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Personal brand building is a vital part of your successAs an acclaimed author, inspirational speaker, life-changing consultant and an international award-winning leader, the brand philosopher Timothy Maurice Webster has become an American and South African institution.
His South African radio programme on empowering women called “Power of the Purse” and his hard-hitting book, Thinking about You have endeared him to thousands.
In 2007, he was the recipient of the Asia Brand Congress Personal Brand Leadership Award in Mumbai. He gained international recognition for that award, as he was the winner among contestants from 64 countries worldwide.
Webster’s clients include Barloworld International, Absa as well as the chief executive of Telkom Media, Mandla Ngcobo.
But why is brand philosophy and image-building so vital, and how does it add value to a company, King and country?
A platform for a value system – just ask Branson
Webster says personal branding allows people to develop a platform for their value system that works for them in order to communicate who they are and what they stand for without constantly having to engineer that message over and over.
“Think Richard Branson. His brand is… innovative and groundbreaking and anyone entering into a relationship with the man knows, based on the brand, what they are getting themselves into,” says Webster.
Branson, the British industrialist whose Virgin brand of 360 companies has become a household international name, added immense commercial value to the company because of his ability to brand his persona as charismatic, cool and hands-on.
Yet, Webster emphasises that it is not all about the commercial interest, but also about personal value and what it means to society.
Madiba’s influence
If Nelson Mandela had not been able to develop a story around forgiveness and reconciliation and position it among his immediate stakeholders, the ANC and the country could have gone up in flames, says Webster.
Ultimately, the brain is an anticipation machine. And if leaders are to lead without unnecessary friction, their stakeholders need to know that they are following a story – and not simply a story but a well-branded and consistent story.
When asked about which successful salespeople of their own brand have been iconic examples of the value of personal branding, Webster says Madiba springs to mind.
During his presidency, he was a fierce negotiator and his values were mirrored in his well-tailored and crisp image.
A good suit represents armour and is a form of business and political protection from prejudice.
As Mandela settled into the iconic phase of his career and toward retirement, he traded in his power suit for his power shirt.
His brand was, and is, a story that inspires transformation, and he began by transforming himself internally and externally.
The example of a South African Oscar winner
The Oscar-winning and South African-born actress Charlize Theron is a wonderful example of someone who knew that her values for acting had to manifest in her tongue, says Webster. So she changed her dialect to represent a global Hollywood actress.
“As she grew, her values of consciousness and women’s rights shone through via the selected for herself. Her brand journey continues and I look forward to seeing how she manifests her values into an iconic brand,” says Webster.
He adds that he agreed with the views held by the motivational speaker John Demartini, who claimed that leadership merges naturally from within when individuals set goals that are truly congruent with their highest priorities and values.
“My values are creativity, innovation, health and wealth. My actions are governed by these values,” he adds.
Oprah Winfrey is a brand who embodies exactly what it means to be a brand, says Webster. Her values – caring and embracing challenge – are portrayed vividly in her shows and in her commitment to development.
Barack Obama, president of the United States of America, is also a living icon. While coming from a challenged and what many would argue a dysfunctional background, he incorporated his struggle into a compelling case for hope, and inspired a nation.
Adding value by stroking a vision
But how could presentation and conveying your personal brand add value to businesses?
Webster claims that followers yearn to walk behind someone who inspires, engages and provides an example.
“Most leaders are so focused on the nuts and bolts of business, they miss the fact that they have hearts and minds following them and these hearts and minds need to be stroked by a sense of vision and purpose.”
The need for consistency
But if such leaders want to inspire their followers with a sense of vision and purpose reflected in their inward values and outward portrayal thereof, there needs to be consistency.
Says Webster: “You must take your highest values and present them in form, in language and in your relationships. At the end of the day, if you say you are disciplined, then your trousers shouldn’t be hanging off your backside.
“If you say you believe in time management, then you show up on time and meet your deadlines. If you say you are forward thinking, then you do like Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. and you create products that take us forward and you stick to your brand,” he adds.
