Personal Branding for career growth - Feb 2022 - Anuradha Narasimhan

BUSINESS MANDATE

fountainhead of excellence

1 FEB 2022

BUSINESS MANDATE

fountainhead of excellence

47 FEB 2022

MMA‐KAS and WBF ﴾Women Business Forum﴿ organised an online talk by Prof Anuradha Narasimhan, Professor of Practice, DS School of Entrepreneurship. Ms Mythili Chandrasekar, Consumer Behaviour and Brand Strategy Enthusiast chaired the session.

B

randing is what I have always loved doing. It is both an art and a science. It uses both sides of the brain, making one a more holistic person.

brain is not as compartmentalized to do that.

Dismantling the myths

We all have a slightly mistaken impression that career

Branding for me is very simple. It's like branding

growth is a straight, vertical line and the sharper the

applied to Good Day biscuits, Coca-Cola, Facebook,

slope of the line, the better it is. But it cannot be one

Google and all the brands that you know. Why can't

straight line. I plan to have a 40-year career. I think of

the same principles be applied to me? I am a brand. I

career as a journey. Sometimes the slope of the line will

may not be as well-known a brand, but in my circle,

be very sharp, which means that there is growth. At

people know me. People think that personal branding

other times, you will be along the journey.

is like being manipulative and that you will become an

Growth is not defined by somebody else. There are times when you did not get what the world might think of as horizontal growth, which means you did not get a promotion but you might have grown personally. You

Life is not about going from a manager to a managing director or chairperson of the board. That's a vertical journey. But I want to talk about the winding journey that we all take. Our professional and personal lives are intertwined. We cannot separate them. The 48

become images of themselves that they are not. That doesn't work.

They also think that personal branding is vanity.

They wonder how people can speak about themselves

could have picked up a new hobby.

FEB 2022

image of yourself, which you are not. Brands don't

all the time. But trust me, if you don't think about yourself, how are other people going to think about you? Branding comes with some baggage. But it is not being manipulative and it is not vanity. None of that is true.

BUSINESS MANDATE

fountainhead of excellence

For me, personal branding for career growth is to

Nike doesn't have to tell us what Nike does. That's the

try and become the best version of my own self. I don't

'who am I?' part. As you have your personal journey,

want to be anybody else. I want to be myself and over

you must decide for yourself what you will stand for.

time, I want to be the best version. Branding boils

Over time, everybody who is a recipient of ‘you’ as a

down to two things: Who am I? and Why buy me?

brand will become familiar with it. One of the most admired brands across the world is Coca-Cola. Do

Good Day vs. Nutrichoice

people buy coke because of price or faith or something

'Why buy me?' is a proposition. When I worked for

else? We will never know the answer. In marketing,

Britannia, we launched Nutrichoice biscuits. People

there are multiple right answers. Coke is a beverage

didn't know what it was. So we had to explain to them

that provides refreshment for the body, mind and spirit

that it's a healthy biscuit, good for diabetics; one

better than everybody else does. That's very long hand.

serving of the biscuit is a hundred calories and that it

The shorthand is that Coke tells you that it opens

will help to regulate sugar level as they go through the

happiness and that you can't beat the feeling. It's not

day. But for Good Day biscuits, we didn't have to say

just about the taste. It's about the feeling that you get.

anything. The consumer knows a Good Day or Milk

They have just found different expressions for it. If you

Bikis. The homemakers tell me that if they have guests

ask people why they buy coke, they will not be able to

and if they don't have Good Day, they don't know what

answer. They may say, "I buy it because I like it." This

to do. So they have Good Day at home, all the time.

is an example of how the 'why by me?' has been

At the start of a brand journey, we need to explain what the brand does, like we did for Nutrichoice. Over time, all the values get imbued into the brand itself.

completely forgotten. Just think of some brand that you like in your mind. It doesn't have to be one of the global brands. Most of us use Google, Amazon,

BUSINESS MANDATE

fountainhead of excellence

49 FEB 2022

Microsoft, Facebook or one of the Facebook products

energy that you bring to the table. You can build from

like Instagram or WhatsApp.

who you are." This is just one example of what we want to be known for, versus, how the world recognises us.

