What the experts will tell you about your Personal Brand
I recently listened to a branding expert address college students about creating their personal brand. His central argument was sound. Know you you are. Know what value you bring. And know how to communicate that consistently. OK. Fine. Perhaps that makes sense for a 50-something professional who owns their own freelance business.
But what about the average person who is working within a larger company? Or a person early in their career? How are they supposed to incorporate that to build their personal brand?
The so-called expert gave such misdirection as selecting a personal font and using it in every single email or social media engagement. Or using the same/similar words to describe yourself. (“I am a connector” or “I am a minimalist.”)
That is straight up rotten advice.
Too many people confuse creating a personal STYLE with a personal brand. Style is all surface. Like your appearance. Your signature. Or your website. But your personal BRAND is about the internal qualities you stand for every day.
You know when people say they “wish they knew then what they know now?” Do you ever wonder what those secrets are? I’ll clue you in.
Here is what you need to think about when creating your own “brand.”
- Do you have a reputation for:
- Completing projects on time?
- Collaborating and including diverse ideas and perspectives into your work?
- Leaning into technology to future-proof your solutions?
- Building scalable processes?
- Measuring results?
- Making your partners’ lives easier or more difficult?
THAT is what builds your brand.
How to REALLY build your Personal Brand
Are you ambitious? Do you want to build a successful career? If you are fretting over building a resume that showing continuous career progress, you have it all backwards. You cannot build a strong career. You can only create good work. By doing an excellent job everyday on the work in front of you three miraculous things happen:
First, you will enjoy your work more. As you look at each job as a task to be completed to the best of your ability, you will achieve a kind of zen flow that comes from being in the moment. By not worrying about the future but only in working on what is in front of you, you can let go of schemes that cause anxiety.
Second, you will get more satisfaction from your work. Because you will have a legacy of fine work. When you complete your assignments and take pleasure in doing them to your own highest standard, you will take more pride in your work. Which in itself will give you more internal satisfaction by simply completing the work.
Finally, by stringing along a series of projects that represent your best work, that will create your personal brand. You cannot ideate and then set out to achieve a personal brand. All you can do is to set out to do your best work everyday. And when you reflect over time, your personal brand will be what people know you for.
Our Personal Brand?
What are we known for?
- Unvarnished honesty.
- Speaking truth to power.
- Balancing new technology with people for the best outcome.
- Innovation and practicality.
- Creating. Clarity.