Elon Musk has many accolades to his name. From being 2021 person of the year, the first influencer CEO, the leading serial entrepreneur, and the first person in history to have a personal fortune above $300 billion.
One of the key attributes of Elon Musk is his personal brand. It is hard to dissociate his company from the billionaire CEO, and that is the power of branding.
Personal branding refers to the perception that you want to give those around you. It is the culmination of your skills, abilities, expertise, attitude, personality, and what you want anyone to see about you. What do people say about you when you are not in the room?
As an entrepreneur, your personal brand is the first interaction your customers will interact with. Today’s customer is driven by the power of the human touch. They don’t buy brands, labels, or big names. They buy the vision of the founder, and this is why you must invest in your personal brand. Here are the top lessons you can pick from Elon Musk.
1. Be Driven By A Strong, Clear Vision
Elon musk had a clear vision when setting up all of his companies. With PayPal, his vision was to enhance payments over the internet. His vision for starting Tesla was to improve environmental sustainability by reducing emissions to the environment. While founding Space-X, Elon’s vision was to improve access to space exploration and space tourism. When starting or co-founding a company, he is not driven by money, but by providing a product that can solve humanity’s challenges.
Your entrepreneurship journey should begin with a clear vision. What problems are you going to solve? How will your solution improve humanity? Be driven by clarity in your vision, not money, power, or fame. The money, power, and fame will come as an outcome of a clear vision well executed. Write a good vision statement, and strive hard to reach that vision every day.
2. Own Your Story
It is hard to talk about Tesla without referring to Elon Musk. The same applies to Space X and all the other companies he has founded. Elon’s story is consistent, and the message is to push humanity to greater heights. To make humanity believe that they can achieve the extraordinary. In one of his quotes, Elon mentions that ordinary people can achieve extraordinary results if they work hard enough. His number one source of success is the many hours he puts into developing his companies.
The story of grit as a recipe for exemplary performance is a consistent message that Elon talks about whenever he has a chance. Whether it is through a tweet, a live performance, or a Forbes interview, his message is consistent, that humanity should not be limited by yesterday’s beliefs. Elon believes he will be the first person to launch humanity to Mars. While the world waits to see if he will accomplish this dream, no one can deny that this vision has inspired millions of people to dare to dream.
3. Focus On What Matters
Focus and consistency are what breeds greatness. To be a great achiever, you don’t have to be the smartest person, the most educated, or the wealthiest, but be someone who has focus and consistency. The world is full of distractions and naysayers. Many will not believe in your product or vision, and many people will despise your effort. Focus is the one thing that helps you stay ahead, in spite of the challenges.
Entrepreneurship is one of the most challenging and lonely ventures. Without a clear focus, you can get distracted easily and fail to reach your vision. Clear your table, diary, and life of anything that can stand in your way. This allows you to concentrate your time and energy on what matters the most.
In your entrepreneurship journey, think about the end, even before starting. Visualizing the end goal will help you develop a vision, personality, attitude, and brand that will get you to your destination.
