Top managers are increasingly becoming brands

 Many managers consider it important to maintain their own online image. This was the result of a survey conducted by the German personnel consultancy firm LAB Lachner Aden Beyer & Company in cooperation with the magazine Wirtschaftswoche. Three quarters of top managers rated their reputation on the Internet as relevant. By maintaining their own blogs and websites, entries in forums or targeted measures against misrepresentation, 44 percent of those surveyed even help to shape their image online. According to Klaus Aden, Managing Director of LAB & Company, there are good reasons for this: "Top managers are increasingly becoming brands. It would therefore be grossly negligent to neglect brand management on their own behalf." Although online reputation has played a rather subordinate role to date, a poor image can be a heavy burden, especially for high-profile positions, Aden told Pressetext.
However, managers should rely on the help of professionals to cultivate their image on the internet. Those who try to improve their reputation themselves often achieve the opposite, as the experiences of those surveyed show. In this respect, however, German top managers are not yet as advanced as their colleagues in the USA or the UK. Although 81 percent are concerned with the question of what information is available about them, only very few entrust special service providers with the task of improving their reputation.