Protecting Your Name: How To Keep Integrity In Your Executive Professional Brand

Mar 04 2010

By John Henderson

When you’re in the middle of an executive-level job search, the last thing you want to do along the way is destroy what you’ve work so hard to build. The things you have built include confidence in your abilities, your networking base, and your professional brand.

Of the three, the latter is the easiest to damage in a world where much of your brand rests in the open forum known as the Internet. However, while it is easy to damage your brand, it is just as easy to keep it in tack if you know what to do. Here are a few tips to help you do just that …

Avoid Having Too Much Fun Online

Spending time on the Internet can definitely be fun. There are so many ways to catch up with old acquaintances and meet new ones that it’s often difficult to step away from it. However, you want to keep in mind that an executive brand is something you build both online and off.

You therefore need to be as professional on the Internet as you would be off of the Internet. So while you’re posting your Facebook updates, it’s good to make sure that they’re always respectable and politically correct, especially if you leave your page open for others besides your friends to see it.

Social Networking: Proceed with Caution

Since we’re mentioning Facebook, let’s explore the social networking phenomenon that has exploded across the Web. As all 21st century minded people know, social networking websites provide tools to allow you to contact anyone that you’ve known over the years. You can use websites like LinkedIn to find great positions at a variety of companies, and you can also network and build up your name with some of the fantastic tools that these websites offer. While the positives certainly make social websites worth investigating, there are negatives, particularly for executives who jump across different networks too often.

If you befriend the world on every social network then don’t actually use the profile, some will become annoyed with you. However, many executives make this mistake often. If you’re on all of the sites, it’s good to use them all, even though this can be very tiring. This is why your best bet is to choose one, use it often and use it well.

Don’t Forget the Offline World

Sometimes we can get so caught up in our virtual realities that we forget there is a 3-dimensional world waiting to greet us. If you recall, the old days of networking (about 15 years ago, to be exact) required that you actually meet people face-to-face to have your meetings.

Now, with texting, emailing, Twitter “tweeting,” Facebook status updating and LinkedIn network updating, it’s hard to resist spending your meet-and-greet time behind the computer. But if all you do is spend time online, you’re missing out on great social events that people may look for you at. So while you’re maintaining your brand online, it’s good to never forget to nurture your offline brand as well.

Your executive brand is incredibly important, and it takes time to build–you really don’t want to make minor mistakes that can damage it. So as you maintain your brand, take time to make sure you’re doing so in the most productive way possible.