Building Your Personal Brand as a CEO

Having a personal brand is a modern necessity, especially for company and organization leaders. 

A CEO’s personal brand is directly tied to the success of the organization they lead. A 2019 study reports that Global executives attribute 45 percent of their company’s reputation to the reputation of their CEO. For CEOs, investing time and effort in establishing and strengthening a visible person brand is worthwhile. It can pay dividends in helping them manage their personal and professional reputation, open doors to new future professional opportunities, and even go as far as to boost the value of the current company they lead. 

Personal branding can be a challenge for CEOs who are preoccupied with the day to day activities of managing a team and running a business. However, it is a vital component that CEOs should not overlook. If you’re a CEO looking to strengthen your personal brand without investing a huge chunk of time, you may be wondering where to begin.  We’ve outlined a manageable game plan for you to follow.

Step 1. Know your values: 

Your values are at the core of who you are. You have both personal and professional values, and you must define both. Ask yourself, how do your personal values align with the company that you work for, and your role? A useful exercise to begin with is to write out a list of your values and prioritize them by ranking them (from least to most important). Putting pen to paper will help you determine what values matter most to you and will serve as the foundation for your personal brand. 

Step 2. Know your passions:

Do you enjoy being a mentor? Do you consider yourself a philanthropist? Whatever your passions are, be sure to clearly define them and highlight how those passions align with the work that you do.   

Step 3. Be aware of your behavioral traits:

Establish a clear picture of what makes you “you,” this includes your personality traits, work ethic, communication skills, and management style. Being aware of these traits is critical to managing your personal brand, both in-person and online, successfully. As a CEO, people are going to have preconceived notions about who you are. They will Google you, make assumptions about you, or trust what others have to say about you. Your personal brand is how you combat any inaccurate information. You must take control of your narrative so that you are not allowing external sources to construct the narrative surrounding who you are.

Step 4. Set a plan, stay committed, and remain consistent.

Many CEOs fail to build a strong personal brand because they lose steam and don’t consistently put in the effort. Building a personal brand is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes continuous effort to establish a visible and meaningful personal brand, but in the end, the payoff is worth it. 

Personal branding is not about bragging about your successes or shameless self-promotion. Instead it’s your opportunity to let the world know who you are and what you stand for. As a CEO, your job is to lead by example. By strategically and deliberately sharing information about yourself, you set a strong precedent for those that look up to you as well as open doors to potential new opportunities for yourself and the company you lead. 

The Collective Rising is an essential resourceful for female CEOs, because of the quality-over-quantity approach, we encourage our members to take as they go about building their personal branding. If you’re interested in learning more about how you can establish a visible personal brand, hassle-free, please visit our Join Us page to learn more about The Collective Rising’s membership offerings.