What do you want to be known for? 9 top tips for creating a career-boosting personal brand

Your personal, professional brand. The strengths, characteristics, and achievements others remember you for.

It is an important deciding factor in how promotions and career opportunities play out.

But creating that brand and keeping it consistent is difficult — potentially more so than ever before.

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Why does your brand matter in 2023?

Creating a strong personal brand requires an individual to understand what their attitudes, motivations, values, work ethic, personality, quirks and purposes (career, social, personal) are.

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Consider Gary Vaynerchuk , Jacinda Arden, or Patagonia’s Yvon Chouinard. From their actions, it is obvious they understand what kind of professional self they want to portray.

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They use social media effectively, understand the power of public perception and networking, as well as comprehending that it’s important to keep building the brand even when doing the day job.

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For these individuals, it’s clear that a professional brand couldn’t just be important, but it should be a central consideration for everyone.

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Leadership brands will be scrutinised

Whilst many candidates might think the current recruitment landscape will give them their pick of jobs, some commentators are predicting that it will soon be employers who are getting their pick of talent.

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For those going for leadership roles and promotions, it means increased scrutiny of CVs, skillsets and brand — especially as the experts say employers value leadership skills (such as listening, resilience, and grit) more than anything else.

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Therefore, for those with leadership ambition or those simply wanting to finesse their brand for the future, understanding what should be part of that brand, how to improve it, and where to shout about it are key.

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As such, Yellow Bricks have compiled top tips to help you:

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Build a World-Class Professional Brand:

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1) Your brand needs business skills. In the last few years, a focus on people management skills, soft skills, and outside-of-work interests (social, environmental, community) have been a central focus. Whilst these are all important, executives are increasingly reminding would-be leaders that core business capabilities have got to be top-notch. Showcase these in your brand.

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2)?Showcase continuous leadership development. LinkedIn data shows that by 2025, the skills needed to succeed at work are going to change by over 40%. Coupled with the fact that organisations are every year spending a massive ￡290 billion globally on developing their leaders, it’s clear that those who can showcase an appetite and past aptitude for learning are going to stand out.

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3)?Shout about your success online. Unless you are a globally recognised business leader or politician, no one is going to cover your career success. It’s up to you to be your lead marketeer in this area. LinkedIn can be one place to do this. Every single minute 9,000 new connections on the platform are made, and users can clearly show interests, experience and qualifications as well as create posts which reflect values, skills, and capabilities. All are crucial when boosting your brand.

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4) Understand your professional brand is a career-long project. That said, your brand is more than just a few posts on social media. Brand experts argue that it is a career-long project, that takes, at minimum, a couple of years to get off the ground. But the investment can be worth it — especially if a project management mindset is used. To improve, they suggest understanding the investment needed, the purpose of the project, what brand success looks like, and a schedule to reflect on forward momentum.

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5) Realise how much businesses care about personal brand. Senior leaders often become the de facto face of a business, whether at networking events or to the wider public. As such, businesses want leaders with strong brands. With the latest research showing that messaging shared by employees of a business has the greatest reach, it’s easy to see why building a brand as an authority figure within an industry can be key to getting your next job: it’s because businesses will see you a great asset who can deliver wins.

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6) The power of individualism can help you stand out. Hiring is difficult for businesses: so many candidates have deep experience, the right skills, and a great mindset. Therefore, standing out is key. To do this well, ask those around you what they think your brand is and then reflect on your vision, strengths, and career. Pull this together into a coherent story. You will have a differentiating narrative — it’s just got to be highlighted.

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7) Your brand has to match the brand of the hiring organisation. Whilst a focus on your own brand is key, understanding how it relates to a hiring organisation is crucial. What are their values and goals? What behaviours and capabilities do senior leaders display there? Do they align with your values and goals? Where do you need more skills? This process can help you understand if an opportunity is right for you and/or where your competencies might need developing.

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8) Brand dictates hiring opportunities. When it comes to senior hiring positions, 90% of recruiters check social media. Whilst this is hardly surprising, it does mean you need to create a coherent digital and professional presence and showcase your greatest professional wins and commercial effectiveness in the best possible way online.

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9) Expert insight can be an important brand differentiator. Building an individual professional brand alone can be difficult. You’ll want to know how your capabilities and experience are perceived, how your skills and personality fit a hiring organisation’s needs, and how to package that in CVs, online, and in interviews.

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