Your CEO’s “got nothing on you”.

Anyone who has ever held a job in a firm that is run by a Chief Executive Officer has asked themselves the question – “What does this guy have that I don’t have?” The answer might surprise you. In most cases, your CEO will have one thing that distinguishes him (or her) self from the masses of his employees: his brand.  We read a lot about personal branding these days. Everyone seems to have the answer to success, it seems: Create a personal brand, and success will follow. Well, if that were the case, what is the secret to creating a successful brand? A CEO’s brand was not developed with a cookie-cutter. More likely than not, it was carefully crafted, fine tuned and optimized over the years.  Let’s take a look at a typical CEO and compare his branding effort to that of a productive, well qualified mid-level manager who has not really thought about creating a personal brand for himself.

A CEO is firstly judged by the image of success he projects. Notice that we are not saying that a CEO has to be successful, but he has to project the image of success. His title alone has some very powerful connotations, especially when you break it down: “Chief” – clearly in charge. “Executive” – well, that projects a “doer”. “Officer” – we all know that an officer is a military term for the person in charge. Why then do we have plenty of examples of CEOs that have in some measure failed or had little to no success at a previous engagement, yet, they are eagerly sought out by firms because they have CEO experience on their CV? The press is full of examples of firms that parted with their CEO due to a lack of success who only a short time later reappears at the head of the table of a competitor. Why? The answer is simple – his brand and the power of words such as “executive”, “experience”, and “leadership” simply outweigh the facts that this individual was not successful.

Now let’s look at our typical mid-level manager without a brand: He is college educated (so is the CEO), he has many years of experience (so does the CEO), and he is competent (let’s give the CEO the benefit of the doubt on this one). Let’s also say that, like the fired CEO, our mid-level manager fails to accomplish his goals in his job performance, even though he is otherwise competent. When this manager is let go and has to shop his resume, does he get snapped up by another firm because of who he is? The answer is no, more likely than not he will have to work hard at re-establishing credibility and his professional reputation.  If you want to understand the power of a personal brand you will have to understand this critical difference: a brand can mask failure, it can provide credibility in situations where it would normally be depleted, and it is there for you when you need it most – when success is hard to come by.

A brand does not need to exaggerate competency, knowledge, or ability to deliver. It needs to be well known and it needs to be sought out and respected. Once that is done, competency, knowledge, and ability to deliver will help sustain it and make it more successful. That’s the advantage a CEO’s brand has over the majority of the workforce – it is an almost “built in” aura of desirability. For the average employee to attain that he will have to make a conscious effort to project desirability, competence, and even swagger. In short – employees need a personal brand to get to a place the CEO is by default. The reason this personal brand is ever more important these days is the fact that global competition has caused many employers to view their workforce less as individuals but rather as an interchangeable commodity. Employees with a brand are distinguishable and just like the brand conscious shopper who will pick the brand name shoe off the store shelf, an employer will seek to retain and promote the branded employee.

All of this may make perfect sense to you and you are ready to go to work on your brand. The question now becomes: how? There are a few things one can do on their own to get the process started – social media pages, such as linked in, facebook, etc. are a good way to start building this brand, however just like with any specialized task, your own competencies are clearly limited. That’s why you hire a CPA for your taxes and rely on board certified doctors for medical treatment. For your own personal brand to be a success one should consider speaking with a professional image consultant-life coach-publicist. In the long run, investing into a professional image consultant will be money well spent.

Employees who want to climb ladders, get noticed by other employers or start their own business, or just chase their dreams and as a result achieve higher financial and personal success and happiness should consider:

Dress and groom for the job or position you want, not for the job you have.

Publicize your abilities and share them with the rest of the world not just your current employer. If you are a savvy car mechanic, consider writing a blog. If you are a multi lingual administrator with great writing abilities, start an LLC and offer translation services, if you are an accountant by day, but also a creative and talented seamstress and just don’t know how you could ever turn this hobby and talent into profits, design and make your own fabulous gown, attend an event or gala, rub elbows and get noticed, photographed—have your business card ready and take orders!

Everyone is their own brand, whether you work for a multi-national corporation or a small start-up. You are not a commodity; you are a talented individual and have much to give to the world…

…but if the world doesn’t know about your talents —how will you ever get off the hamster wheel?