We know you. Working all the deals. Dreaming up the big goals. Operating behind the scenes. CEOs are the gears that keep their business running, not always the watch face.

When we talk to these undercover executives, the idea of putting themselves front and center causes immediate recoil. They have spent so much time pushing their brands, their products and even their employees to the front, while still staying somewhat anonymous themselves. 

Well… it’s time to step out from behind the curtain! No more operating Oz from the shadows. You need to be just as conscientious of your image as you are of your brand’s.

 

We’re All Visible 

 

Even if you haven’t been conscientiously focused on your own personal branding, it’s out there for the world to see anyways. Gone are the days where privacy exists. It’s an unfortunate reality, but if your name is on the About Page as CEO, people are going to search for your accounts. 

So you can either go deep CIA with it and keep your personal life conspicuously hidden (but probably not entirely). Or you can shape the narrative and presentation.

A lot of CEOs want to avoid the spotlight, however, this can lead to a personal brand being formed without intention. If your abandoned Facebook page and your cat video Instagram are all that anyone can find on you, you’ve created a brand whether you wanted to or not.

Instead of leaving it up to Google to decide who you are and how you’re represented online, it makes more sense for just about every CEO to be shaping that narrative themselves. 

 

Consumers Care About the Who

 

Perhaps now more than ever, people want to know where their goods are coming from. Who made this? What do they stand for? Who do they work for? What values am I supporting with my purchase?

Today’s consumer is very different from a generation or two ago. Millennials and Gen X aren’t bargain hunters. They don’t shop just according to what’s convenient and cheap. They have the tools, the time and the desire to do their research in order to get the best quality from deserving brands. 

So you can bet that at some point, some of your prospective customers are going to go looking for the person responsible for your product. And they can either find what’s out there, or find what you present.

 

Your Brand’s Best Asset

 

We know that on most days, you feel like the frantic, fast-paced hurricane of your brand. In good times and in tough ones, you are the hardest working person in your business, so taking the time to build your own brand hardly feels worth it. 

But you are your brand’s best asset. Not the product. Not the content. Not the website. Not customer service. You. 

Within you, exists the brand’s

• History
• Origins
• Purpose
• Future
• Heart

No one can provide a peek into your business like you can. And no one can do it with as much love as you will. 

People don’t follow logos, or cute Instagram feeds, or customer reviews for the long term. They follow people. If your brand is fairly corporate, in that you lead with your products, eventually your customers may grow weary of the “things” that make up your business.

If you become a person of interest though, you’ll be able to provide product details and a lot more. 

 

Connection

 

Now more than ever, what people are really seeking is connection. We want to be in touch with other humans. We get tired of being sold to and we just want to be talked to.

Think of your favorite brands/CEOs. Surely if you can think of who they are it’s because they’ve done something to present who are they are to the world. Are their products ones you choose over others every time? Then there is definitely value in them showing up for an audience. 

It’s not always easy to step out from behind your desk and open yourself up to scrutiny and assessment. It’s also not likely that you’ll be able to remain hidden online in the year 2020. So you can choose to reach out first, and establish that relationship, or you can let people decide what they will based on whatever the search engines produce. It has become an unfortunate ultimatum every modern founder must face. But it can be a fun journey if you embrace it!

Check out some tips for how you can start representing your brand as a public figure in our article instructing nonprofit CEOs on how to approach their personal brand.