As the founder of a leader global personal branding agency for CEOs, I'm always looking for lessons we can learn from people in the public eye. Even when they are not entrepreneurs or business owners themselves, their experiences often provide opportunities that we can apply to our own leadership journeys.

As a Ukrainian-Canadian, I have no political affiliation in the case of American politics. However, I watched the recent presidential debate with fascination through the lens of personal branding – and in this article I will share my observations.

Debates in the US take place on what could be considered the world's biggest stage with the highest stakes. Although we may all be far removed from the world of politics, as leaders who are working to build our world leadership brandswe can learn some incredible lessons as we observe the presidential candidates.

Clarity is one of the fundamental elements of building a brand. Before we put ourselves in the public eye, we need to be clear on the WHY behind building our brand (ie our goals), clear on our unique strengths, clear on the audience we want to reach and clear in the messages we want. to offer him an audience. We must also prepare both deliberately before any public appearance and for the criticism that our visibility may attract.

Let's unpack this further.

As you begin build your personal brand As the leader of your organization, you must:

Related: How to build a personal brand in 5 steps

1. Be clear about your goals

Why are you on stage (virtual or physical)? Why are you writing an article? Why are you accepting a podcast interview?

Harris's intentions were clear. She came to dispel the image of being incoherent, uncomfortable on stage and laughing out of place. To distribute the image, she apparently prepared a lot. She clearly rehearsed not only her talking points, but also her body language (from her physical position during Trump's remarks to the “not real” smile on her lips). How do we know it was intentional and tried? Due to the high volume of repetitions we have all noticed.

Learning for you: Don't “go with the flow”. When you are building your personal brand as a leaderdo it with purpose and clear goals in mind.

2. Be clear on your strengths and play to them

This is when we feel someone is “on brand” or not. How does being “on brand” look and feel to you? This will apply to all scenarios: from the breakfast gathering to the leadership strategy retreat at the industry conference you may be speaking at.

Trump's undeniable power is in his off-the-cuff taunts. Very few viral highlights of the debate are a testament to that. Harris, on the other hand, stumbles and stutters off script, and we saw that a few times when she fell for Trump's bait.

Learning for you: Don't observe someone else's style and don't try to imitate it. Instead, be very clear on your strengths and over-index on them, even if your style draws criticism.

3. Draw a narrative

We live in an age where, for better or worse, words now count more than actions. Many people were asking yesterday at X why the candidates were not being fact-checked. Although to some extent they have been and continue to be behind the debate, the truth remains: If someone says something, then it is often believed to be so.

Harris appears to have entered the debate with the intention of portraying Trump's narrative as messy, dangerous and out of control. She focused many of her stories on that specific narrative and strategically baited Trump to ensure that his rhetoric matched hers. In many ways, this turns what should be a fact-based debate into a game of verbal ping pong, as he/she said, but there is still a lesson for us here.

The lesson for you: If you're going to build a personal brand as a leader, you have to be strong teller. Stories are memorable, they create emotion and build affinity.

Related: The 3 Biggest Mistakes CEOs Make With Their Personal Brand (And How To Turn Them Around)

4. Define your audience

Your audience will be closely related to your goals, so lesson number one remains crucial. If your goal as a leader is to attract the highest caliber talent to the organization, then that's a very different audience than a leader who wants to secure more board work, for example.

Once again, Harris came to the debate with more clarity and purpose. She was apparently casting a wide net and made it clear by repeatedly referring to middle-class Americans as “all Americans.” Trump failed to appeal to the audience, and it remained unclear whether his goal was to focus on his existing base of followers or to appeal to a wider audience hoping to influence swing voters.

The lesson for you: Clarity of audience leads to clarity of key talking points. Define yours before you start creating any content, whether it's a LinkedIn post or a conversation on a big stage.

5. Learn to handle criticism

The greater your visibility, the more feedback you can expect to receive. It's not really a question of “if”, but rather a question of “how”. We are all subject to keyboard warriors' boundless desire to criticize and virtue signal, but how we react is what affects how others perceive us.

Trump made a crucial mistake last night. He fell for Harris's bait over and over again. Instead of having clarity of purpose and building his own narrative, he began to respond to the size of the crowds at his rallies, world leaders mocking him and other detached jabs. Instead of remaining calm, cool and collected, he started babbling incessantly. You Can Tell: So many of us have fallen in love at least once or twice on social media. What starts as an unpleasant remark from a stranger can quickly lead to us losing face and not putting our best foot forward.

The lesson for you: Prepare for criticism. Have an appropriate way of responding and stick to it, no matter how hard someone tries to throw you off course.

Related: 5 Secrets People With Popular Personal Brands Never Told You

Ultimately, the main lesson for all of us is that purpose matters. I have seen many leaders go with the flow when building their leadership brand and then be disappointed by the lack of results or by not getting the results they were hoping for. This is where strategy rooted in clarity makes a major difference. Clarity first, execution second and consistency for the win!