When leaders invest the time, energy, and budget to strengthen their personal branding through thought leadership, it expands their business opportunities in myriad ways. Since people want to do business with those they like and respect, sharing one’s thoughts and opinions can be a powerful vehicle in forming new business connections and followers.
But how personal should thought leadership be? When planning thought leadership, I recommend a content strategy comprised of 70% professional content and 30% personal information and insights. I find that this balance humanizes you without risking your credibility as a leader. Authenticity separates true thought leaders from others and establishes an important and potentially long lasting emotional connection, but you don’t want to cross the line and water down your message.
Here are 4 tips to accomplish this personal/professional balance.
Stay Professionally Relevant
Authenticity should be genuine and strategic, fostering real connections while staying professional and aligning with business goals. Identify those personal stories which you can relate to the professional work you’re doing. This can be a situation where there was a lesson learned or your team did something extraordinary that warrants public recognition. Taking this balanced approach help you maintain credibility without overstepping professional boundaries. A helpful guide is to stay true to your chosen content pillars or themes that express your personal/professional values.
Don’t Overdo It
Many of the LinkedIn experts I know talk at great length about the usage of authenticity on the platform. Their biggest concern? That authenticity can become too much of a focus or appear performative. Before posting, be certain that the topic, event, or experience you are writing about has true personal resonance while simultaneously speaks to your personal and professional values. Sparingly leveraging authenticity will assure more of a “wow” response from key stakeholders.
Use Photos And Video
As the adage goes, a picture tells a thousand words, and it’s so true. I have found that posts with photos and videos result in more likes and comments These photos may include scenes of them at a Town Hall, for example, or mixing with team members at a meeting or event. They may also include very personal photos of them with their kids on graduation day – with a post about careers – or back to school when they were involved with a company-wide philanthropic initiative which included donations of school supplies.
Be Judicious
Thought leadership content is business-focused – different from the things you might post on Instagram or Facebook, which can be 100% personal. Using a business platform for personal storytelling is okay on occasion to give people a sense of your personality and values; just be careful not to do it too often. Here’s a rubric I use: if I regularly post three times a week on LinkedIn, then I allot 5-10 posts per quarter for photos that feature clients that are more personal to help humanize and warm things up.
Looking for help personalizing your thought leadership content? Let’s talk!
