Personal Branding for Project Leaders

STEVE HENDERSHOT

Apple, Gucci, Alibaba, Ikea. They’re all big companies that realize the power of creating a great brand—crafting a story that can succinctly convey their vision and values. But they’re not alone. Every single one of us has a brand. And in today’s ultra-competitive world, project leaders need to define and market that brand.

PASCALE SABLAN

You have a personal brand, whether you’re choosing to define it or polish it or not. And it’s the way you present yourself to the world, and it’s the mark you’re trying to leave. And as we talk about making a mark, is the mark that you’re leaving a scar or something positive? And so I say it’s important that we really be mindful of our brand, because it provides clarity.

NARRATOR

The world is changing fast. And every day, project professionals are turning ideas into reality—delivering value to their organizations and society as a whole. On Projectified^®, we’ll help you stay on top of the trends and see what’s ahead for The Project Economy—and your career.

STEVE HENDERSHOT

This is Projectified^®. I’m Steve Hendershot.

Your brand—your personal brand—helps shape the way the world sees you. And future-focused project leaders looking for their next opportunity know it’s going to take more than sharpening their skills or building a strong network. Whether it’s by securing influencer status on social media, volunteering on a project or lining up speaker appearances, they have to know how to build their own brand identity and then market that brand. Now I know this is new turf for some of you, and you’ve probably been more focused on project deliverables and Zoom calls. But fear not; we’ve lined up some help.

First up is architect Pascale Sablan, an associate at Adjaye Associates in New York. A PMI Future 50 honoree in 2020, Pascale has built a brand as an architecture activist—a brand that has led directly to professional opportunities and also provided a compass that informs how she approaches every project. We talked about how she crafted that brand—and how her training as an architect and designer influences the way she approaches the process.

MUSICAL TRANSITION

STEVE HENDERSHOT

You’re an architect and a project leader who knows a thing or two about design thinking and creative problem-solving. How has that mindset influenced your approach to your own brand? 

PASCALE SABLAN

For me, both general and personal branding is aligned to echo your ethos or your mission. The way that that works for me personally is my mission is to dismantle and eradicate racism and oppression from the built environment and profession. And so that’s my ultimate goal of success.

STEVE HENDERSHOT

Could you articulate that mission right away, as you were beginning your career? Or did it evolve over time?

PASCALE SABLAN

It didn’t start as strategic as one might think. It began when I started architecture school, and a professor asked me and another student to stand and said that we would never become architects because we were Black and because we were women. And I’m standing in a classroom of 60-plus students, shocked that my teacher would say such a strong proclamation without even knowing who I am or my capacity, the silence of my peers that didn’t seem to object, or actually at some point take notes as if this is pure fact. And then the fact that it’s only two of us who complied with those two requirements in that space. And so that was the moment where I realized that I was no longer just representing Pascale, but actually my gender and race within that space. And therefore, I couldn’t just focus on the architecture and the work that I was doing, in terms of how I was implementing designs, but also how I wanted to change the profession itself.

So it started, for me, early on in education because I understood that I was already a brand, whether I thought of it [or] not, right? So if I said, “Ah, I don’t want to go to class today. I’m not feeling well,” it’s like, “No, I can’t be the Black girl who doesn’t go to school because then they’ll assume other Black girls won’t go to class.” 

And so that weight, that responsibility of that brand that I didn’t know that I was holding—but became quickly realizing when I entered higher ed—then made me be more strategic about how I held that story and made sure that I was always showing up and showing out with everything that I was doing. And then trying to articulate my passion, my mission as clearly and as effectively as possible so that I can build a coalition, a network of people who saw the issues that I was dealing with, and also was working really diligently to solve them as well.

STEVE HENDERSHOT

Like you said, at that point, you sort of inherit at least part of your brand. But obviously, in your case, that also aligned with things you were passionate about. But that took some shaping to not just accept the sort of negative challenge framing but turn it into something positive and proactive. So how did you go about thinking about, “How do I get in front of this so that I am building that coalition and pushing it toward the things that I want to achieve and to do?”

PASCALE SABLAN

Great question. It actually really started happening with collective responsibility. And when I say that, it’s me getting involved with different organizations. I was able to really start to understand the full complexities and the multi-facets pressure points of these kinds of injustices in the profession, and I started to meet people who had been working for years and seeing the systems that were supporting the change, and also being hyper aware of the systems that were in direct opposition of anything changing.

STEVE HENDERSHOT

Why is this whole branding exercise important? How do you benefit from approaching it thoughtfully, and how are you and your career affected by having worked through it?

PASCALE SABLAN

We think about design, and it could be something powerful and positive, but design can also be leveraged in a negative way. And so when we think about myself as a designer of the built environment, my process is very much concept-based. And by making it concept-based, it really helps me start to investigate and put myself in a position of constantly learning, which is always great for me. Like, I always like to feel like I am a student—student from my community, student from my clients, student from my peers, student from my child, student from my husband. And I find that really invigorating and motivating in a lot of things. 

