Don't Lose Your Head! Protecting Your Personal Brand

What comes to mind when you think of the word Disney?  If you’re like most people, you probably would answer with words like “fun,” “family-friendly,” “entertaining,” and even “magical.”

Such is the power of branding. A brand can be defined as a set of perceptions developed in people’s minds based on many experiences and touch-points over time. If each of those contacts (either personally or via word-of-mouth) is positive, the company’s brand is reinforced accordingly. People then trust that future interactions with the company will result in a similarly positive experience.

But what would happen if you went to Disney World and saw the Mickey Mouse character reclining in the grass with his “head” lying next to him? For most people, this would likely shoot their whole image of Disney as a place to suspend disbelief and escape the “real world” for a while. (In fact, when I mentioned this image in a recent session, a participant immediately exclaimed “Oh, no!” – as if the mere suggestion were enough to burst her bubble.)

                                                                                   

Disney is of course a famous company brand. But can a person have a brand? Can you have a brand? Of course – as becomes clear when you apply the above definition of a “brand” to yourself.

Other people form perceptions of you via the actions you take over a period of time. These “touch-points” they experience leave a certain impression of you in their minds. If the impression is strong enough, they’re likely to mention it to others, who will very likely form that same impression (even if they’ve never met you). In their subsequent contact with you, each of these people then carries a set of expectations (either positive or negative, depending on their experience) of how you will act.

And, as in the case of Mickey Mouse lounging next to his head, it can take only one strongly negative experience – one “Oh, no!” reaction – for your brand image to be destroyed.

REFLECTIONS FOR THE YES! LEADER

Improv performers know that it’s the small things – timing, gestures, stage presence – that make a big difference in the success of their performance. Two performers might come up with equally creative lines, but if one says them confidently and “on the beat” while another consistently stumbles over the words and speaks to the floor, there’s no question of who will leave the better impression with the audience.

Similarly, the YES! Leader's personal brand can be negatively impacted by small yet chronic actions that always hit just the wrong note. While (as with the Mickey Mouse head) one big action can sabotage your brand, more often it’s a series of those little off-key actions that can slowly erode your positive image in others’ minds.

Take a look at the following sample list. Which of these might describe a chronic off-key action of yours?

·         Making sarcastic comments at others’ expense.

·         Exhibiting a cynical attitude about anything and everything.

·         Overpromising and not quite delivering.

·         Using Idea Killers to stop discussions in their tracks.

·         Dominating discussions and acting as a know-it-all.

(And if you don’t think you ever engage in any chronic off-key actions, I challenge you to actively seek honest feedback from those around you. You might be surprised at what you hear.)