There’s a strong connection between your company’s brand and your personal brand, especially today. Everything you say or do builds your brand, and this brand can have a positive or negative impact on your company’s brand.
You can not have a health brand and constantly eat fast food, a fashion brand and not dress well, or a fitness brand and be out of shape. This is obvious to everybody in today’s social media-powered world.
But things in your personal life that have nothing to do with your business can also impact it, especially if they’re negative. There’s a saying: news is something somebody doesn’t want to be printed; all else is advertising.
Today’s most visible example is Elon Musk’s impact on the Tesla brand. Politics has always been divisive, but today, the division is extreme. Elon’s support of Trump, government involvement, and various comments have inevitably led to alienation of the other side. This alienation has had a significant negative impact on Tesla’s brand. On the positive side, before Elon’s involvement in politics and before he purchased Twitter, his brand of a visionary with deep technical knowledge was a positive multiplier on Tesla’s valuation.
Another example is Kanye West, who was successful in the music industry and had an incredibly lucrative fashion brand in a deal with Adidas. In October 2022, after some extraordinarily provocative and antisemitic tweets, Adidas canceled the partnership, which resulted in his wealth dropping from $2B to $400M.
Travis Kalanick, Uber’s co-founder and former CEO, was caught on video in 2017 berating an Uber driver who complained about pay rates. This incident, combined with allegations of fostering a toxic workplace culture (including sexual harassment scandals tied to his leadership), led to significant brand damage. Kalanick resigned under pressure from investors, and Uber spent years rebuilding trust with customers and regulators.
In conclusion, you should always consider how you behave and what you post online. Think of how your actions align with your company’s business and brand. If you can help it, try to stay away from politics and other controversial topics.
Look at how CEOs with a good public image communicate online: you’re unlikely to find any provocative or controversial tweets from Tim Cook, Sundar Pichai, or Satya Nadella.