Your work carries the company's name. A personal brand makes sure it carries yours too, with the people who decide promotions and in the next role.
The Manifesto is plain that personal branding is not only for entrepreneurs. It applies to the intrapreneur who works within a business and to the corporate professional in a traditional 9-to-5 position. A visible record in the field is what gets an employee chosen to represent the company in moments more experienced colleagues are not, and it is what the people who decide promotions see.
Most of an employee's work is credited to the company. The Manifesto's subchapter on taking credit treats asking for accreditation as respect, not ego: ask up front whether you may publicly reference your part, get clarity from the decision makers on past work, and promote it with class. A brand built that way belongs to you, and it travels to the next role.
Intrapreneurs and employees who position their public image in a positive light to represent their professional qualities will open the door to promotions.
Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame and Influence, Second Edition, 1.7
Most employees are known to their team, their manager, and their department: the workplace version of Friends and Family. The Local Hero, known by name across the company and in the field outside it, is the first tier to build toward, and it takes deliberate effort.
Where most stand: Tier 2, Friends and FamilyBuild toward: Tier 3, The Local Hero
The tier measures how large a position is. How good it is, is measured by The Five Personal Brand Pillars. Read more about the six tiers.
The moves MCG starts with for employees and corporate professionals, grouped by pillar, in order. Each one cites the subchapter of Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame and Influence it comes from.
Advice Isaac Mashman has given on his own shows and in interviews that applies to employees and corporate professionals, from the same library MCG consultants work from. Each one keeps the words he said it in, and links to the transcript where there is one.
Show up to the events, deliver early, go beyond the minimum, and make your contributions visible to the people who decide promotions.
Read the transcript ↗ (opens in a new tab)“you are now on their radar”
Chase the Vision with Isaac Mashman, “Pursuing Proactive”, May 11, 2022
Study sales even if you never call yourself a salesperson. Practice it in job interviews, partnerships, and every pitch for your work.
Read the transcript ↗ (opens in a new tab)“every little thing is sales”
Chase the Vision with Isaac Mashman, “Selling The ROI, Not The Price | FRIDAY FIRE #7”, November 13, 2020
If your current role has no room for you to grow your value or compensation, line up another position before you leave, then go.
Read the transcript ↗ (opens in a new tab)“go somewhere else where there is room for growth”
Chase the Vision with Isaac Mashman, “The Hard Truth About Raising Your Prices”, March 14, 2022
Do the things you ask your team to do, visibly, and show that you care about each person who looks to you.
Read the transcript ↗ (opens in a new tab)“the leader sets the example and actually cares about the person”
Chase the Vision with Isaac Mashman, “It's Time to Step Up As Leaders”, April 20, 2020
All consumed media educates, entertains, inspires, or connects. The Skyline Strategy asks for two pieces about your work for every one about your life. Here is one of each, for each purpose.
| Purpose | Brand Post | Personal Post |
|---|---|---|
| EducateTeach something useful. | A lesson from a project you were credited on. | A skill you are learning outside work. |
| EntertainMake it enjoyable to follow you. | A funny moment from inside a project, told with the team's permission. | How you spend the hour after work. |
| InspireShow what is possible. | The project that stretched you, and what changed after it. | The colleague or mentor who first backed you. |
| ConnectGive people a reason to reply. | Ask peers in your field how they would solve a problem you just solved. | What you did before this job. |
Draw a Week
Two posts about your work, one about your life, drawn from the ideas above.
Plan the ratio with the free Skyline Planner (opens in a new tab).
A profile, a list, and a site of your own travel with you. The company's channels stay with the company.
Ask up front to reference your part publicly, then promote it. Never claim more than you did.
Confirm with your employer what you may say publicly about your work before you say it.
Twenty-five questions, about seven minutes, free. Choose Other on the intake, name your field, and the audit scores all five pillars, places you on The Hierarchy of Personal Branding, and returns the three moves that would raise your score most, each traced to the subchapter it comes from.
The firm’s topic guide on the subject, with the doctrine, terms, tips, and interviews in one place: Executive Visibility.
Every employee already has one; colleagues, managers, and clients form an impression either way. The Manifesto applies personal branding to the intrapreneur and the corporate professional as much as to the entrepreneur, and links a positive public image to promotions.
Built in the open, it serves the employer too. Agree on what you may say publicly about your work, publish on your field rather than on confidential matters, and the company gains a visible representative. The Manifesto notes that employees with a visible record get chosen to represent their company.
It makes your work visible to the people who decide. Isaac Mashman's advice is to be proactive rather than wait to be noticed: show up to the events, deliver early, go beyond the minimum, and make your contributions visible to leadership.
More executives are becoming the public face of their companies. The ones who do it well build a presence before a crisis or a stock price asks them to.
A degree and a résumé say what you have done. A personal brand tells the people who hire what you are working to become, and lets them find you first.
People buy from people they know, like, and trust. A seller with a personal brand is known before the first call, and that changes every conversation after it.
Follower counts only get you so far. What matters more is how much the people who follow you trust you.
Be transparent about what you want and why. Letting your intent be known creates advocates out of the people around you.
Introduce yourself to three strangers every day for a year, starting with 90 days to build the habit. Developed around 2019 for clients who needed a simple way to grow their network, and channel agnostic by design.
Chapter 2 of the Manifesto sets out four laws that build in order. Without familiarity there is no connection; without fame and influence, a personal brand has little reach or weight.
How MCG measures the quality of a personal brand. Five pillars, always in this order, weighted into one composite out of 100.
Engagements are accepted by application and seats are limited each quarter. Tell us who you are, what you are building, and the position you intend to hold.
Consultations are virtual or in person. See what each includes, and what is asked of you: Virtual or In Person.
