Beware and be aware of your brand

Each of us is original and unique by birth, and this reflects in the need to have a personalized brand. From the beginning of the universe till the infinite time ahead, there cannot be another 'you'. This means, we should carefully build, retain and progress that unique image called personal brand. This is vital in the current competitive corporate world where the personal brand has a significant say in most decisions.

Your brand is your promise to your stake holders. It tells what others can expect from you, and it differentiates your offering from those of your peers or competitors. The popular notion that a brand is limited to products or a service is not true. Each one of us is “branded” by those around us. That includes our colleagues, supervisors, clients, family members and friends. They can describe you based on how they’ve experienced you and can provide a narrative about your personality and whether or not you have added unique value to their lives. 

Evolution of a personal brand

Personal brand – does it matter ?

Personal Branding is about identifying and then communicating what makes you unique and relevant. It’s like a magnet that attracts people to you … or repels. A very positive personal image will:

Enhance your self-awareness : When you go through the process of Personal Branding, you develop a good understanding about what makes you unique and valuable.

Clarify and help reach your goals: Personal branding requires you to have clarity on what you wish to achieve and helps you set goals to get there.

Create visibility and presence: Once you know what is unique and compelling about you, you can use that information to create visibility/presence to those people who will help you achieve your goals.

Offer resilience: Strong brands are successful despite challenges and downturns because they stand for something unique and are differentiated.

Your brand – can it be improved?

Though a significant portion of your personal brand emanates from your past behaviour, results etc., it can be modified to some extent. However, the changes require immense effort and may require longer time. As the eco-system around you changes and your expectations as well, it is essential to put in focussed work on your brand.

Understand yourself well :

If you are able to reduce your blind spots, you will be able to position your brand well. Else, there can be a major variance between self image vs how others perceive you.

Like yourself liberally :  Be loyal to yourself first. If you don't like yourself, how can you expect others to like you? And make it a point to tell yourself that you like yourself a lot.  This can be initiated with a self-check and "be proud in how far you have come in life and mobilise enough confidence in how far you aim to go"

What you tell the world and what the world tells you make a relatively small difference. However, what you keep telling yourself about yourself, finally makes all the difference.

Review self image while connecting with the bigger picture : You have to look beyond your current position while shaping your brand, therefore, your current location, company, job etc should not be major influencers in the making of the brand called You.

Be authentic : Be honest about who you are — your attributes and qualities. If you know yourself, you can promote an honest brand.

Increase your visibility : Promote your profile - ways to do this include extensive networking, pursuing high-profile assignments, active participation in open forums, volunteering for committees or panel discussions etc. Your choice from the laundry list of options should be based on your competence to avoid any de-branding.

Understand perception and deal with it :  It is critical to keep checking the value of your brand. This can be done by using any formal instruments such as 360 degree feedback or informally, by seeking feedback from the people around you. Once you know how you are being perceived, practice measures to bridge the gap, if any, between reality and perception.

Another option could be by attending job interviews, regardless of whether you wish to change jobs, this will also help you test your employability quotient.

Personal brand Vs Self promotion

In our eagerness to make the best of the personal brand, it is quite possible that we surpass the boundary lines – leading to excessive self promotion, which is detrimental to our own interest. The negative impact of self-promotion is:

• You get isolated and your performance is disrupted
• It leads to confrontation rather than co-existence or cooperation
• You miss the bigger picture and lose influence over others
• You start losing trust of those around you

To conclude, the Personal Brand is like icons on a desktop, we hold icons for every person in our mind. Some icons represent good people, some wonderful people and some not so good.

Good luck in your journey to position as a good icon in the minds of your stake holders!