Actively managing your personal brand is critical if you want to make a significant impact in the areas of your life important to you. However, your personal brand can also change over time, and in many ways, it’s something you’ll spend a lifetime working on.
In the very first episode of The Personal Brand Catalyst, we are joined by Sir Peter Cosgrove, who served as the 26th Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia. He was knighted at his swearing-in in 2014, followed by his retirement in 2019. Sir Peter was further honoured as a commander of the Royal Victorian Order by Her Majesty the Queen.
He is widely known for his earlier career in the Australian Defence Force, serving in Malaysia and Vietnam before coming to greater public prominence as commander of INTERFET in East Timor. He retired as chief of the Defence Force in 2005 and served on several corporate boards before becoming Governor-General.
In retirement, he is actively involved with defence, health and other charitable organisations, including serving as chairman of the Business Council of Australia, the community rebuilding initiative following the 2019-20 bushfires.
In 2020, he launched his third book: You Shouldn't Have Joined, A Memoir. However, these days he loves spending time with his family and is looking forward to welcoming his fourth grandchild.
We have known each other for quite some years, and Sir Peter is someone that I admire greatly, as I'm sure do millions of other Australians.
Thinking of yourself as a brand versus just Sir Peter
Branding is the most important part of our repertoire: it's a proclamation of ourselves.
We have to be careful about our vigilant watching public, who will have their feet from under you before you know it if they feel you're getting full of yourself.
A good impression that people have of you is double-edged:
it’s a great advantage when people are inclined to say, “he's a good bloke,” and
don't let yourself down on that impression.
And that's the brand, to an extent, because there’s always context. Sir Peter recalls, “When I was a kid, I unknowingly imagined what I stood for, how I would project, what was me. And in constructing this image, you have to live the image, you have to populate the image with the things that go with the image.”
Years ago, a journalist in casting around, perhaps asking others, said, “What's this fellow?” And the reply they came up with was, “He's a soldiers’ general.” And Sir Peter heard ‘soldiers’ general’ and thought, “I hope I am.”
How others perceive you
When Sir Peter was up in the aftermath of Cyclone Larry, some concern was on the ground when he arrived. Because of his military background, people assumed that he might be some command and control person issuing orders: “Do this and do it now, don't argue.” After all, he's been in the military for 40 years, and that's what they do. They yell at each other.
Sir Peter went straight to put them at ease by deliberately saying he’s here as an experienced person of big enterprises and people under pressure, he’s not going to give directives. “Oh, thank heavens,” they thought because Sir Peter wasn't looking to order them to change how they did things radically. If they did change, it would be by discussion and joint decision, and that's a better way of doing things.
“Perhaps,” Sir Peter says, “if I'd have been doing that many, many years beforehand, there might have been a bit more “do this, do that,” because you grow. Everybody grows. They grow within their brand, and you become more engaging, and your audience accepts you.”
Jeff Bezos says reputation is what people say about you when you're not in the room.
Especially in the military, a leader has to be robust and understand that there will be those who take issue with you, notwithstanding your broad reputation. Your reputation will be a giant jigsaw, and some pieces of that jigsaw will not be to your credit in the eyes of some.
You can fool all the people all the time, you can please some of the people all the time and all the people some of the time, but you won't do the combination. With your brand, behaviour, and reputation, if you are broadly and persuasively perceived as being of worth, that's good.
Bezos is right. But equally, this doesn't encourage someone who would sort of health check their brand from standing with ears glued to a closed door. Accept that you are imperfect. If you become aware of stunningly bad critique, spend some time thinking about that. But also, remember the old adage, “Eavesdroppers rarely hear good of themselves.”
How decision making can test values
You know it will be because of your decision that some people will die when you order them to a position where their lives are at risk. Feeling blithe about that afterwards means you’re the wrong person for the job.
But we expect it from some members of our community. Other, more mundane decisions have those sorts of ramifications. Politicians are obliged to take the “least worst” options, but there's still a “worst” in the least worst option.
Identifying that your brand and relevance to the brand is important
When Sir Peter was in his mid-30s to mid-50s, his brand adjusted to an almost steady state because he commanded larger numbers of soldiers of many different ages, from the youngsters to the mature age career-long professionals in their own 40s and 50s.
He went from being a hard charger and a driver of people to being a parental person, a military parent - which doesn't take away the imperative of command where you are telling people you must do it. A stern parent but a loving parent.
Helping the younger generation develop their personal brand and career
You need to encourage and impart, help them gain experience. And ironically, to get experience, you're going to have to fail. It would be wonderful if every experience was a success but, confounded by the human condition, it's not going to happen. So as a mature aged person who’s experienced life and failed as well, you're there to say: “It’s not the end of the world. Accept that as experience, but it should not discourage you. You've still got boundless energy. You've got genius.”
Sir Peter spent a lot of time in the military and in the wider community, saying to groups of young people, “You're it. What you're hearing now is a well-experienced voice in an ageing body. So don't think you're being lectured. We're telling you you're going to be in charge, and we're here if you want to have a chat.”
Final Thoughts
We've covered a lot of ground and I am incredibly honoured and privileged to have had the opportunity to talk to Sir Peter about brand and values and his career - because it is a career that one admires. He is a true leader and icon in this country.
Thank you for listening to this episode. Please leave a five-star review and subscribe for more episodes if you enjoyed it.
If you'd like to learn more about developing your personal brand, please visit garrybrowne.com.au to get in touch or grab a copy of Brand New Brand You.