Leadership Lounge: How to Develop Your Personal Leadership Brand

Your personal brand exists whether you shape it or not—it lives in what people say about you when you are not in the room, what appears when someone searches your name, and how peers and stakeholders describe your leadership. All of this forms a narrative—one that either supports your ambitions or undermines them.

Yet you are probably investing very little time in defining or refining your personal brand. The demands of your role are high and likely feel more important. You may also believe that your work should speak for itself. But clarity about who you are and what you stand for becomes increasingly important at senior levels.

How would you define a personal leadership brand?

Jenna Fisher, Leadership Advisor, RRA: I think it was Jeff Bezos who said that your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room. Everyone has a personal leadership brand, whether they know what it is or not. When someone Googles your name, that’s your brand. What they see on LinkedIn, that’s your brand. It’s important that you spend time crafting and honing your brand.

What are the key elements that make up a strong leadership brand?

Shoon Lim, Leadership Advisor, RRA: There are three key elements that make up a strong personal leadership brand. The first one is clarity. Being clear-headed on who you are, the legacy you want to have, and what you want people to say about you. The second is congruency. Your personal brand needs to be authentic to you. It should align with your values, aspirations, and purpose. The third is consistency in what you stand for.

How much of what you share in the market as a leader should be personal?

Amy Scissons, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, RRA: Oftentimes we anchor ourselves in our role or our function or what we’re particularly known for. But where your personal brand comes to life is when you share your personality, your interests, and your broader purpose. One way I like to think about it is: if you could donate ten hours of your time every month to a non-profit organization, what organization would that be and how does it relate to your purpose? Once you know what that is and you weave it in with your professional expertise, your brand becomes very unique and ownable.

What advice would you give to emerging leaders who are starting to build their personal brand?

Rafael Martinez Gallardo, Leadership Advisor, RRA: Be intentional about how you build your brand. A good place to start is to look at a leader that you admire. Analyze their online presence. What do they publish—and on which platforms? If you Google the leader you admire, you’ll likely see depth and breadth in their online presence. A few weeks ago, I asked a group of aspiring board members to Google themselves, and it was surprising how little information was surfaced. That’s one way to assess your online presence.

About the authors

Jenna Fisher co-leads Russell Reynolds Associates’ Financial Officers practice globally. She is based in Palo Alto.
Amy Scissons is Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Russell Reynolds Associates. She also co-leads the firm's AI Transformation, overseeing activation and implementation efforts. She is based in New York.
Rafael Martinez Gallardo is a member of Russell Reynolds Associates’ Consumer Digital Technology practice. He is based in Mexico City.