Advice on improving your brand
Asked what advice he had for ‘novices’ on how to improve their personal style and their brand, he says everyone needs to embrace the fact that they already have been branding themselves.
Perhaps it was not done consciously, but they have certainly been making choices around what they drive, where they live, what they wear, who they marry and who their friends are and with which media they choose to affiliate.
These choices were all based on their values.
Secondly, they need to start developing a vision for their values and settle into a holistic image that mirrors and echoes who they want to be in that vision.
Thirdly, they ought to develop a budget for their brand. They also need to make purchasing decisions that affirm they are, in fact, the accumulation of values that they say they are.
They must ensure, on a daily basis, that they live these values as consistently as they possibly can.
A story about a ‘repressive moustache’
Webster states one classical example of a South African businessperson with whom he worked and who evolved into a very successful brand ambassador because of a dramatic change in style. He had a client in the logistical management department with a moustache that turned up on the side. The client also boasted a gold chain that showed under his shirt in meetings.
Although extremely successful in his job, his image created a barricade between himself and his black colleagues. They perceived him as someone who represented a repressive regime, even though the logistics manager perceived himself as a forward-thinking compassionate leader without bias or prejudice.
Webster saw it as his task to convey to this manager how to take those values and manifest them differently in his image and form, ultimately to change the story and take down the barricade.
Willem changed his personal style to suit his values. He cut his moustache, buttoned up his shirt and, more importantly, embraced the need to reposition his values.
“His story has been re-engineered in the mind of his stakeholders and he has continued without the unnecessary drama of a lie created from the wrong brand image,” says Webster.
Intrinsic value and walking the talk
Webster, though, is not about projecting a healthy and positive image and branding his clients and thereby ‘camouflaging’ some glaring weaknesses as the director of his personal branding company, Timothy Maurice & Associates. Quite the opposite is true.
Two essential questions often asked by Webster to potential clients are: How much is your personal stock worth? And if your personal brand were placed on a stock exchange, who would be interested in investing in you?
Warren Buffett, arguably the greatest investor in history and also one of the world’s wealthiest people with an estimated net worth of R500 billion, adheres to a simple ‘values-
investing’ philosophy.
He looks to invest in companies with potential greater than their assigned value, explains Webster.
Most people would agree that the value assigned to them is less than the value they see in themselves. If Webster were to ask each of them about their pay, the majority of respondents would say they were unjustifiably underpaid.
In fact, there are many books written to assist the undervalued workforce in asking for its desired increase. The fundamental questions you should be asking yourself is: how much are you capable of delivering, and how willing are you to guarantee your ability to walk the talk?
Buffett says that when he invests in a company, he is not concerned with whether the market will eventually recognise its worth. He is concerned with how well that company can make money as a business.
Many people, says Webster, are far too concerned with their perceived value and not concerned enough with the ability to deliver results.
The workplace is in trouble, added Webster. Despite the tough times people face, greed and excess have many employees favouring big bonuses and fancy remuneration packages over the long-term stability of the company.
“Many of us go out of our way to increase our stock value with bling, fancy clothing, cars and other personal trappings. Perhaps it is time to look beyond materialism to philosophies like ubuntu to increase our value,” he adds.
Brand South Africa
Webster was born and bred in the US, but he has established some African roots, with an office in Gauteng.
Pressed on how South African business people project themselves, he says South African businesspeople are highly accommodating and interested in innovation.
One of the greatest areas of growth is to identify African models that have export potential and to empower and grow that brand.
Branding women
In the South African society that has attracted criticism on the marginalisation of women, Webster has done some work on empowering women.
But he emphasises that the growth of ‘brand woman’ is a global phenomenon. The equality movement for women began in the 17th century. And in the past two centuries or so that women have been organising to have their voices appreciated and valued, they have hit a “tipping point of progress”.
“This becomes clear in their vigour for education, new means of leadership as well as in their vision for a more peaceful world,” says Webster.
He personally worked domestically with South African jazz singer, Lira. “She has a phenomenal brand that speaks about her incredible courage and conviction around personal introspection,” says Webster.
Fanie Heyns
