Ditch. Dare. Do!. William Arruda
Chapter One
Be a Brand
KNOW
Snap 1
Be Your Own Boss:
Promote Yourself!
You control your destiny.
Reality check: In the new world of work, building your brand is not optional. You are one of numerous executives with similar credentials competing for the same positions. No matter what the hierarchical structure is in your profession or organization, you are your own boss. No one else is there to take care of you. No one else will pull you to the top—not your manager, not the CEO.
In this competitive and rapidly changing executive environment, the only constant—the only security—is your brand and the value it promises and delivers. Power and momentum come from you and only from you!
Not long ago, your employer took control of your career.
As long as you conformed and didn’t make too many waves, you could stay with a company for thirty years and retire with a pension. Now, on average, executives change positions every three years, companies every four years, and industries every five years. Yet, surveys tell us that most executives spend less than 5% of their time doing any form of career management. It’s no wonder many executives feel adrift: they’re navigating without a map.
But not all executives relinquish career control while they’re busy working. They don’t wait for their company to notice their strengths; they seize the wheel and steer their career. These executives develop a career blueprint that’s good for them and good for their company.
Deb worked with an executive whose goal was to move from his position in a multinational company headquartered in Europe to a senior role leading an innovation center in China and then to a position in the C-suite. He didn’t wait for it to happen—he put a plan in play. He requested global assignments, led the global sales team, developed innovation summits in China, fostered a culture of exploration within his teams, and earned an advanced degree at a leading international business school. He now leads the innovation center in China and is in line for a C-level role. The company is fully engaged with this top performer, and he is living his dream.
Proactively managing your brand is good for you and good for your company. When you take control of the choices you make about the positions you take, the way in which you handle challenges, the degree of effort you apply to your position, the way you present your intellectual and emotional assets, and the people you position as your allies and manage as your opponents, you shape and ensure your professional success. It is entirely up to you.
Are you ready to take control of your career? To place your career in good hands? YOUR good hands?
DO
Accept that YOU are your boss. When you take charge of your career destiny, you are unstoppable. You are extraordinary!
Snap 2
Build Your Brand:
Build Your Company
If you’re not managing your brand, you’re not doing your job.
Your company needs you to build your brand! As companies increasingly realize that business is truly a human endeavor, they acknowledge that each employee has an impact on the success of the organization’s brand.
As an executive, your brand reinforces and enhances corporate brand attributes. A strong executive brand helps you make a mark on your organization, augment your company’s image and reputation, and increase your visibility and presence with all stakeholders inside and outside the walls of your organization.
One of William’s clients, a senior associate at a professional services firm in Chicago, learned that he is the brand—in his clients’ eyes (and those are the eyes that count!)—when one of his clients said to him, “I don’t hire a consulting company, I hire a consultant. You are that consultant. To me and the members of my team, you are the company.”
Your organization knows this. Your organization wants you to understand what makes you exceptional, use your brand value to deliver on the corporate brand promise, and be a visible leader with a solid reputation, confidently representing your company 24 hours a day.
And don’t think this applies only to external-facing employees like consultants or salespeople; whether you’re in purchasing, accounting, or the IT department, you, too, have clients. Having a strong brand builds solid connections with these clients—and solid connections are good for business and just make work more fun. The bonus for you? The people who have the strongest brands in the company are the people who get noticed and rewarded.
Building your brand inside your company and in the marketplace has become even more critical with the rise of social media. Social media has changed everything. Its immediacy and ability to connect customers and companies has forced businesses to become more human and more responsive. Customers and clients expect connection. Companies’ brands are now built on connection. Your brand enables connection, both inside and outside the organization.
Are you ready to accept that having a strong personal brand is good for your company?
DITCH
Ditch the “personal” vs. “corporate” brand mindset. Both brands are inextricably linked. The connection powerfully supports corporate and career goals. Double winners! Go team!
Snap 3
Promote the Corporate Brand:
Attract Opportunity
You don’t have to be the CMO or the VP of marketing to impact the corporate brand.
Brands build trust, trust builds loyalty, and loyalty yields competitive advantage. And isn’t that what you and your company want? Your company’s brand is important to its success, and companies value people who help them succeed.
When you walk into an Apple store, the employees you meet seem to have a much bigger role than their jobs. Whether they are “geniuses,” sales associates, or one-on-one training experts, their knowledge of and passion for the brand goes far beyond the role they are assigned. You just know they have their finger on all things Apple. They exude knowledge and pride. They are Apple-bred brand ambassadors.
Early in his career, William worked in branding at Lotus in Cambridge, MA (his best corporate job ever, he says). Part of his job was to ensure brand consistency—and for Lotus, one of the most important and differentiating attributes was “irreverent.” One day, an HR colleague stopped by his office and told him, “We’re building a new website where employees can go to get information about their 401(k). We want everything we do for employees to reflect the brand, so let’s brainstorm some irreverent ideas for the name of the website.” After a few short minutes, she shouted, “dontblowyourretirement.com!” and the name for the website was born. You can’t get more irreverent than that!
Like William’s HR colleague, move outside