How to Build a Personal Brand and Stay on the Company’s Good Side

Increasing internal visibility is even more important as modern in-house lawyers seek to move away from simply being a back-of-the house “support function” and toward becoming strategic advisers.

Developing your personal brand is an effective visibility-boosting tool at your disposal. Boosting visibility can take many other forms—from volunteering to lead non-legal workstreams, to serving as an ambassador within the community, to providing valuable contributions when serving on a leadership team.

When done well, a robust personal brand can help in-house lawyers move beyond the “cost center” moniker. Your personal brand offers an opportunity to showcase skills and interest beyond your assigned scope of work. Interested in developing the next generation of leaders? Passionate about negotiations? Fascinated by certain aspects of your industry?

Developing a personal brand allows you to explore work-adjacent interests while establishing yourself as a multifaceted professional with capabilities far beyond your current job description. That investment could open doors, allowing you to contribute in new and unexpected ways.

A small luxury that comes with an in-house role is representation of a single client—but that luxury often comes at a price. Given that singular focus, in-house attorneys might devote less energy to cultivating connections outside of their employer’s organization.

Down the line, that focus can leave in-house lawyers at a disadvantage when it’s time to explore new opportunities. Proactively building your brand now allows you to diversify and strengthen your external network long before you need it. So why are in-house lawyers often reluctant to build them?

Over the years, I’ve heard in-house counsel express many valid reservations about cultivating personal brands. Some believe they don’t have anything valuable to share, others are concerned about personal privacy, and still others simply don’t have energy to prioritize brand building.

But the most consistent reservation I’ve heard by far is concern that building a personal brand will negatively impact how they are perceived at work. They see brand-building as inherently risky.

Make no mistake—there’s a tightrope to walk. But building your personal brand and thriving at work can coexist if you make the following considerations.

Read the policy. Reading your organization’s social media policy, if it has one, is the most obvious, but sometimes overlooked, way to ensure your brand-building efforts are well-received. That policy will give you some clear rules of the road as you establish your professional presence. It may suggest approved language to ensure your personal statements aren’t confused with those of the company.

Be you—just maybe not all of you. Branding experts will tell you the key to building a personal brand is authenticity. That’s true—in-house lawyers should show up online as they would in real life. But if your goal is to create a personal brand that fuels your career, it’s still perfectly acceptable to keep certain parts of your work and life private.

Authenticity includes being a multidimensional human and isn’t undermined by being selective—maybe even protective—about the personal experiences you choose to share. Authenticity and professionalism don’t have to be at odds if you’re thoughtful about creating boundaries regarding the parts of you and your life that are available for public consumption.

When in doubt, pause. One strategy I often use is pausing before I share. I take time to consider what I’m about to share from multiple angles—from the perspective of my employer, from our customers, and from my colleagues.

Sometimes after a pause, I’ll realize I could do a better job of addressing those perspectives and I’ll give my messaging another look. That pause forces me to take time away from the piece and consider other viewpoints first.

Confidentiality. Clearly, you want to steer away from sharing any information that isn’t for public consumption. That also means commenting on matters that could even be perceived as addressing a confidential matter or a rumor. If my messaging even sniffs of something that shouldn’t be shared, I’ll delay or scrap it altogether.

Also take care never to break company news. You shouldn’t be the first, or even the fifth, person to share news about your organization. Leave that to the communications professionals and follow their lead.

Your brand isn’t your employer’s brand. When building your personal brand, make sure it’s your professional identity—not your employer’s corporate brand—that takes center stage. While corporate evangelism has its place and benefits within professional branding, there should be a very clear distinction between your brand and your employer’s brand.

Maintaining that distinction ensures your voice isn’t overshadowing or being misconstrued as your employer’s voice, which can brew tension at work. Being intentional about this distinction also protects the longevity of your professional brand.

As your career grows and you consider other career options, your professional brand must be able to stand on its own without being too closely tied to any single organization.

By keeping these considerations in mind, you can build a professional brand that not only peacefully coexists with your career, but also boosts your visibility and opens the door to future opportunity.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law and Bloomberg Tax, or its owners.

Author Information

Brittany Johnson is director, corporate counsel, Starbucks Corp. Her team leads legal support for the company’s domestic and international expansion through brand licensing.

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