Building Your Personal Brand – Part One

Who needs a personal brand?  Essentially everyone who has a career. Whether you own a business, serve others as an independent consultant, or work inside a company, personal branding is a powerful tool to help you further your career goals.

In an increasingly complex world, we must develop our own personal brand where we clearly and consistently define, express and communicate who we are and what we uniquely offer the world. Gone are the days where we join a company after high school or college and stay there throughout our careers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has indicated that the average worker holds 10 jobs by the time they are forty and this number is expected to grow for younger generations in the workforce. Developing a personal brand allows you to stand out and increase your chances for success.

What makes these well-known people masters of personal brand?

• What comes to mind when you think of Beyoncé, Lada Gaga, or Elton John?
• How is it that Michael Jordan still gets amazing endorsement and business opportunities long after his basketball career has ended?
• What makes comedians like Jim Carrey and Whoopi Goldberg stand out?
• Why did Richard Branson, Walt Disney, Oprah Winfrey, Steve Jobs, and Arianna Huffington become such business icons?
• What makes Tiger Woods still so popular after more than one major misstep?

All of them have developed a personal brand containing key characteristics:

• They are unique. They march to the beat of their own drum and are instantly recognizable.
• They stay true to who they are. The experience we have of them is consistent.
• They are memorable. Their personal brand creates a vivid picture of them that stays with us.
• They have something valuable to offer. A truly powerful brand is built on a foundation of competence, value, and substance.
• They are trustworthy. When you break trust, your personal brand will be damaged. In some cases, like Tiger Woods, you can rebuild that trust but it can take a long time. It’s better to ensure that you don’t break trust in the first place.

In order to have a successful brand, it’s critical to embrace the characteristics above. To help you begin the process, I’ll be sharing twelve steps to creating your personal brand. In Part One of this series, I will share the first four with some tips for each to get you started.

1. What is my current brand?
   • Identify 10 – 15 people you work with who interact with you on a regular basis and ask questions that help you to understand how you are currently perceived. Make sure that you answer the questions for yourself first and see how much alignment there is or there isn’t in the responses. This can be eye-opening as we often don’t see ourselves in the same way that we are perceived. Some suggestions you might consider include:
     • What is most unique about me?
     • What are three strengths that stand out?
     • What is one thing I can do to have a stronger personal brand?

2. What are my talents?
   • We talked earlier about having something valuable to offer. What are the things that you already do exceptionally well that you can leverage and continue to develop to mastery?
3. What are my most important values?
   • A strong personal brand is established on a foundation of core values that you’re willing to stand up for. What are those values that are most meaningful to you?
4. Create a mission.
   • This is focused on what brings meaning and purpose to your life. What is the contribution that you want to make to the world with your unique talents and gifts?

Call to Action

Set aside some time in the coming weeks to take action on these first four steps. This is your opportunity to begin defining how you choose to be known in the world. Why leave it up to chance?  Please stay tuned for Part Two next month where I’ll discuss steps 5 – 8 in building your personal brand.

Adapted with permission by Center for Executive Coaching.