Showing Up Versus Showing Off: Showboat Too Much And You’ll Sink Your Own Ship

Being visible and building a tribe are crucial to the success of your business, but there’s a knife-edge to walk — one side ego, the other invisibility. Can you hold your balance and be seen?

THERE’s a real knife-edge to walk when it comes to building your personal brand and becoming more visible. It can be really easy, or really challenging, depending on where you put your attention — and your INTENTION.

I see people fall down on this one all the time.

I see people launching their own businesses and failing (or, more accurately, giving up) because they’re afraid of stepping into the limelight in case people say they’re in ‘ego’.

These people daren’t show any confidence or pride in their achievements, because they haven’t quite grasped the line between confidence and arrogance, they’re worried about rocking the boat and they’re terrified their peers might demand to know what gives them the right to say such things, or ask who died and made them God.

Those crippling, limiting beliefs, coupled with all those crushing lines our parents used to spout — “Self praise is no praise” — leave people wearing a cloak of invisibility and wondering why the clients aren’t turning up.

Most commonly, I see therapists and complementary health practitioners falling into this camp — people who might describe themselves as being ‘heart-based’ or ‘spiritual’ as part of their work.

And then, there’s the flip side…

I also see people launching their own businesses and becoming so desperate for the limelight that they become totally blinded by the glare and lose sight of their message, morals and humanity.

All too often, when this happens, they get hooked so deeply into their own arrogance and rhetoric that they don’t notice how much their personal brand is becoming tarnished.

They think they’re skilfully moulding the PR and media machine to their own will and growing an audience off…