Let's face it - Fearful of the spotlight and conservative to a fault, HR pros generally aren't the best examples to look towards when it comes to professional branding. Kris Dunn (Kinetix RPO, The HR Capitalist) and Tim Sackett (HRU Technical Resources, TimSackett.com) think that needs to change.  That's why they created this series - The Top 20 Branded HR Pros(sponsored by the team at Glassdoor).

KD and Tim searched the globe for HR Pros who used the tools at their disposal (writing, speaking, social and more) to brand themselves in the HR space, but limited the results to actual practitioners in the areas of HR, Recruiting and Talent Management.  No consultants, no vendors. They found out well-branded HR pros who are actual practitioners are hard to find.  

Tim and KD are running the Top 20 they found here on the HR Capitalist and at TimSackett.com.  No rankings, just inclusion in the list and some notes on why.  There are at least 20 well-branded HR Pros in the world.  These are their stories. 

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People aren't born thinking about ways they can interact with the communities around them, and they certainly aren't born thinking about branding.  9 times out of 10, people who are well-branded get their start by being pushed or inspired by others to share their ideas.  Branding is an outcome of sharing in a consistent fashion across time.  

That was the case with Mary Faulkner.  Check out her profile below and we'll break it down after the jump:

A few years back, Faulkner found herself interacting with a consultant named Jennifer McClure.  As Mary talked about her ideas big and small in the world of talent, McClure told her she should write that idea down.  After a few days of hearing this, McClure shared the reason she was encouraging Mary to scribe -"you should start a blog".  Tricky.

It took awhile to be convinced, but Faulkner finally gave in and a blog was born - Surviving Leadership.  Launched in 2012, the blog does what it promises to do - help you survive leadership.  As an OD and Talent pro in Denver, Mary's done that in multiple companies including Dish Network, ClearChoice and Denver Water.  

As it so often does for bloggers who put in the time, Mary started experimenting with speaking and I caught her in a big room at SHRM national earlier this year.  The speaking doesn't end with simple speaking gigs though - that would be too easy.  Mary also connected with the Steve Browne/McClure HR posse in Cincinnati at DisruptHR and took the ultimate challenge, starting a DisruptHR chapter in Denver.  

She's remained the leader of that show with the third installment coming this month.  That's staying power.  It's also being a Brand Ambassador, not necessarily for a company, but for a profession.

Writing - Check.  Speaking - Double Check.  Brand Ambassador - Check.  Those are the three toughest boxes for HR pros to pull of from a community/branding perspective.  Mary's done them all well.

What about social?  She's active on Twitter with 1,400 followers (and only following 407 - that ratio is always interesting to us) and LinkedIn would promote her profile there if they could make a buck out of it (that indicates it's good).  Instagram? Not so much, but that's a common theme with most of the people we're profiling.

Mary's one of the Top 20 for all these reasons. Hat tip to Jennifer McClure for the push shove.

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