If you were a car, which would it be, and why?

I recently attended a Leadership workshop which suggested that we should aspire to market ourselves as the human equivalent of the Burj Al-Arab: premium priced and top of the range, compared to a truckers café or the intermediate option, the Hilton. I understand the logic, but I am not convinced and here is why…

BRANDING, COMMUNICATION AND CONGRUENCE

If you believe in self-branding then you need to align what you say and what you do. You need to “walk the walk, as well as talk the talk”. Any mis-match between your words, actions and values will undermine you message, credibility and branding and loose you friends and followers who may perceive you as disingenuous.

Arguably branding and communication go hand-in-hand since the former is about perceptions and expectations (what’s in the head of the audience) and latter is about motivating and directing (the audience actions and outcomes).

Branding = Perceptions and Expectations
Communication = Motivating and Directing

If these are aligned then you will at the very least be a great communicator and probably a good leader because people know, understand and follow it’s like the music and lyrics coming together to make a song everyone can sing.

PERSONAL BRANDING

Rather than compare myself to the Burj Al-Arab I’d rather make a simpler comparison of myself as a car since more people can identify with a car than a hotel that most will never visit.

I’d not be an expensive sports car (too flashy, expensive and impractical) nor an old banger (cheap, nasty and unreliable) but perhaps a VW Van, at the comfortable end of the scale. Why? Because it is comfortable, practical, affordable, flexible, utilitarian and fun, as well as being versatile to different situations and appealing to different drivers for different purposes.

We could extend this branding idea further: What you wear, where you eat; what you drive. In my case I wear a smart suit, but not designer. I prefer a café and wholesome food to a flashy restaurant. I drive a van (when travelling to triathlons) and an estate (for carrying canoes, rowing kit, sailing kit, mobile gym etc.)

I’ll accept the vehicles and their reasons are uncommon, but a quick look in the car park and a walk through town suggests to me my choices are mainstream and that for every Porsche driving diner of La Capinina wearing a Gorgio Armani suit and Barker shoes there are at least 100 people more like me.

Why should I aspire to market myself as the human equivalent of the Burj Al-Arab? Surely to win friends and influence people (or do business with them) I should be more like them, so that they like me. Ingratiating yourself to social-economic class to which you don’t belong is unlikely to be sustainable.

This reminds me of the problems which led to the economic collapse: people spending money they don’t have, on things they don’t need, to impress people they don’t like.

CONCLUSION

You don’t have to be flashy or expensive to be successful. Indeed I would council toward being more down-to-earth and affordable.



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THE AUTHOR

Tim Rogers is an experienced Project and Change Leader. He is founder of www.ciChange.org and curator for www.TEDxStHelier.Com . He is Programme Manager for the commercialization of Jersey Harbours and Jersey Airport. He is also Commonwealth Triathlete and World Championships Rower with a passion for teaching and learning and is a Tutor/Mentor on the Chartered Management Institute courses.

Email: TimHJRogers@AdaptConsultingGroup.com
Mob: 07797762051 | Twitter @timhjrogers | Skype timhjrogers