All of us are bombarded with thousands of brand communications daily, but how many of us spend anytime thinking about our personal brand, what that reflects about us and how this might impact our career path and progression?
The personal brand concept suggests that success comes from self-packaging and this includes personal presentation, communication style, attitude and knowledge coming together to form a distinguishable, and hopefully memorable, impression
Building and maintaining a consistent and compelling personal brand can be a real differentiator. What do you want to stand for and how do you make it relevant to your career path? Ahead of a recent event, the colleagues of the speaker panel were asked to list what they perceived as the speakers' core brand values. There were some surprises amongst the results, so be aware that your perception of how you come across may not be how others see you.
Why not do the exercise yourself and write down the four to six values you want to be associated with, and think you reflect in your workplace and industry. Then ask a colleague to do the same. Were there any surprises? Anything your urgently need to address around style, or perhaps some useful insight as you progress up the career ladder?
According to Amanda Mackenzie, Chief Marketing Officer of Aviva, your personal brand is not just about what you do stand for but also what you will not stand for, and that there are some defining moments in your career when you should trust your head and your heart, and be authentic to your brand.
In this age of social media we all need to be acutely conscious of our online brand and the consistency or inconsistency between our personal and professional face. Consider your “data exhaust” the trail of mostly useless information that is forever linked to you and your brand that you leave behind online. Be sure that your “data exhaust” reflects the person you are today and the brand you have worked hard to create.