Implicit and explicit needs When you start a brand, you talk about the

NeedScope: Personality and archetype

functional benefits- what it does. Then you go to

There is a tool called NeedScope to find out

identity needs. For example, we associate Facebook with

personality and archetype. We have used this in

moms, dads and grandmothers and Instagram with

marketing to build brands. On the right hand side of

young, cool people.

the personality chart (Figure 2), along the horizontal

Then we go to emotional needs, which is what the world rides on. Since I was doing a lot of work on branding, I defined my brand function as, 'Be of Use.' These are my words. They are neither right nor wrong.

I want to help people. But the world sees me differently.

axis, we have Individuality and Dominance. On the left hand side, we have Group and Affiliative behavior. On the top of the vertical axis, we have outward directed or extroverted and on the bottom, we have inward directed or introverted.

I've gone through 20 years of my career being called

One thing about this whole chart is that there are

'enthu cutlet.' I kept fighting that for a long time. I told

no good words or bad words. They are just words. An

a manager of mine in my first few years of working that

introvert is as good as an extrovert. Introversion comes

I bring so much more and I'm not just enthusiastic. I

with a lot of benefits. There are people who are

am intelligent, quantitatively inclined, logical, novel and

extroverted and more individualistic than belonging to

all that. But he said, "I do all that and everybody can

a group. That makes them bold and dynamic and

do. What you do differently is the enthusiasm and

equally independent.

50

FEB 2022

BUSINESS MANDATE

fountainhead of excellence

There are people who are

 individualistic and introverted. They are focused,

There is nothing negative about networking or personal

competent and controlled. Good Day is about group,

branding. So my first request

affiliative, being together, friendly, open. There are

to you is, believe that you can

brands in the fun loving, carefree, spontaneous space.

be a brand and you can be of

The colours in the chart are chosen and not incidental.

If you pick blue, it is about competence and control. If

use in your career and your life.

you look for the Blue Colour in the Archetype chart

So that's the first part.

given in Figure 2, the words suggest that you are an expert and a saint.

networking as a skill and they have used Heidi to

In the red quadrant, which is bold, dynamic and independent, the words are rebel and warrior. I have wanted to be in the blue space, but ended up coming across as either the warrior or the free spirit. That's my personality type or my needs type. So think about yourself. It is very difficult to plot your own self. You will find that you can plot your friend faster than plotting yourself. So pick a word that you relate to most and that's how you would like to be and usually are. Find out what drives you. I'm somewhere between

illustrate the case.

I asked her about the negative connotations that people have about networking. She said, "I don't care.

I need people and I like to meet people. I walk into a gathering—a party, a professional or personal gathering and decide to make two friends that day. If there are a hundred people, I can't give my attention to all of them.

So I will make two people either friends or good acquaintances. I go about and do that."

dynamic and lively. Remember that nothing in life is

That adds to what I said earlier that there is

one single point. You will realize that you are strong.

nothing negative about networking or personal

That strength of yours can extend to being caring. Your

branding. So my first request to you is, believe that

personality type is somewhere going from strong to

you can be a brand and you can be of use in your career

caring. So this is just a tool to understand who you are

and your life. So that's the first part.

and who you would like to be. I must tell you that in my career journey, I'm hugely competitive. It is not that I have chosen the easy part. What I have chosen is where I want to compete. None of this tells you that life is going to be easy. It is not intended to be. The key is what you want to make out of life.

The second part is that there are many tools available. The first tool that we discussed is to understand yourself. Then have conversations. It can be with yourself or with friends. Find out what is it that drives you and your motivators.

Calling a spade, a bloody shovel?

Two friends a day The start to personal branding is belief. I recently interviewed Heidi Roizen, who is one of the biggest networkers. She's a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley today after having run her own tech company for a long time. There's a Harvard Business case study about

The next is to find out your strengths and opportunities. I have spent a long time trying to correct my weaknesses. Once, my manager told me at my annual appraisal, "Anu. It's very good to call a spade, a spade. I'm glad that you are honest about it. But do you

BUSINESS MANDATE

fountainhead of excellence

51 FEB 2022

have to call it a bloody shovel?" I have a way of being

yourself. Everybody else is already taken. That doesn't

aggressive and it is a real thing. I've spent an entire

mean that I can't change myself. It just means that I

lifetime trying to curb my tongue. I realized that when

have to find the reasons why I should change.

I tried to do that, I missed out on volunteering and doing things which I would otherwise be happy doing.