But beyond just the position of learning and creating an appetite to learn, or having that appetite to learn, it’s also rooted in history, context and culture. And by doing that, it results in creating something that’s always bespoke to that group that we’re trying to develop it for, whether that be a branding component or whether that be a piece of architecture. When we manifest our concepts, it really happens throughout the project at various scales. So that kind of north star allows us to make decisions that help us navigate the world in a way that gives me purpose.

So I guess that’s why I find it important to have a design, to have a brand, to have a concept, a way of thinking because it becomes my north arrow. It becomes the rulers in which I measure opportunities up against. It becomes the way that I define my goals and achievements as I move through this very difficult world. Having a clear focus and that kind of direction that I’m heading is really, really important.

STEVE HENDERSHOT

If you were still you—same skills, same talents, same values—but had taken a more passive approach to your brand, would your work portfolio look different? 

PASCALE SABLAN

I think it’s given more power to the messaging. I participate in panels all the time and do a lot of lectures, and there’s so many voices, questions, communities, issues and topics that we discuss. Before I show up to any of these opportunities of engaging communities, I always think to myself, “In the context of this moment and the desired outcome for this event, what is my one statement?” Is my one statement that we need to do and engage community leaders in our design process? And if that is my statement, then every question I’m asked, I’m echoing that sentiment in a different way. I’m creating examples. I’m talking about it on different scales, but at the end of it, that’s where I’m hitting. 

And so people will walk away from panel discussions and be like, “I don’t remember everything people said, but I know what she was talking about because the message was clear.” Being strategic about the messaging allows that principle and that ideal to reach a greater audience and really resonate and hold true with them as something that they can take away and therefore use as their lens as they move and navigate through their decision-making process.

MUSICAL TRANSITION

STEVE HENDERSHOT

So your brand matters. Your next question, then, might be, “What do I do to take control and start shaping—and sharing—my personal branding?” And we’ve got you covered there, because Projectified^®’s Hannah Schmidt spoke with a personal branding coach: Jon Michail, founder and group CEO of Image Group International in Melbourne. 

MUSICAL TRANSITION

HANNAH SCHMIDT

Not every project leader has given a lot of thought to personal branding. So let’s start there: How do you define it—and why do you think it’s important?

JON MICHAIL

The way I define it, it’s your reputation. So what do I mean by that—be the hero in your journey. Be a first-class hero in your life, not a second-class assistant in someone else’s dreams. So getting recognized and rewarded for your real worth and be seen as an authority. Get picked to lead the right projects. Get to work with the leading minds. Get recognized for the true value of all you do. And that includes, of course, as I mentioned earlier, reputation is really the endgame, but this personal satisfaction that comes from that, career security, and that means also from a financial perspective, and legacy. So going to your question, it’s about elevating your self-leadership. Be seen, be heard, be known.

HANNAH SCHMIDT

How can personal branding affect a project leader’s career?

JON MICHAIL

Well, most importantly, it’s something essential, because the world has changed. COVID is a great example in the last 16 months that your job, your position, your career’s not guaranteed anymore. So you’re responsible to either put yourself out there and get yourself known, or potentially you get left behind. And, of course, the more comfortable you are in your position right now, the more danger you’re in because of the transformation that’s happening of course from a tech point of view, from a workplace point of view, and of course from the epidemic and economic point of view. There’s all sorts of dangerous signals out there if you’re not on guard. And adaption is the key here. If you’re not adapting right now, you’re in definite danger of basically being knocked over.

HANNAH SCHMIDT

When you’re looking across professions when it comes to personal branding, how do project leaders compare to other professions?

JON MICHAIL

So perception is reality. So you want to treat this as if you don’t get known, and you’ve got all these great attributions that you want to promote and get the world to find out about, how’s the world going to find out about that if you don’t put yourself out there?

So comparing to other professions, project managers would be on the lower. Having said that, they also have been some of my most successful case studies because they discovered after doing some of this work, it’s like, “Wow, I’m starting to get recognized for who I am. That goes beyond my work, and it didn’t happen in the past.” And a common comment would be, back to me, is how long’s this been around?

HANNAH SCHMIDT

What should project leaders focus on when it comes to creating their personal brands? Is it building certain skills? Is it being present on social media platforms? Speaking engagements and networking? Is it all of these things combined? And if so, what areas should they be paying the most attention to?

JON MICHAIL

Project managers should focus on the 80-20 rule, meaning what 20 percent efforts will bring in the 80 percent of results? One of the first things you want to do is claim your real estate. What does that mean? First, search your name on Google, and definitely register in different domains so you can own that real estate. That’s number one.

