Your go-to place to discover what your peers are talking about, executive moves, and executive search insights.

Hi everyone,

This week we’re talking about personal branding. 

We're inspired by current events, news, and of course the articles you send our way. If you author a piece or find a certain topic interesting, please send us the link. This platform is something we're building together, and it will continue to evolve.

#BeDistinguished

~Somer

Personal Brand

Last week an executive asked me if he should post content to be top of mind for when he ignites his job search. You can read my answer here:

According to the Forbes article (link in my post), it’s important to create a personal brand. It’s your reputation.

In executive search, reputation goes a long way.

If you’ve known me for more than two years, you’ll know that personal branding and posting on LinkedIn is new to me. I never thought about it before, and certainly never posted. It was confusing. Should I post on behalf of my company or make it personal? Plus, most of what I do is confidential, so what should I even post? I’m not a fan of self-promotion. I overthought everything.

When I launched my own search firm, creating a brand happened organically. I realized that I had a lot to say, and was excited to share it with my network.

I found my voice and double downed on it.

There were some lessons learned that I wanted to share with you, and it’s still an evolution. Let me know your tips and we can put this up on the blog.

Tips for creating a personal brand:

• Define your audience. Who is this content for? Write to them. If you get stuck, simply think of your avatar and say “I want to tell you that…” and go from there. Then delete the “I want to tell you that” part of the sentence.

• Be consistent. It takes time. Even if you think no one sees what you post, they do.

• Be authentic. It comes through.

• Add value. It’s all about giving versus self-promoting. Everyone has something to give. It goes back to your avatar and how you can help.

• Learn the logistics. The LinkedIn algorithm changes, and there are people who blog about it who are happy to share the latest. Time of day and day of week matter. Comments matter more than likes. Shares matter more than comments. The first hour of your post will determine who else they show it to, analyzing "dwell time". Posting more than once a day hurts your first post. This is just some of what I've picked up.

An easy way to get started is to post comments on other people's content. Find a person you admire, go to their LinkedIn page, scroll to the middle and click on "see all activity", then click on "posts" and bookmark it. There you'll see their posts, and can keep checking in every couple of days to see what's new. 

You're helping people with your wisdom, and that's a great thing!

As for me, my latest endeavor is playing around with Instagram, persuaded by the book cohort. Feel free to see the latest here: https://www.instagram.com/distinguishedsearch/

Who's Moving

Zayo appoints Ginna Raahauge as Chief Information Officer, reporting directly to Zayo’s CEO, Steve Smith. Most recently, Ginna served as an executive in solution and sales engineering for Amazon Web Services (AWS), leading teams who work with start-ups to enterprises.

Okta Inc. hired Google executive Sagnik Nandy as president of technology and chief technology officer. This is the second Google executive who Okta hired recently. On July 15, Okta announced the hiring of John Zissimos, former Google vice president of creative, brand, media and consumer programs, as its first chief digital officer.

Sweetgreen hired Wouleta Ayele as Chief Technology Officer after a 16-year career at Starbucks, where she worked as senior vice president of technology. Wouleta will lead Sweetgreen’s technology teams, supporting them to scale their supply chain model, advance restaurant operations, acquire new talent, and develop their digital platforms.