Speak up for yourself

So I came to a conclusion that you can't always be

For any meeting or talk, I do not go unprepared. I

working on your weaknesses. Rather, you should work

have gone into annual appraisals with notebooks. My

more on your strengths.

team members would come in and ask me what I have

I would recommend a wonderful book called, 'First break all the rules,' written by Marcus Buckingham.

There's a follow-up book to that called, 'Now Discover Your strengths.' It helps you understand that you can't be always handling weaknesses. Don't start your career only looking at your weaknesses. Look at your strengths and decide what works best for you. Focus on strengths and worry less about others. It can be your own mother, father or your immediate family. When you always think about what others think about you, you never think enough about yourself. You have to change that balance.

Women have been conditioned to think about what others will think of us. I also came to know of the 2040-60 rule. It says that at 20, you care what everyone is thinking about you. At 40, you don't give a damn what people are thinking about you. At 60, you realize that no one is thinking about you. You have to develop language and expressions exactly as brand Good Day or Coke has a certain way of speaking. What is the way that is right for you? The Lodestar what you should focus on is consistency and authenticity. If you have to pick one of the two, it will be authenticity. I maybe a moody person. That's absolutely fine. Think that today is my day to be out and do wonderful stuff. You may not feel like that tomorrow. No problem. You don't have to be consistent. You just have to be authentic. Be 52

head. You need to tell me what you think you have done. What could you have done better than others?

Tell me why you did what you did and why you're the best person for this job and therefore, why you need a promotion, an increment or whatever. If you are not going to put forward your case, nobody else is going to do that to you." In life, everything is not black and white. There are 50 shades of grey in between. Be relevant and differentiate yourself. Standing out is more important than blending in, especially at the start of your career.

Branding can’t fix you

The 20‐40‐60 rule

FEB 2022

to tell them. I reply to them, "Don't leave it all in my

The best teams are those that have diverse people.

There will be somebody who will be good at numbers and somebody who is good in language. Look at what one brings to the table in every meeting. It doesn't matter whether I'm the most senior person or the most junior person in the meeting. Various people bring in various skills and the best that team leaders can do is to recognize that. Crafting a brand takes time. I'm still discovering myself. Just like advertising can't fix a poor product, personal branding can't fix the flaws in a person. The face that you put out to the world has to be the same person that you are. Be authentic. When everything is aligned, magic happens. My currency for the world is energy and I have discovered my magic from my energy. 

BUSINESS MANDATE

fountainhead of excellence

Mythili Chandrasekar: I loved what you said about career,

daughter who just won Miss Universe contest must have had a lot

that it is not a vertical line. Sometimes you're stuck in one

coaching. Any coaching is good as long as it is coaching and not a

place. Sometimes you make a lateral move. Sometimes, you

make‐over because you can't be somebody else, except for a short

take a U-turn.

period of me, just like on camera.

Yes. Some mes it happens because you choose it that way and

Mythili: You have to build on something that's authen c. I have

maybe because circumstances were like that. What is important

learnt that some of this projec on is related to what you want to

is that you must make the most of where you are and plan for

be. For example, at some point in my career, when I was based in

where your next point is going to be.

Chennai and working with clients in other ci es, I told myself that

How did you change your career from CEO of Britannia to teaching entrepreneurship? How did it happen?

clients should know me before I walked into their offices. I started wri ng ar cles and looked for speaking opportuni es. It was hard work. A er three or four years, I got media visibility and it

I was VP—Marke ng in Britannia and I loved my job. The next job

benefi ed me both inside and outside the company. So, all the

was CEO of Britannia. Mentally, I realised that I liked branding

projec on goes back to what are you trying to achieve.

work. I had a team of 30, 40 young people whom I loved mee ng.

I didn't want to be standing up in front of board mee ngs and

How can we develop growth mindset?

presen ng growth charts. That was not my cup of tea. What I liked

There are many ways to get to a growth mindset. You can be very

most was hanging out with young people. Of course, I worked

compe

hard for it. I started a PhD and I am ge ng close to finishing it.

is very consumer focused. All that he wanted to do was deliver

The job at IIT came along the way.

the best thing to the consumer. In all the conversa ons about the

Dr Lata Rajagopalan ﴾Member, IAICS﴿: You said that the projected image has to be as close as possible to reality.

More than just projecting a personality, should there not be a transformation?

ve, someone like me. I have worked with a person who

brand, it was not about whether ‘A brand’ was be er than ‘B brand’. His concern was: Am I doing my best to my consumer?

