Case Study - Personal Branding - Five Qualities of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

1. A clear vision

The vision to come up with a social networking website now seems very clear to all of us. But the will to create such a website 15 years ago was nothing short of brilliance. At that time, Orkut and Myspace were huge, and to try to come up with a website that could give them fierce competition was a distant reality. Even coming up with such a network that could be among one of the websites in the race wasn't a realistic thing at that time.

2. Out of his comfort zone

This is one aspect of Mark Zuckerberg's personality that has made him the IT guru he is. Apart from Facebook, his investment in Instagram and WhatsApp is one of the masterstrokes that has a huge effect on his overall success. Now we all know that the two apps mentioned above are humongous in terms of market share and revenue, but eight to ten years ago, not many people would bet that Zuckerberg was making a great move, let alone a fair one.

3. Willing to face criticism

Willing to face criticism and taking the blame in case of adverse situations is one aspect that isn't the part of everyone's personality. But Mark Zuckerberg is different as he always tried to lead his company from the front and make sure he was there when people started pointing fingers towards Facebook or any affiliated company. This happened when the Cambridge Analytica scandal hit the company hard.

The Cambridge Analytica scandal was all about Microsoft offering critical data regarding its customers to Cambridge and it was using it or offering it to third parties. This was a serious allegation towards a company that was looked upon as a very reliable firm. And with the amount of data Facebook had, it was bound to act in a very responsible way, just like Google or LinkedIn. The situation could have been worse for Facebook if Zuckerberg didn't step in.

4. Made mistakes and admitted them wholeheartedly

The styles of leadership or the traits of great leaders are not just that they make great strides in coming up with decisions that can help their companies get to new heights. They also made mistakes and some of them can cost their company daily. But they have regards to admit them wholeheartedly and try to resolve the matter which they have to deal with after the mistake has happened.

Whilst the role of Mike Zuckerberg in the Cambridge Analytica scandal may be relatively small, being the owner and CEO of the company, he needed to make sure he admitted the mistakes made by the company.

Many people argued that Facebook did a lot by selling confidential data of its customers to Cambridge Analytica. Still, it is also a fact that the reputation of Facebook got a hit.

5. Use of new technologies and tools

Facebook dethroned MySpace and Rocket to become the number one social media website. So, it knew very well that some other company could also take its position. That's why right from the beginning, it invested heavily in research and development of new products and services to enhance the experience of the users of Facebook.

Mark Zuckerberg didn't shy away from using any software, or even a very basic type of tool to enhance the daily operations or the Facebook app. For example, he made sure that the trial for a web based task management tool or software relatively new in the market was done so that it can assess it. That's why Facebook always remained one step ahead of its competitors throughout the last decade.

Discussion Question - Please post your answer in the forum on the Hub (maximum 100 words)

How do these qualities help Mark Zuckerberg build a positive personal brand?

References - Journal (2020) 5 Qualities of Mark Zuckerberg that have made him a true leader.