Simon Cowell

Interesting comment from Simon Cowell on American Idol's latest series cutting the remaining 24 down to 20 this week. He said it as it is... nothing unusual in that, however, he happened to outline the foundations of a powerful personal brand.

Now, we often hear Simon describing a performance as dull, boring, unmemorable. On this occasion, he went into a little more detail. He said that the performer had to bring something different, memorable, interesting, unique, relevant to the table. I would sum it all up and use one word. Compelling. All of these things need to add up to compelling. We need to want more. Loads more.

Personal Image Tips

Creating positive first impressions is all about our Personal Image, which is made up of three things; how we look, how we sound and our body language. We form opinions about others in a matter of seconds and then spend the rest of our time justifying our decisions to ourselves.

Our Image communicates so much about us. It has a powerful effect on how other people approach and respond to us, personally and professionally. A positive, appropriate Image instantly puts our audience at ease. Adversely, a negative, inappropriate Image creates hard to shift obstacles and barriers to success.

Top Tips:

1. Ensure that your clothing is appropriate for the occasion
2. What you wear and your grooming communicate how you feel about yourself… ask yourself what it is that you are conveying to others?
3. Keep accessories, jewellery, make-up, perfume and aftershave subtle and appropriate
4. Practice the art of introducing yourself and of making small talk
5. Smile, make eye contact, shake hands, relax, don’t fidget
6. Be conscious of the appropriate etiquette in the circumstances that you find yourself
7. Remember other peoples names and use them
8. Listen, pay attention to what the other person is saying in order to show interest and find common ground… don’t chatter

Dwain Chambers

And so the row over Dwain Chambers, doping and athletics goes on. From a general sporting perspective, this is an easy one. We all agree. If we are to compare and reward physical prowess and skill, then all things must be equal. A level playing field so to speak.

What makes all of this interesting is Dwain's public claim that it is almost impossible to win a major medal in athletics without the use of artificial stimulation. And he of all people must know the contents of this dirty can of worms. He failed a test for tetrahydrogestrinone, the Balco designer steroid in 2003 and was given a two-year suspension. Having served his time, he returned in 2006 as a member of the British sprint squad, taking relay gold in the European Championships.

And that leaves us with way too many questions... who isn't doping? Is anyone clean? Can we trust the results? Is it real? How do we stop it happening?

One can argue that Dwain has paid his dues for past misdemeanours... he should be allowed to go on. After all, the social trend is to forgive those in the public eye for their ill-judged transgressions. However, this is a very different arena. His body is the basis of his success and it’s cheating. Plain and simple. One can liken it to putting rocket fuel in a formula one car, if that were possible. Its just plain wrong. Do we celebrate the efficacy and wonders of the drugs, or the performance of the athlete?

And I wonder if this brand will be able to recover. So damaged in 2003, will he now fight in the name of 'lessons learned' and can we forgive and forget? After all, it seems that his playing field is not at all level and we may well ask if he is being vilified, persecuted in the name of all those who as yet remain undiscovered.

Bull in a china shop...

I do enjoy working with those who promote and manage people in the public eye. The good ones have an innate sense of the power of personal brands and a determined interest in helping the talent they manage to make the most of theirs.

A case in point a couple of weeks ago with an Agent who wanted what I think of as a little insurance on behalf of a young and inexperienced artist who shall remain nameless. This raw talent has been catapulted into the public eye and is struggling. No, let me re-phrase that. The people who manage him are struggling. He is a happy bull in a china shop and finding trouble in the most unlikely of places.

We spent a couple of hours together as I coached him on his image & personal brand and their impact on his career. Perhaps predictably, the usual motivator of increased financial success held little appeal. He has more money than he ever dreamed of and the numbers don't mean much. They are just numbers... with lots of commas and zeros. And as for reputation... he quite likes his 'wild boy' image. What finally worked was the opportunity to create a legacy for his family. His mum to be precise.

A couple of weeks later, a few more hours of coaching and he seems to have 'got it'. Thank goodness. I like to see Agents smiling.

Intuition...

One of my clients is an entrepreneur of note. Having worked with him last year on his own personal brand, I am now working with all of the heads of the companies that he invests in. From my perspective, its interesting to see that there are a number of key common traits in the people that he is backing. From his perspective, he has chosen these people and their ideas based on a gut feeling. When it comes to the wire, he relies on his intuition.

And I find that these savvy smart people that seem to embody the word success really do use and trust their intuition more than most. They take all the knowledge that they can gather using their five senses, and combine it with the one thing that is difficult to quantify. They research, analyse, logically work through the data and assuming it stacks up, then tap into a wisdom or 'knowingness' that just has nothing to do with facts or figures. In my clients' words... "there are so many similar ideas, technologies, services - assuming that there is a level playing field, the only thing to bet on is the people involved." Interestingly, he has bet on people with healthy personal brands... they are compelling to their markets, absolutely authentic and consistently consistent.