I hear people say it’s Authenticity that matters all the time. Chances are you’ve heard it as well. “You have to be authentic.” “Authenticity is the key to building your brand.”

While I agree, being authentic to your brand is important, I also think it’s a given. Like breathing is to living. We all know breathing is a key factor in living, yet no one goes around saying “You have to breathe in order to live.” I view authenticity in the same way.

So for the sake of argument and for the “Authenticity” touch bearers out there, I’ll stipulate that authenticity is important when building your brand. But it’s not THE most important thing when building your own brand. Being congruent is.

The word congruent is usually associated with Math which is probably why we don’t regularly include the word in our vocabulary but being congruent means to be matching, in harmony or in agreement with something.

This is why I feel Congruency is the cornerstone to building your brand. It’s the cornerstone to growing your influence, amplifying your online reputation and impacting your career. Let me ask you, Think about the last time you Googled someone.

Once their online profile was returned, even before you clicked on the top result, you scanned the page in order to ensure you had the right person. You also scanned the page because you were looking to see if everything was in alignment, the results matched your expectations.

As a podcaster conducting research on guests, I am looking for congruency. Something as simple as having the same headshot image across all of your SM accounts is tremendously helpful in letting me know I have the right person. This is the power of congruency.