1. Personal Branding Survey
Ref: 0070
You Inc: How to shape your personal brand
09 July 2012 Leon Gettler
Mark Bouris, CEO of Yellow Brick Road and host of The Apprentice (Australia)
In a 24/7 business environment and in this uber-connected world, personal branding has
become critical. Think Donald Trump, Sarah Palin, Richard Branson, Oprah Winfrey and Lady
Gaga.
Not many Australians are on that list. There’s a reason for that. A new survey by the Australian
Institute of Management found that 38% of Australian businesspeople rated their personal
brand as average or worse than average. Only one in 20 survey participants said their personal
brand was excellent. They were poor in negotiation, networking and communications skills.
Other skills lacking included presentation, creative thinking and problem-solving, self-
leadership, assertiveness techniques, business etiquette, dress and grooming, time
management and customer and sales service.
All of these are crucial management skills.
CEOs did not fare well in the AIM study. About one in three CEO respondents rated their
personal brand as average or worse than average.
That’s a problem because leaders and managers, like brands, need to be constantly engaging
with their market. Personal branding ensures you get your name mentioned. It’s now regarded
as a career tool for leaders. With a personal brand, people know what you’re about.
Most companies do nothing about helping their executives with personal brand, but some are
changing their attitude. In the AIM Survey, 44% of companies said they provide training and
For further information on this handout and the consulting
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©2012 1 of 2

2. development to enhance the skills that build a manager’s personal brand and management
skills.
Still, we’ve got a long way to go. Experts have identified only three Australians who might make
that list: John Symond from Aussie Home Loans, entrepreneur and media personality Mark
Bouris and Rupert Murdoch, now an American citizen.
How do you build a personal brand?
Dan Schawbel, personal branding expert, bestselling author and the managing partner of the
US-based Millennial Branding, which advises companies on how to handle Generation Y, has
recommended steps such as having fancy business cards carrying a personal brand statement,
setting up a blog, keeping your LinkedIn profile up to date and having a strong presence on
Facebook.
It is also about having self-awareness and honesty, experts say. How do you make people feel?
How do people benefit from working with you? What words would describe you? How would you
describe your work? Who is your target audience? What do you do that makes you stand out?
Now, put that all together in a short sentence or phrase – it’s your tagline or brand mantra.
Think of something, for example, the NAB’s catchline – More give, less take – which commits
the bank to having lower rates than competitors. That’s their brand. There is no reason people
can’t do the same for themselves.
Australian Institute of Management CEO Susan Heron says leaders now need to see
themselves differently. Regardless of where you work, you are now running a business: You
Incorporated.
“They need to see themselves as the product they are marketing, as a business,’’ Heron says.
“They must manage their curriculum vitae as assiduously as they manage themselves. Their CV
is a representation of that business and they have to be business-ready all the time.
“People need to see themselves as the product that they are marketing, a product on which
they must get a return on investment. You are not going to get a return unless you invest in
yourself.
“You are not going to stay in the one place all the time, you are not going to be at one level in
an organisation all the time and you are going to have a long working life.
“You need to be continuing to work on yourself as a business and everything that constitutes
the personal brand. It’s not something you get right and say: ‘I’ll just sit back on my laurels’. It’s
something you continuously invest in because, as you progress in seniority, your personal
brand must also adapt to reflect the role you are now taking on.”
Any leader can do it, but no one will do it for you, she says.
“You don’t have to be a Richard Branson, but you do have to optimise your product capability.
Don’t expect someone else to develop your brand if you’re too lazy or you’re not confident
enough to do it yourself.”
For further information on this handout and the consulting
and coaching programs available please contact:
Image Group International
Asia Pacific Head Office
T: (+61 3) 9824 0420
E: info@imagegroup.com.au
www.imagegroup.com.au
©2012 2 of 2

