Plans have changed, communication agendas have changed.

Whether they are business owners and CEOs leading organisations, board members forging a path forward, consultants growing/recovering their client base or executives looking for a new role, the clients with whom I’m working on personal brand positioning and communication right now are doing things differently.

It’s certainly a challenge to plan a communication strategy that fits these difficult and constantly evolving times! There is the worry that you may miss the mark with your content, losing people’s attention and trust. Or that your offering is no longer relevant. Or that there is too much noise and you’re just adding to the pile, blending in. Or you simply don’t know where to focus now, and how quickly that will change – again.

But there are some constants we can still be certain of: Your personal brand strategy needs to come from a clear purpose, a clear audience, and a genuine belief that you can help. Because these things aren’t always clear, this is usually where the discussion starts.

Once you have a clear sense of purpose and audience, it’s time to tackle strategy.

Here are some personal brand communication tactics, flowing out of strategy, that are working for my clients right now:

• Don’t ignore the issue. Those still communicating ‘business as usual’ (and there are some out there) are failing to resonate with people and are possibly even pushing them away. Speak to the issues that are front-and-centre for your audience right now, and that are relevant to your work. What is your perspective? How can you help?
• It’s ok to self-promote. If people genuinely need your services or skills right now – particularly new, more relevant iterations of them – then they need to know they exist. What matters is the intention behind the promotion (Can you really help? Is that your primary motivation?) and giving deep thought to what and how you promote, so that it’s meaningful to and respectful of others.
• Share your personal experience/examples. While I usually warn against the warts-and-all, heart-on-your-sleeve approach to personal branding (I’m not against vulnerability, but I believe in considering context and purpose!)… right now there is more than usual wiggle-room for being human – and actually, it’s helpful. We humans need reminders that everyone else is human, too. It’s comforting and helps us to see we are in this together. Giving personal examples is also a great way to explain your perspective and provide tangible help.
• Inspire and celebrate. Some of my clients regularly celebrate the work of others, just because it’s how they operate. Encouraging, supporting and talking about others’ work right now is more important than ever before. It helps your audience build trust with the person you are celebrating, as well as with you. More importantly, it provides us all with much-needed inspiration right now.

And here is a final tip purely from my own experience reading/listening to/watching others online:

• Be gentle with your advice. I’m not always that! But right now my own experience consuming content is that I am totally overwhelmed by and turned off the type of ‘motivational’ content that feels like a survival bootcamp. If you are screaming at me to do more, be more and create more right now… I can’t hear you. I know there are things to be done, to figure out, to make happen. As someone who is always striving to achieve the next goal, I am conversely more effective when I am not so hard on myself – particularly now. For the time being, I am finding advice that tells me, ‘It’s hard, and I know how you feel. Here are some things that may help’… much more helpful than ‘Get your s#*t together!!!’…how about you?

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How are you coping with the (identity) crisis?

Who is that woman in her active wear? She seems to have a Monday-Sunday gym clothing combo on rotation.

She misses the sound of her high heels on the city pavement.

Her car is gathering cobwebs around the tyres.

She’s doing the grocery shopping on a weekday because she’s got the time (and she equally feels dread and excitement about it).

Her coffee meetings are on Zoom.

Her client workshops are on Zoom.

Her after-work drinks are on Zoom (and they are not that much fun).

She is grateful for Zoom. And yet… feeling the energy of presenting from a stage or sharing the space with the people you are working with is remembered wistfully, like the fading memory of her last holiday.

Weirdly, she feels more connected to her family than ever… but she misses their hugs.

She’s cooking a hearty meal by 6pm.

She’s going to bed at 9pm because she hasn’t just arrived home.

She’s waking up by 5am because her brain is totally confused (and she’s had enough sleep since she went to bed at 9).

These days I hardly recognise myself.

It’s a very strange thing, how this world crisis is creating ripple effects of all sorts… little mini-crises at the individual level. In my discussions with friends and colleagues over the last few weeks, I have heard many versions of my story above.

For some, it may be simply the surprise and confusion at finding yourself looking different, speaking and thinking about different things, and spending your days in a different way. For others, it may be a bigger personal crisis, like questioning your line of work or what you value spending time on (or with whom!). And for others, the crisis is more immediate, and it’s about putting food on the table today.

I am really grateful that I am only experiencing light frustration and a fair helping of amusement as I observe myself attempting to work out what stays the same and what must change. And I am also finding that my years of work helping myself and others think purposefully about ‘personal branding’, or who you are professionally, is proving to be a solid foundation in navigating such uncertain times. Defining who you are and what you want to communicate when it comes to your professional contribution is not only helpful for being clear to others, it makes it clear to yourself.

With a new flexibility to our days and time to think like never before, this is the perfect opportunity for many of us to finally get clear on our personal brand messaging. We have a unique opportunity to get reflective, digging a little deeper to fine-tune our passions and value points and to build a strong plan to communicate it outwardly. It’s one way to nurture yourself, reignite inspiration… and maybe, get over that mini-identity crisis 😉

Hope this is helpful! If you have a topic you would like me to address in the ‘Online Personal Brand Tips for Crisis Mode’ series, please let me know!

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The strength in a collective WHY

For one of my professional service firm clients, I’m currently preparing a workshop inspired by Simon Sinek’s ‘Start with Why’ that gives a cross-section of a large team the chance to come together and discuss the things that give them a sense of purpose at work. For organisations like this one, taking some time out to do this in a facilitated conversation that includes many different team members is a highly valuable way to tap into the real culture and to strengthen it through the shared experience of what matters.

Considering the whole person in a team setting, and giving air time to what they value at work, not only provides a helpful tool for taking a fresh look at the company values written on the wall or on the website, but it can be a powerful activity to build meaningful brand messages that highlight the best of your people and build trust with stakeholders.

Every day I come across people wanting to express who they are, as individuals and as teams, in ways that feel genuine and meaningful. There is so much power in having a plan and a platform for doing so. Customers, stakeholders and internal teams all resonate with the real, the human, and the inspiring.

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Over the last few weeks I’ve been working with a client to help reposition his personal brand in order to attract new consulting opportunities. He has achieved a lot in his past and current roles, but now wants to step it up in a role where he can really be utilized for the specific areas of expertise he has developed. We spent a lot of time talking about these areas – why he is passionate about them and what kind of change he has affected for stakeholders with his knowledge and skills. This was really important to clarify, because he was not previously highlighting this clearly and effectively. With these achievements now maximised on his LinkedIn, CV and personal consulting website, this client is going to attract the right opportunity much more quickly and easily.

There are always treasures to uncover – that shouldn’t have been hidden away or poorly communicated with mixed messages!

The conversations I have with experts, consultants, executives and business owners around what they’ve achieved and what this brings to their ability to create value, always astound me. There are always treasures to uncover – that shouldn’t have been hidden away or poorly communicated with mixed messages! There is nothing more rewarding than helping someone uncover these strengths and points of difference… and it reminds me to keep striving to highlight my own, in order to attract more fantastic opportunities for my business.

Time spent ‘standing on the peak’ and reflecting on what you have achieved is a valuable investment in your future!

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