DON’T BE A WEAK FOUNDER OF A STRONG BRAND.

Many people I have coached do not want to be the face of the business they are building. Some, for valid reasons; others, for reasons like shyness and fear.

The discussion about whether to build a personal brand or a corporate brand is usually active. To some, they will build a powerful company brand and be ‘faceless’. For some, they would rather build their personal name because to build a company is a lot of work. To some, both should grow in parallel.

I am in the last school of thought. I believe that a great business should have both a strong company brand and a strong personal brand of the founder(s).

There are several reasons why I think so:

1. Many times, because a CEO has evolved through so many associations in life, from early years through post-graduate education (in several cases), there is clout and antecedents to draw on as collateral. So, the more visible a founder is, the more historical relationships that will count for his brand. SOBCA has particularly enjoyed this attention. There are SO MANY loved ones from way back that put a word in for SOBCA just because Sam Obafemi is the Founder. The return effect is that SOBCA’s brand has also taken off.

2. A company’s structure is its collateral but its Founder is its goodwill machine. So, if the founder is obscure or unknown, the goodwill becomes a weak link. And you know what they say about YOU ARE ONLY AS STRONG AS YOUR WEAKEST LINK! If the people heading an organization have weak personal brands, there is a perception that the company may be stunted vertically. The company may not grow through the ranks of society, even if they have massive support at the base.

3. A company takes the shape of its Founder(s). This has been proven so many times. A business will succeed or fail or struggle; depending on who is managing it. So you see that, if you are a CEO, COO, GM, Manager, Business Manager, etc. … and you are not growing your personal brand, you will be leading your organization based on HOW YOU FEEL, and HOW YOU ‘SEE’ THINGS ‘intuitively’ alone. That is a recipe for failure. This is why some organizations are generous because the Founders are. Some are vindictive because the founders are. In some organizations, gossip is the modus operandi, because that’s what the founders have installed. Some organizations abuse staff and suppress freedom because it starts from the top. CHECK WHERE YOU WORK… you will see that what is happening is a mirror of management style. Consciously or unconsciously.

To conclude, let me highlight that BRANDING here does not imply social media visibility and noise making. It means: AN INTENTIONAL CULTURE AND BUSINESS LIFESTYLE THAT BECOMES THE IMPRESSION OF THE FOUNDER AND THE COMPANY.

In simple terms, your brand is what people think it is.

If you need help with BRANDING your personal equity or your company, call OCHUDO on 0803 451 5568 or talk to FOLA on +234 803 588 4491.

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m a k t u b!!!

SO