavate their brands, learn how to tell other people about their unique reason for serving and affirm their brands to themselves and others using  ETA™, they will be recognized as experts and more rapidly achieve the next milestone in their careers.

Here’s a quick list of where your executive personal brand can take you. And I know—because I’ve seen these things happen! Getting clarity about your personal brand so that you can talk about it with conviction can lead to you:

1. getting your dream job
2. earning a board seat
3. successful speaking engagements
4. changing careers (and getting your dream job)
5. revising your curriculum vitae or resume
6. developing a one-sheet professional biography or elevator pitch
7. pursuing your passion in your career
8. pursuing your passion in retirement
9. updating your LinkedIn page (and your social media presence overall) to make it purpose- and power-ful
10. revising your resume to make it purpose- and power-ful
11. putting up an effective website
12. putting up a fantastic virtual studio in Zoom
13. writing a winning business plan
14. creating a compelling video or podcast
15. successfully leading a new team

What Can You Get Out of Doing Professional Branding?

During the Revealing Genius 7-Day Summit, I often ask participants what they hope to get from doing personal branding. Here are just a few of the answers I often get. Do you identify with what these people are seeking?

1. I seek clarity about the value I bring to audiences and clients and how to communicate that quickly, clearly and concisely.
2. I want to be clear and able to communicate my brand first to myself, then to others—outside of just my role at work.
3. I want to build my precise brand since I’ve never put together a brand statement or mission—and then take action and have passion for my mission and who I am.
4. I am looking to learn how best to allocate my energy to foster having the kind of sustainable energy that will help me fulfill my mission.
5. I want to develop my focused “self-brand” that will help me define my goals and move forward toward them.
6. I want to be confident in my ability to share what I have to offer professionally.
7. I want the motivation to build increased self-awareness.

Interestingly enough, many different kinds of people can reap the benefits of doing executive personal branding, including:

• Current, retiring, emeritus C-suite executives
• Board directors
• PhDs
• PharmDs
• MDs
• MBAs
• MBAs
• Nurses
• Dentists
• Nonprofit presidents
• Military veterans
• Investors
• Hospital and health system administrators
• Consultants who are the brand name for their company
• Healthcare tech | home health agency business owners
• Public servants

Does this resonate with you? If so, I hope you’ll subscribe to my e-newsletter by adding your email at the bottom of this webpage and sign up for our 7-Day Brand Genius Summit to learn more.

Mary E. Maloney, FACHE

An executive advisor, educator, speaker, author and producer, Mary E. Maloney is the founder of Revealing Genius and the expert that accomplished leaders trust for positioning, messaging and brand strategy for themselves, their teams and their organizations. A former CEO and CMO, Maloney guides C-suite leaders, founders, physicians and board directors to powerfully and strategically message their expertise and “why” so they lead with conviction and achieve their most coveted goals.