Defining Your Personal Brand: Doing Business with Purpose, On Purpose
How many times have you heard— “Define your brand or someone else will?"
Just like the corporate brand that does not clearly and deliberately define its brand— you may be leaving your personal brand up for interpretation to those around you.
We tend to not think too much of our personal brand. We let it evolve organically—focusing on job promotions or leadership development (both crucial to this whole topic and not to be underestimated). Often we let our personal brand take us as far as it can—until one day it doesn’t. Like the company that faces heavy competitive threats or looks to grow a new channel— we use our personal brands to seek promotions, change companies, shift industries or develop ourselves as a reliable expert. When it no longer carries us—we are left wondering what held us back?
Personal brands cannot be manufactured—they need to be authentic. This becomes a matter of discovery and revealing, rather than creation and forging. It is a keen process that works to identify the intersection of your strengths, values and expertise to articulate what you stand for and how that translates into a tangible experience. It is in that moment where clarity of purpose and clarity of need lock arms.
Consider the following five areas of discovery for your personal brand:
1. Why Do You Exist?
Just like an organization has a mission statement declaring why they exist, it is useful, no matter what stage of your career you are at to define why you are doing what you are doing. When was the last time you really evaluated what motivates you in your professional life i.e., what gets you out of bed in the morning when it comes to work? Let’s put money, rank and title aside for a moment. What kind of work do you love? What kind of work puts you at your best? What impact do you want to create—both within your role and the organizations you associate with? Putting thought around these areas provides clarity—as both a reinforcement of what is important to you, but also as filter for decision making for future opportunities and choices.
2. Define the Experience.
Values-driven organizations have codified their experience and the ethos that guides their everyday actions. As a consumer of these brands, we know what to expect when we buy from them—in fact, we often choose brands that have similar values to ours (and avoid the ones that clash). As a professional, what are your values? How do these values translate into the experience of working with you? How do you leave people feeling when you work with them? Are you candid? Are you reserved? Do you think in black and white or big picture abstracts? All of this is OK—there is a place for us all. The point is about defining it for yourself, then finding a suitable environment, organization or team where you can put it to good use to move the needle.
3. Leverage Your Track Record.
Think of yourself as a company. In the say 20-years of your career history—what is your track record? What have you produced? Are you a reliable brand? Are you consistent? Why do people call you? Your past informs your future when it comes to a personal brand—maybe your career history is pristine, but most likely it is a mixture of success and moments of great learning. The key is not to ignore those highs and lows—evaluate what has worked and what has not. What is the sum of your entire career history—your skills, your diverse set of experiences, your learnings, your network, etc.?
4. Think Long Term.
When we develop corporate brands, we talk about placing a flag out in the distance to create some aspiration for the brand that is obtainable through deliberate strategy and tactics. At the end of the day—what do you want to be known for? This may have multiple parts to it—there may be a job title in there, a salary goal or a dream employer. But when we think about this as part of a personal brand—we want to know about your legacy, your contribution. Like all things, starting with the end in mind is valuable information to provide a guide along the path (most likely it won’t be a direct route, pay extra attention at the detours).
5. Be Authentic.
Ever work with a company who says one thing and then delivers a different experience than promised? You’ve got to be authentic and true to who you are—that doesn’t mean pretending to be calm, when in fact you are a firebrand. That means get clear on who you are in a work environment, own it and figure out the right environment for you. (More to come about leadership development and feedback, as I am not suggesting we are fait accompli. Adapting and leveraging our traits effectively in different cultures is critical.) After many years of being told how direct I was (and then trying not to be direct, but then not being effective), I now tell my clients how direct I am and we have an honest conversation about it. If that isn’t a shared value, I know we won't work well together. Owning the whole package and knowing what environments you work best in is actually liberating, not restricting.
Finding your uniqueness within your personal brand should not be a shock and awe moment. It is reinforcement and a great reminder of what you should already know (either consciously or sub-consciously).
Smart brands are intentional—they do business with purpose, on purpose. What’s yours?