The Power of Personal Branding: Doug Gavel Of Doug Gavel Communications On How Publicists Shape Influential Leaders
An Interview With Chad Silverstein
Listen and learn to glean a deep understanding of the leader’s true motivations and strengths.
In today’s digital-first world, personal branding has emerged as a cornerstone of professional success and influence. Behind many of the most recognized leaders and personalities stands a strategic partnership with skilled publicists who craft and convey their stories, values, and visions to the world. I had the pleasure of interviewing Doug Gavel.
Doug Gavel, founder of Doug Gavel Communications, a freelance communications consulting company. Doug provides a wide range of communications services for private sector companies, nonprofit organizations, and higher educational institutions and their leaders. Prior to founding his own company, Doug worked in broadcast journalism for 17 years and in higher education communications at Harvard University for more than 18 years. He earned his bachelor’s degree from San Francisco State University and a master’s degree from Harvard University.
Thank you for joining us. To start, could you share your “origin story” with our readers? How did you begin your journey, and what challenges did you face in the early days?
My professional trajectory has been anything but a straight line. I began my career in sports broadcasting, and then pivoted exclusively into broadcast news, where I served as an anchor, editor, and street reporter in Sacramento, California. Life then brought me to Milwaukee and subsequently to Boston where I continued working in broadcast news until I was offered a tremendous opportunity to shift to higher education communications at Harvard University, where I spent 18 years before becoming a freelance independent consultant.
I have faced numerous challenges along the way. One that pops into mind is when I was laid off after just six months into my second job, at an adult contemporary music radio station in Sacramento where I had the opportunity to work with an extremely talented news director with a storied award-winning history. And while he was a great boss and a terrific supervisor, it became clear to him that I wasn’t the right fit for the format and so I will laid off. It was profoundly disappointing, and I was soon offered the opportunity to return to the small market where I had previously worked, but at a different radio station with very solid reputation. I was very tempted to return, but the typical career pathway in broadcast news is to move up to larger markets over time, so I rejected the offer and worked for several months at an exotic fish store to pay the bills. Soon, I was afforded the opportunity to join a strong and highly respected news/talk radio station in Sacramento with a tremendously talented group of other young people, and I fit in wonderfully. Despite the disappointment of the layoff, I ended up in a much better place!
Can you share a transformative moment or campaign in your career where you significantly altered the personal brand of a leader, and what was the impact of that change?
Brands cannot be built in a day. They are built over time because they must be durable and proven. I’m very fortunate to have consulted with a small executive recruiting firm in recent years and I’m proud of the work we have done together to elevate both the company brand and the brand of the CEO. She is an amazing leader but had very little public exposure prior to my engagement with the firm. Over the past five years we have built out her thought leadership credentials by elevating her social media presence, placing her byline articles in several publications, securing several online and podcast interviews, and having her quoted in several news publications on issues relating to recruiting and the life sciences, which is the sector the company specializes in. By elevating the profile of the CEO, the company is now better positioned to secure new business and additional opportunities to engage with journalists.
What are the most common misconceptions leaders have about personal branding, and how do you address these in your work?
Some leaders may believe that branding is organic and that the concept of conscious personal brand building is flimflam. While it’s true that a personal brand is built primarily through one’s professional accomplishments, it is also true that the brand can be made more powerful through intentional and strategic efforts. Social media is an example of a platform that can strongly influence and buttress a leader’s personal brand over the course of time, and I guide my clients through the process of leveraging social media, particularly LinkedIn, for the purpose of amplifying the strength and reach of their voice, enhancing their thought leadership credentials and their impact in their business sectors.
How do you navigate the balance between a leader’s authentic self and the public persona you craft for them in their branding strategy?
In my role as a consultant, I work closely with leaders to glean a deep understanding of their authentic self and to build from that when developing a personal branding strategy for them. No two leaders are alike, so it takes time to truly understand what drives them, how they most effectively communicate, and the extent to which they are amenable to building out their personal brand. Some are quite rigid and reticent to accede to outside influences, but others are much more embracing of new ideas and perspectives to help them grow and evolve their personal brand. It may take several discussions before a leader buys into the concept of conscientious personal brand building, and the progression may take the form of baby steps, but the accumulation of many baby steps over time can be significant, and the results can be transformative.
In a crisis situation, what steps do you take to protect or rehabilitate the personal brand of a leader?
I follow the basic rules when advising clients in crisis communications moments: 1) own up to the situation and be as transparent as possible; 2) be accountable for anything gone wrong and apologize and make amends to anyone harmed in the process; 3) continue to remain engaged and communicate the steps being taken to repair the situation. By remaining communicative and accountable, the leader is already beginning the process of repairing their brand because it demonstrates humility and honesty, and it builds trust. Those are key factors when restoring a personal (and company) brand.
Could you list and briefly explain “5 Things You Need to Know to Shape a Personal Brand” based on your experiences and insights?
1 . Build off the foundation of the leader’s authentic self.
2 . Listen and learn to glean a deep understanding of the leader’s true motivations and strengths.
3 . Leverage the leader’s strongest, more admirable attributes.
4 . Build trust so that the leader is amenable to suggestions and insights.
5 . Sustain the personal branding strategy over the long term. The strongest brands must be continually nurtured.
Looking forward, how do you see the role of technology and social media evolving in the way publicists shape and manage the personal brands of leaders?
As the bar to entry for audio and video production continues to fall, those media will become more significant elements in personal brand building. A well-produced video or audio can bring a leader to life in a much more powerful and compelling way than print and those leaders who are most comfortable in front of a camera and microphone are those most likely to be successful. And I also believe that social media will continue to play a larger and larger role in personal brand building. LinkedIn and Instagram, in particular, will become absolutely essential tools for building and expanding the scale and impact of personal brands. They both serve to connect people in uniquely powerful ways and boost one’s profile and brand strength amongst like-minded communities.
How can our readers follow your work?
I encourage readers to connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doug-gavel-4031b310/.
They can also learn more about me and my communications consulting services on my website: https://www.douggavel.com/.
Thank you for offering such valuable insights into the power of personal branding. We wish you continued success in all of your work.
About the Interviewer: Chad Silverstein, a seasoned entrepreneur with over two decades of experience as the Founder and CEO of multiple companies. He launched Choice Recovery, Inc., a healthcare collection agency, while going to The Ohio State University, His team earned national recognition, twice being ranked as the #1 business to work for in Central Ohio. In 2018, Chad launched [re]start, a career development platform connecting thousands of individuals in collections with meaningful employment opportunities, He sold Choice Recovery on his 25th anniversary and in 2023, sold the majority interest in [re]start so he can focus his transition to Built to Lead as an Executive Leadership Coach. Learn more at www.chadsilverstein.com