3. Executive coach Claire Burgess says many leaders don’t have a clue how to build their brand. “I
don’t think they really understand it as a concept. They go to work, do their job and go home. I
don’t think they get it to be honest,” Burgess says.
The brand, she says, is reflected in everything you do.
“It entails your personal manner, but it also includes your image – the way you dress,’’ she says.
“It’s about the way you interact with other people and how effective you are in the workplace,’’
she says.
“For Joe Smith in the workplace, it’s about standing out. It’s not about just doing one’s job and
going home. It’s about understanding how to make a difference in the workplace.”
The good news is that is it easy to stand out. Why? Because personal branding is hard work, so
few people do it. And besides, it is hard to be objective about yourself.
Burgess says tools such as 360-degree feedback from teams, peers, supervisors, direct
reports, members of the board, clients, or anyone in between are a critical part of that process.
The AIM survey was conducted by branding specialist Image Group International, a coaching
outfit that has handled politicians, celebrities and sports stars. Its CEO Jon Michail has just
returned from New York. His gig there was with Goldman Sachs, a company that has learned
what happens to brands when they are not managed properly. The company has weathered its
fair share of scandal over the years, from insider trading allegations to a scathing resignation
letter from a former executive, printed in the New York Times.
Michail works with clients on all the issues, from negotiation skills to communications, from
presentations to dress and grooming. His company even does wardrobe audits. “The grooming
and wardrobe is what we call the visual language,’’ Michail says. “Everything communicates and
the visual message sometimes communicates more than the words that come out of our
mouths.”
Michail identifies several Australian identities with brand issues:
 Gina Rinehart is gutsy but polarising. “She has so much money and power; she doesn’t
give a shit,” he says.
 Ita Buttrose is formidable but overly guarded. “You don’t get to see the real Ita. She has
obviously had an interesting life but she doesn’t share a lot of that openly and I think she
can afford to do that at her age.”
 Westpac CEO Gail Kelly is ambitious but aloof. “She is not very relatable.”
 Julia Gillard is intelligent but untrustworthy. Most people, he says, suspect Gillard would
support gay marriage and bringing in refugees but she has taken a stand because of
politics. “True leaders take risks and have the courage of their convictions. It doesn’t
matter what side of the fence you sit on; you respect somebody who sits with their
convictions and she has clearly changed because of her own personal power so that’s
why it is clear there is a lot of untrustworthiness.
 Tony Abbott is traditionalist but regarded as too stereotypic. “He lacks creativity.
Somebody who is so traditionalist in thinking is not willing to look outside the box. For
him, everything is a formula. But the great value-add for him and his brand is his family.
His wife and three daughters add a lot of value to him. If you asked me how he should
soften himself up in the market place or his brand, that’s the best way for him: just bring
out the family.”
For further information on this handout and the consulting
and coaching programs available please contact:
Image Group International
Asia Pacific Head Office
T: (+61 3) 9824 0420
E: info@imagegroup.com.au
www.imagegroup.com.au
©2012 3 of 2

4. He says people at the top of their game need to constantly reinvent themselves, but they can’t
do it on their own. He doubts the effectiveness of 360-degree feedback sessions. “Rarely do
people tell you the truth anymore,’’ he says. “They wouldn’t tell you your personal image is
down and out. It would be some diplomatic nonsense; you will never get a straight answer.”
Leaders need professionals, mentors and friends who can spell out exactly what needs to be
fixed, he says.
Building a personal brand also requires emotional intelligence, the same skill that is so
important in effective leadership. “You need to have an awareness of how you affect other
people,” he says.
And managers need to be doing it all the time. “It’s no different to a politician planning to get
elected or re-elected,’’ Michail says. “We all have to be in campaign mode – this is careerism.”
For further information on this handout and the consulting
and coaching programs available please contact:
Image Group International
Asia Pacific Head Office
T: (+61 3) 9824 0420
E: info@imagegroup.com.au
www.imagegroup.com.au
©2012 4 of 2