A CIO’s 10-part guide to personal branding
Start
small
–
If
you’re
new
to
thought
leadership
and
wish
to
add
this
aspect
to
your
personal
brand,
you
can
often
start
small
with
a
‘land
and
expand’
approach.
Start
small
–
If
you’re
new
to
thought
leadership
and
wish
to
add
this
aspect
to
your
personal
brand,
you
can
often
start
small
with
a
‘land
and
expand’
approach.
Start
small
with
an
article
or
blog,
a
media
interview,
a
speaking
slot
at
an
industry
event
or
conference,
or
even
by
entering
some
suitable
industry
awards.
This
all
builds
credibility,
adds
to
your
personal
profile,
portfolio,
and
media
kit,
and
can
help
land
your
next
“win”
such
as
a
book,
a
keynote,
or
a
major
award,
such
as
the
CIO
100
Awards.
When
selecting
any
of
these
outlets,
choose
wisely,
since
your
personal
brand
will
be
shaped
by
the
brands
you
associate
with.
Amplify
your
personal
brand
–
The
Thinkers360
study
found
that
specialist
communities
were
the
number-one
destination
for
access
to
thought
leadership
content
by
readers,
and
a
top-three
destination
for
thought
leaders
to
disseminate
their
content
after
social
media
and
individual
web
sites.
Depending
on
the
business
model,
these
specialist
communities
can
often
help
you
to
build,
amplify
and
monetize
your
personal
brand
as
well.
Use
your
career
journey
to
tell
your
brand
story
–
Your
life
experiences
and
career
journey
all
tell
a
story
about
your
personal
brand.
Think
about
the
various
career
moves
you’ve
made
over
the
years,
the
rationale
for
each
move,
and
how
this
helps
to
shape
the
narrative
about
your
personal
brand.
This
may
also
help
influence
your
next
move
too.
Round
out
your
competency
over
time
–
Once
you’ve
become
a
world-class
author,
influencer,
or
speaker
(no
small
feat
in
itself),
the
next
step
is
to
round
out
your
skills
so
you’re
even
more
versatile.
Gartner
encourages
this
among
their
analysts
and
advisors,
so
they
develop
their
skills
not
only
in
terms
of
one-on-one
advising
and
writing
research
reports,
but
also
in
public
speaking
in
front
of
both
small
private
groups
and
large
audiences
at
conferences.
This
helps
to
develop
skills
to
best
connect
with
your
audience
regardless
of
the
context.
Use
your
personal
branding
to
promote
your
organization
–
As
a
CIO,
you
can
be
an
excellent
employee
advocate
for
your
own
organization,
and
many
CIOs
do
this
to
a
greater
or
lesser
extent
based
on
personal
preference.
This
may
involve
piloting
solutions
internally
before
they’re
released
to
the
public,
and
helping
with
internal
case
studies.
Many
CIOs,
not
only
pilot
internally,
but
hit
the
road
with
other
members
of
the
C-suite
to
meet
with
key
clients
and
share
their
experience.
Make
your
content
insightful,
engaging,
and
actionable
–
The
Thinkers360
study
found
that
thought
leadership
consumers
cited
insightful
(94%),
forward-looking
(90%),
engaging
(89%),
relevant
(88%)
and
actionable
(84%)
as
extremely
important
or
very
important
attributes
of
thought
leadership.
In
an
era
of
increased
competition
for
attention,
thought
leaders
plan
to
cut
through
the
noise
by
making
their
content
highly
actionable
(73%),
multichannel
(59%),
and
shared
via
specialist
communities
(55%).
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