That is service mentality. You can get growth mindset by being outwardly driven or inwardly driven. The third way of ge ng to a growth mindset is by serving people. That is a wonderful growth

Projec on is important because without projec on, like a tree

mindset that many young people have today. They want to save

that fell in the forest, people wouldn't even know you. It is not

the planet and help each other.

about transforma on. The language by which your skill comes across to everybody is important. It can be visual language too.

We now hear from most places in the world about personal PR agents and image managers. What is your opinion of this concept?

How do we attract people? Is it by brand, professionalism, professional acumen or our competency?

I don't want to split hair between professionalism and branding.

Professionalism is your branding. You may want to be known as professional. Power to you! I want to be known as the fun person

Anu: Firstly, I am my image manager. If somebody were to teach

in every mee ng. That's my goal.

me this, I don't have a problem. I must sure Ravinder Kaur's BUSINESS MANDATE

fountainhead of excellence

53 FEB 2022



There is nothing negative about networking or personal branding. So my first request to you is, believe that you can be a brand and you can be of use in your career and your life.

In Indian companies, people value hard work more than

and I need to change my outlook. How do I react to this

personal branding. What do you think about it?

situation?

Well. Hard work is your personal branding. But that alone is not

If you are not an introvert and your manager brands you as

sufficient because everyone will be working hard. Think of what

introvert, then you need to speak to him. If you are an introvert,

differen ates you, in addi on to the hard work.

then see how it is coming in the way you work. One common

What are the tools that you used for self-development?

misunderstanding that all of us have is that the best sales people are extroverts. Actually, some of the best sales people are

The first tool I learned was to focus on my strengths and not to

introverts. There are two types of selling ‐ hun ng and farming.

work endlessly on my weaknesses. The second, I evaluate myself

Hunters are the people who go out and get you new accounts.

every year at a personal level. Whatever I have achieved in this

They are o en extroverts. Farmers are the ones who build long‐

world is very important to me. I also want to know how many new

term rela onship and make those same accounts grow bigger and

people I met and influenced this year. Now I am in IIT and I want

bigger. They are introverts.

to be amongst the top 10 rated facul es out of 800 facul es. That's my objec ve. I do targets every year and share with my husband.

You can have your goals and share it with your family or friend, as it suits you.

How can we get noticed in a group? How can we share our opinion without irritating others?

If you have a desire to be interes ng, you need experiences to tell

Being intelligent or interesting—which is more important for personal branding?

stories. I've been to all the 29 States of India and I can tell how a Chai (Tea) in Chennai is different from that in Gujarat. I have many stories to tell. Experiences are what give you stories to tell.

Anu: I am a marke ng person and for me, interes ng is more important than intelligence. Stand out, rather than blend in. That doesn't mean that intelligence can't be your angle to being

How do you start a conversation with unknown members in a group?

interes ng.

It is very easy to start a conversa on. Everybody is happy to talk

Mythili: 'Interes ng' is all about having stories to tell. On top of

about themselves. So don't walk in and talk about yourself. You

your intelligence, you can add variety, be interes ng and be a story teller.

walk in and ask about them. Everybody in this world in dying to tell you about themselves. Also, do a bit of homework and try to know something about that person. That will be an easy star ng

My manager advises me all the time that I'm an introvert 54

FEB 2022

point for the conversa on.

BUSINESS MANDATE

fountainhead of excellence

How can we build trust in this VUCA world?

You have to differen ate. Just like with computer languages, you

VUCA world is all about uncertainty. You have to build your

have to keep pace with what is happening at that me and you have to rework on your 'why buy me?' at different mes.

authen city and consistency to be trusted.

How important is networking in branding?

What has changed in branding in the last 10 years?

Earlier, we had to tell people about the brand and then they would find it and experience it. In today's world, they experience the brand without even being told. Nobody told you anything about WhatsApp or Google. They have become very important persons in the world. The biggest difference that I see is that now consumers are part of and even decide the brand journey.

It is hugely important—be it for personal branding or for building a network. Just like in the startup world, you have to be constantly pitching. Your next job may come from somebody in your network.

Maybe, your ini al job might come from campus placement. But a er that, it comes from your networks. You also get valida on and inspira on from networking. What is the point of having a personal brand if I don't have a network to influence or impact

How can we sustain our personal branding?

with it? The size of the network is your choice. 

BUSINESS MANDATE

fountainhead of excellence

55 FEB 2022