The Forbes list of the 100 most powerful women in the world is out! Not too many surprises there except that I was expecting a few of the women to rank higher than they did. So I wondered what goes into the selection process and here is what I found as written by Caroline Howard, Forbes staff: “From a preliminary group of over 250 candidates from around the world, we select the 100 most influential women from eight categories or power bases: billionaires, business, celebrity, finance, media, philanthropy and NGOs, politics and technology. To determine the rank within each category, as well as overall rank on the list of 100, we apply four metrics: money, media presence, spheres of influence and impact.” Of course a lot of details go into this rank determination which I will not cover here. What I find interesting is the story behind these women; how did they get here? What did they do in their life that was so different and what does their personal brand say about them? Let’s take a closer look at a politician, a business woman and a celebrity. To keep the mix interesting I will choose women that everyone can identify with.
#6 HILLARY CLINTON
It seems that fifteen years ago, Hilary Clinton received advice to change her personal brand so she can appeal to a wider public. Over the years she had to adapt her brand many times from Mrs. Clinton, the first lady, in the 1996 Bill Clinton reelection campaign as the American President, whose image could increase her husband’s chances of being re-elected, to her high profile positions as New York state senator and Secretary of State under President Barack Obama during his first term (2009-2012). At the time being, her image is smoother and she is perceived by many as a loyal public servant to her country and to the world at large. Her brand has never been more valuable and this is helping her gain popularity leading up to the US presidency elections in 2016. Will she be the first female president in the USA?
