It is fascinating that even experts disagree about online presence and personal branding. The celebrated Dr. Adam Grant tweeted one day: “The time people spent building personal brands would be better invested in personal connections. Products have brands. People have relationships and reputations. Authenticity is not about marketing yourself to create an image. It’s about aligning your actions with your values.”
And so, I found myself nodding my head and agreeing with Dr. Grant. And then marketing guru Michael Schaeffer hit back by saying: “I HATE the suggestion that working on a personal brand implies you’re inauthentic. Nothing is further from the truth. Trust me, in this world, people can sniff out a fake in 140 characters or less. Having an effective online presence means you need to be more of who you are at your best. Personal relationships are important. Some of my favorite relationships are with people. But this does not mean you can’t work on your personal brand, too.” And then Schaeffer says that “Dr. Grant has an online presence and a brand too and that this is one of the rare instances wherein he disagrees with Dr. Grant’s comment. Guess what happened? I found myself nodding my head and agreeing too. So, what gives?
Today, the popular thought is to be online if you are a leader. What happens is that the younger leaders love to be online, while many are hesitant and resist it like crazy. I guess there is a semblance of truth in it, but the questions are why and how? Is there a need for me as a leader to be online? There may be a lack of understanding between being an “influencer” and a “leader.” Not all influencers are leaders, and all leaders need to exert influence to be effective. With this perspective, we realize that online influence matters, and when leadership is influence, online influence is, therefore, an expression of leadership.
I am very active on social media. I have committed mistakes and have stumbled upon good practices that help me in my leadership role, so I would like to share some ideas you may find useful in your leadership online journey.
1. Do what is in your area of competence. Do not be faddish.
There are so many trends and fads happening on social media. As a leader, you may not be a wanna-be influencer TikToking, lip-syncing on audio reels to build up a massive following. This decreases your trustworthiness and cheapens your influence level. Do what you do best. If your competence is in finance, share tips on it. If it is in leading people, then provide ideas in this sphere. Be respectable and do not be weird.
2. Be a subject matter expert. Do not be a commentator.
Do not be tempted to comment on everything, from news cycles to political issues. Comment on values and principles and not on politics or personalities. You are most likely losing influence if you do. Do not jump on what is trending because doing so usually makes the leaders inconsistent in the content they post and creates confusion about what they stand on. Every leader needs to think twice about what to comment on. Even when doing things online, the leaders still have to be strategic.
3. Be consistent. Do not be lazy.
Your online presence is a responsibility you need to take seriously. If, as a leader, you know that your online presence can help increase your level of influence, you need to be consistent with the content and regularity of your posts. You cannot post content only when you feel like it.
I have an online following that looks forward to my postings every day, and I have maintained this cadence for many years. This is why the following continues to grow, and in the process, I have gotten to make and create new friends and reach out to people all across the globe. Many clients have been following the posts and they see the consistency, that’s why they have been encouraged to secure my services for their training needs and engagements. They vet me and the materials posted. This is why consistency matters. You do not need to show up and post content every day, but you need to show up consistently.
So why are all these important? Because as a leader, your online presence is an unspoken promise to your followers, and you can influence them for the good if you carry on this responsibility seriously.
(Francis Kong runs his Level Up Leadership 2.0 Master Class Online on April 20, 21 and 22. For inquiries and reservations, contact April at +63928-559-1798 or and for more information, visit www.levelupleadership.ph)