It’s time to build your personal brand

When you read the phrase “Personal Branding” how does it make you feel? Is it a concept you recognise, and consciously work on, or does the idea of having a personal brand make you cringe? Is it something that you think is only needed for those running a business, when your personality is at the front of what you do? Or, do you think personal branding is something that everyone should work on? I’m here today to explain how it can help you create a career you enjoy. It’s time to build your personal brand!

So, let’s start with what a personal brand is! A simple perusal of a search engine highlights the ironic branding issue with the phrase! You get thousands of results, all highlighting slightly different interpretations. From “what a personal brand is” to “how to create one”. The authors of this advice vary from marketing professionals to career coaches (like me), with links to books, Ted talks, articles and checklists. When you tap into the academic world, there is little consensus around the definition, like many management concepts! This blog is my attempt to simplify the process of uncovering your personal brand.

All of us have a personal brand, it happens naturally; simply what you have demonstrated in the past will be used to predict what you can do in the future. Those who work with you, for you and alongside you are gathering evidence from what they have witnessed from you professionally, and use that to project what you can (or can’t) do in the future. 

In the world of The Balance Collective, my career and return to work clients are constantly reflecting on their personal brand without realising it! When we are working our way through one of their self-reflection exercises, they consider “What do you want people to say about you”? For some, the answers are based on personality traits, other’s, it’s their knowledge and skills, for most, it’s a mix of both. As we work to unpick their career plans and wishes for the future, we start to see the gap between their current personal brand and how they want to be seen. What they want to be known for professionally, the opportunities they wish to be given and where they want their expertise to be seen.

Personal brands are very simply reputations, built over time, based on what people have experienced and how they choose to perceive you. However hard we try, people aren’t mindreaders, so you need to show more of what you do, and what you CAN do to influence that reputation. To be able to create a career to enjoy, you need to understand where you want your destination to be right now. When you look back on your career to date, you will see all the elements that have fallen into place. Imagine where you want to be in the future and start to share your inner workings!

You can start the personal branding process right now by answering these questions:

• Who are you?
• What do you do?
• How do you do it?
• Why do you do it?

By defining these, you are identifying WHO you are, WHAT you do, HOW you do it and WHY you do it. The reputation that you wish to have.  You may find that everything important to you exists within your working world.

So, what happens if your personal brand isn’t what you wish it to be? It’s never too late to start consciously championing yourself.  To speak up about what you can do, what is important to you and how you can make an impact in an organisation. The starting point is self-reflect; bringing those beliefs, expertise and behaviours to the surface.

You can start to break down who you are professionally (quite handily I think), through the following blogs on the site!

What values are important to you, and how do exhibit them?

How do you share your expertise with the wider world?

How do you communicate, connect and solve problems?

What are you motivated by?

Who do you support and champion?

What now?

Once you have uncovered these important areas of your personal brand, the next step is to amplify them. Start to get more comfortable sharing what you do, connecting with those around you that can recognise your talent and skills and owning your strengths. Even if, through this process, you have identified that there is a discrepancy between who you are and how you are seen. It’s never too late to start to change your personal brand, but you will have to be just as proactive to help re-write the narrative that people have about you.

Either way, your aim is to raise your profile and the reputation you want to have. You could work with a mentor, volunteer for new projects to build skills or connections, or even take a leap of faith with a new role or organization! What is interesting is the process of applying for a new role is a personal branding exercise in itself; you are showing the Who, What, How and Why mentioned earlier, during your application.   So, what is the first step you need to take to build your personal brand today?

 

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