Holiday Cards & The Challenge with YOUR Personal Brand

We have been sending Christmas cards...the old fashion way...in the mail...since 2006. That was when we moved from Canada to Arizona and thought it was a great way to stay in touch with family and friends from across the miles.

How it Started...

At first we were sending out the store bought cards with Cactus on them and Christmas lights. It seemed unique given our location.

Then...in 2012 we made a switch. I won't get the details exactly right...but I believe the prior year my cousin Craig had done a fun family card...a sports theme maybe?? It had them all dressed as hockey players? Anyway... that spurred us on and we decided... wouldn't it be fun if we did something different and try to "one up" Cousin Craig...a movie theme maybe? A Christmas movie perhaps? How about National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation... we could be the Griswolds!

And so the tradition was born. We picked our favorite scenes... got costumes... and did our best to recreate it.

To be honest... it was an ambitious endeavor and I'm not sure most family and friends were familiar with the movie. We didn't give them much of a clue and most of the responses were "Why has Marcie decided to take up smoking?" "Why is Emily on Street with a beer and a cigar?" (LOL - Watch the movie...it will all make sense).v

How it's Going...

Here we are eleven years later and this year's cards are being delivered from Shutterfly next week. Each year it continues to be a movie theme... a lot of years it has to do with what is popular at the time. We will send out almost 150 cards with a family newsletter which I wrapped up yesterday.

We all agreed... when we looked back through all the cards this week... that my daughter Katie's degree from ASU in Graphic Information Technology has really paid off. The production value has increased year after year. Also the addition of the dog's has brought a whole other element to the card... don't you agree?

The Challenge with Our Personal Brand

You may be wondering what this has to do with our leadership journey? Sure it's interesting and all that we send out family Christmas Cards... a lot of people do that. A lot also take beautiful family photos and send out custom cards... not just us. It dawned on me as we were looking back at the cards that this whole process over the years created a challenge for me and how I thought about my personal brand.

You see... up until that first funny card.. I had painstakingly picked out... what I considered to be... perfect...beautiful... "hallmark holiday style" cards showcasing Arizona. The envelopes were foil lined and we had printed labels so it all looked professional and neat. While it did contain some personal notes in the newsletter... it was meant to portray a "classy" personal brand... someone who could be...someday... considered a high level executive.

You see...at the time... I had my sights set on "climbing the corporate ladder" so I was big on building a personal brand and the cards were an extension of that. In my mind... no different than carefully choosing your clothes... watch... jewelry etc... so you looked like you "fit the part".

So... to "preserve my personal brand" I sent out two different types of cards for many years. One group was work related and they continued to get the "hallmark holiday style card" and the other group were close family/friends and they got the custom movie themed cards. It was a lot to keep it all straight...especially as work colleagues became friends.

The question was "Do I try and keep up the façade or do I take a risk and send the movie card which they may or may not find funny and hurt the brand I was trying to create?"

The Lesson Learned is Just Be Yourself

In the end... it became too much to keep straight... and I had to give myself the same advice I would give to anyone else... just be yourself! It's like the coaching conversations I have had over the years about core values.

You don't have a set of values for your personal life and another set for your work life. YOU are one person and your values are your values. Once you embrace that you can bring YOUR whole self to any situation which is when YOU truly unlock all of your superpowers.

Once I let the two card... personal brand baggage go... it all got easier and created fun connections with sooooo many people that I had not anticipated. In fact... not that long ago a colleague and his wife were visiting from New Jersey and we met up for dinner. I had not met her before and we were not long into our conversation when she said "I was eager to meet you after getting your cards the last few years. I just had to know more about them and let you know how much we look forward to them".

YOU have no idea what a relief that was and how happy it made me. After all those years of worrying if it would hurt my brand... it turns out it was all ok... it was creating memorable connections.

In Closing...

I think all of us can relate to moments in our careers where we tried really hard to impress others and portray a persona that we thought fit the roles we wanted. I know I did for many years. At points I thought I had "the right" brand and would rise to great success because of it. To be honest... it took waaayyyy too much effort to keep up and it really didn't get me anywhere.

Once I reached a point I was ready to just be me... and love the life we had built... I think that is when I reached peak success.... and it had nothing to do with my title, compensation or the company I worked for.

I hope this will inspire YOU and YOUR family to be YOU this year and every year. While the "perfect family photos" are lovely... we ALL know there is a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes (and ours too...believe YOU me... the creative process for these cards and the overall execution is really messy and emotional some years).

Set yourself free from the brand YOU think you need to project and just have fun as best you can... and create some long lasting memories and maybe a new tradition too!

Leadership Questions of the Week for YOU:

• What is your approach to the holiday card? Hallmark Box of Cards, Custom Annual Family Photos, Digital Cards or No Card at all? Does YOUR choice of card or photo have something to do with the "brand" you want to project?

• What do YOU think of the challenges we face with our Personal Brand in our career journey?

• Do YOU have a story of a time when you tried to project one image personally and a different one professionally? How did that work out?

Lastly, If you are one of the folks who receive our annual card... drop a note in the comments on your favorite. If you haven't gotten one and would like to get a picture of this year's - let me know!

Thanks for reading and remember…..YOU make a difference!

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