Number two, social media channels obviously can be effective. But whatever you do there, make sure it’s as per your intended outcomes. So whatever your endgame is. So for instance, we know LinkedIn or Twitter should be used totally differently to market as opposed to Facebook or Instagram, as an example.

Number three, create a blog or have some platform where you are going to put out your authority, your storytelling. It cements your leadership authority, but you must, you must, you must publish quality content. And the next one you want to consider is, again, appear on podcasts, like what I’m doing with you today. Public speaking events, anything to get your name out there.

Every human being I’ve worked with intimately has an innate need to be fully expressed. So if you’ve got something to tell the world, to share with the world, it’s time to do that. The clock is ticking.

HANNAH SCHMIDT

What are maybe a few first steps for project leaders who are looking to build their personal brand? And in thinking about that, how does a project leader kind of decide what their personal brand is going to be, or the things about themselves that they really want to highlight and bring to the forefront with their personal brand?

JON MICHAIL

Your LinkedIn profile, from my perspective, has to be A-game ready. It has to share more about you and less about what you actually do. Trust has gone down dramatically in society, worldwide. Institutions are not trusted. Leaders are not trusted. It’s up to us to build that trust, and LinkedIn is actually a great vehicle to get that started. So that’s number one.

Compile a database, number two, of all your connections—online and offline. These are your networks. And I mean by that is get clarity on your networks. Find out who are the real supporters in your networks, the ones that really, really care about you and will put a good word out for you. And also eliminate the toxic connections. You don’t want that energy around you. Life is too short. As I said, the clock is ticking. So basically, you want to get really clear, and of course, personal brand is around getting clear on your values, your mission and, of course, your purpose. What’s essential in all of this is ask yourself a question. Why do I get out of bed every morning? Is it just to go to work, slog it out so I can pay my bills? Or is my purpose, really, something beyond that?

This is an important question for all of us. How am I going to make a real difference out there? Project managers, in my opinion, from the ones I’ve worked with, they do fantastic work out there, but rarely do they get recognized.

HANNAH SCHMIDT

The other side of this is, okay, so these are the things that they should be doing. So what do you think is the biggest mistake people are making when it comes to personal branding?

JON MICHAIL

You need a system, step-by-step, on how to do this. So if you have no system, you’re doing it from an ad hoc perspective. Ad hoc actions normally create confusion. So I would not recommend that. Jumping on a social media campaign to promote your personal brand is not recommended if your foundations of personal brand are missing. So there’s a distinction. So we could argue, we all have a personal brand, but few have personal branding. Branding is the system that eliminates most of the mistakes. Why? Because you’re following a step-by-step approach.

Another mistake is trusting that this is the silver bullet to save your career. Look, of course, it’s never too late to start, but you want to start from a position of strength. While you’ve got the power, leverage the power. If you lose your job, you’ve just lost your power. So my approach to that is be proactive. If you do this properly, I will promise this—personal branding can be your insurance policy.

HANNAH SCHMIDT

Say a project leader has their personal brand. What’s the best way for them to market themselves for future roles?

JON MICHAIL

The world is changing. It’s a tough question. So you’ve got to face the mirror and say, am I changing? Am I adapting to the world that I’m facing? So the idea here is to be adaptive and be open to [the] possibility that things are changing. That’s it. So what you want to do is start controlling the things that you can, and definitely some of the things you can control is the way you’re perceived in the world. Your personal brand, your reputation.

So examples of that is put yourself forward for challenging projects that will highlight your thought leadership. Go above and beyond the call of duty. Enroll team members to engage in your project vision, step out of your comfort zone. Get coached about the hidden and what I would call is unsaid pathways to career elevation. And that means also understanding that what you’re doing is really part of your self, career, professional development, and it’s not just a tick-the-box exercise. This is part of you constantly growing at an individual level, as well, not just from a skills point of view of technical skills, but also from a human possibility perspective.

Personal branding is not a once-off. Personal branding does not stop. No different to personal business development, it’s ongoing. You’ve got to look at this as part of moving forward. And it’s going to give you great return on investment when you do this properly. Authentic personal branding, and this is what I’m talking about, and this is what we’re on about, is a relationship-based approach. It’s not transactional. If you want to be trusted, you want to open up with your heart. The mind does not build trust. The heart does. That’s how people trust others. So, the mind is great for an intellectual perspective that you know what you’re on about. And that’s great, but it’s the heart that opens up. So, part of what I suggest is don’t look at that as an airy-fairy concept. It’s about opening up in that aspect, as well, so you can connect with people so they can see you, that you’re actually a leader that cares.

MUSICAL TRANSITION

STEVE HENDERSHOT

Cultivating your brand could seem a little out of scope, but it might just be your next great project. So go ahead, come up with your vision, maybe talk to some stakeholders and establish the deliverables that will make you into the next big brand—and as always, deliver on deadline. 

Sure, it’s a different kind of project. But I promise, done right, this one comes with a very big ROI.

NARRATOR

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