I’ve been getting a bunch of requests lately from forward-thinking businesses looking to show their employees how to build strong personal brands. Yes, you read that right. From start-ups to mature enterprises, companies everywhere are learning not only too trust their staff but to leverage their online output – what I call the collective digital footprint.
The truth is, strong brands lift each other up. It’s precisely why Accenture partnered with Tiger Woods. Wait, bad example. Try Lady GaGa and Polaroid. Talk about a leap of faith!
Look at Scott Monty and Ford Motor Company. Does Scott have a strong personal brand? You bet. Does Ford benefit from it? Without a doubt. Sure there’s risk that someone might pull a Gottfried or send an ill-timed tweet from the wrong account but isn’t the risk higher if you bury your head in the sand and hope for the best? Start the conversation. Offer training. Set reasonable boundaries and enable the social butterflies in your office to take your message to the street.
Instead of thinking about how to shut down access to Facebook at the office, why not spend some energy giving staff something positive to shout about? Besides, unless you can time-travel and un-invent the smartphone, the whole “shut it down” mindset is pretty much moot.
