We all have our expressions. One of mine is goofball. It’s not too rude (mind you I’m careful about who I call a goofball), and kind of silly, and reminds me of this guy. Sometimes I use it with affection, sometimes with friendly sarcasm and sometimes when faced with adversity. I even refer to myself often as being a goofball, goofing off, goofing around, etc.
I like to laugh and make people laugh. I’m even goofy sometimes when I’m teaching; it’s my way of being entertaining. It doesn’t always go over well, not everyone appreciates my humour. But more often then not, it does. And people find me approachable because I’m not all stuck up, but rather a bit goofy. It’s like if you spend any amount of time with Thiagi, an ultimate goofball, you’ll hear him refer to himself as stupid. Of course, he’s goofing around.
However, I sometimes wonder if it might come across as unprofessional. Janet Clarey actually raises some important questions about how we perceive professionalism in a blog post about business communication.
But Chris Brogan got me really thinking about this with his blog post entitled The Importance of Being Funny. He displays, what I would characterize as, a picture of him being a goofball (Chris, I say that with the utmost respect 
). Chris tackles the issue of how funny is perceived and how it is sometimes necessary and how it impacts storytelling.
Ok, so every picture tells a story. A picture is worth a thousand words. Yadda3. So when my good friend Sonia decided to do a photoshoot for me a while back, we narrowed the best pics down to about 10. The picture on the left is the one I use 90% of the time when I have to submit a professional picture. The picture on the right is my friends’ favorite. Why? Well Sonia, the photographer, said it was the picture that captured me the best. It tells the best story about who is Kristina Schneider. My response was that these were business photos… I’m rethinking this right now.
Can you take a goofball headshot seriously?
Steve Woodruff wrote a blogpost entitled Your Personal Brand – Does it Matter? in which he argues:
People often question if they “need” a personal brand. Here’s the news – you already HAVE a personal brand. The only questions are, what is it? And are you projecting it effectively?
I think this is bang on.
But can goofballness be part of that brand or does it harm that brand?
Ultimately, can a goofball be taken seriously?
Or perhaps, how well known do you have to be before you can get away with being a goofball.
Goofiness can be a great brand if it works hand-in-hand with what you’re doing as a profession or person. If you’re in a public position having to win people’s attention, it could work quite well as part of your brand. If you are a funeral director, maybe not so much… ;>}