Cindy McGovern is the founder of Orange Leaf Consulting and author of the new book Sell Yourself, which helps people create authentic personal brands that they can live day in and day out. We discussed how to do this work and how it intersects with organizational brands this week on the On Brand podcast.

About Dr. Cindy McGovern

Dr. Cindy McGovern is the founder of Orange Leaf Consulting, which helps organizations, entrepreneurs, and individuals create dynamic and robust sales processes. Before launching her business, McGovern was a college professor of communication as well as a successful sales professional. She has worked with hundreds of organizations of all sizes and specialties across the globe and is now one of the most sought-after business and sales authorities.

Episode Highlights

“Personal branding IS challenging,” Cindy clarified early on. “It’s holding up a mirror. A personal brand represents who you are, how you behave, what you say, how you react to others and how they react to you. A personal brand is how you present yourself to the world.”

What are the three critical components in creating a successful personal brand?

1. Create. If you don’t devote some time and thought to creating a personal brand, or if you think you don’t need one, then the people you interact with will create one for you. They might not create the same one you would like to have. So it is crucial to deliberately create a brand that is authentic and that you will be able to live day in and day out.
2. Live. Simply creating a brand will not help you at all unless you live it consistently. If your brand is “nice,” be nice—all the time. If it’s “professional,” don’t let your professional guard down—ever, at least in public.
3. Sell. If you create an authentic personal brand and live it like it’s who you are, it will be easy to sell others on believing you can live up to your brand. Selling your brand is the same as selling yourself. But it takes some planning, effort, and a conscious choice to rely on your brand to sell yourself.

Cindy shared further detail about each during the show.

How do personal brands connect with organizational brands? These two should work well together but it can be a challenging conversation. “At the end of the day, the organization is stronger for it if everyone brings their best selves to work,” Cindy notes.

What brand has made Cindy smile recently? Are you ready for something shocking? Cindy smiled recently from an experience with an airline. And it was a good smile too! Learn what United did to make Cindy smile this week on the show.

To learn more, check out Cindy’s website and her book Sell Yourself.

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Until next week, I’ll see you on the Internet!

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