From Enigma to Clarity: Developing a Powerful Personal Brand

Personal branding is an enigma to me.

As we go through our life's journey it is something that always comes up as something we should work on and yet it's something we can never truly know if it's driving the outcomes we want... with those we interact with... and in all the moments "that matter".

It is also the subject for our upcoming group mentoring session so I have been reading articles and reflecting on the topic a lot recently.

The Room Where it Happens

As part of the preparation for our next session... we were asked to read a Harvard Business Review article by Jill Avery and Rachel Greenwald A New Approach to Building Your Personal Brand.

One of the things that struck me was the following...

Unfortunately, while we’d like to think that we’re in complete control of our personal brands, that’s rarely the case. As Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is quoted as saying, “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

So... if YOU are NOT in "The Room Where it Happens" (Hamilton...anyone else?) how can YOU ever be sure YOUR personal branding is landing the way YOU want it to?

The short answer is... YOU don't!

Well... you can ask others for feedback AND enable key stakeholders to represent YOU in key moments... but on a daily basis... in all the ways we conduct ourselves... with all the people we interact with... there is no way to know... and there is no way to be perfect... in all we say or do.

Having said that it doesn't mean YOU shouldn't make it YOUR mission to...

• Define and Live YOUR Values
• Come up with and Share YOUR Personal Mission Statement
• Identify The Top Three Traits YOU Aspire to Be and Look for In Others

Early Learnings

It took me longer to realize than YOU would think that just because I thought I was great and ready for the next thing.... didn't mean other people did too. I also thought the key to personal branding was about my image... like the watch I wore... the brand of my clothing... the shoes I wore... the car I drove...

It turns out I had NOT done the hard work to distill down what was important to me or to find out who I was or wanted to be. For example... what my top five values were so I could communicate them simply and effectively. I embraced ALL the values ALL the time... it's laughable now that I look back on it.

It came back... time aftertime... from performance calibration sessions... and promotion discussions... in the rooms I wasn't in to "defend or advocate for myself" ... that I wasn't ready... what ever THAT meant.

I totally missed the concept... that in those situations... my boss could say a few good things... but other voices... influential or not... had other feedback... and they could have heard it from my peers... from random interactions around the company... from moments that mattered that I didn't realize mattered... which all resulted in derailing any chances I had of moving up as fast as I felt I should.

The First Steps Towards My Personal Branding

I give credit to my first executive coach Mandy Rose for introducing me to personality profiling and 360 reviews to get me started on the road to defining key elements to my personal brand.

It was from there and subsequent work that I was able to come up with the answers to the key definitions I referenced above. For me it netted out as follows:

Top Five Values

• Love & Affection
• Hope
• Trust
• Empathy
• Passion

Personal Mission Statement

• #YOUmakeadifference

The Three Traits I aspire to Be and Look for in Others

• Smart
• Hardworking
• Authentic

As I go about my life and career these are always in the back of my mind and serve as a reminder in situations... big and small.... to live them... not just state them.

It doesn't mean I do it perfectly ALL the time and I am sure more than one person would say... hmmmm... I don't see it... depending on the day we interacted. It's just another chance to learn...grow and be better.

In Closing...

It should come as no shock to anyone that I am particularly active on LinkedIn. It is one of the key platforms where I work on my personal brand and my digital brand.

I bring that up because from time to time I touch base with people in my network to say hello and check in even though we haven't touched base in years. I had one such opportunity last night and sent a message to Archie James who I got to know during my days at Insight when he was working at IBM. I think highly of Archie and I am grateful for him in my journey.

Since we hadn't been in touch in a long time... I woke up to a text from him asking if I had been hacked as he got a brief hello from me over night! I laughed and confirmed it was really me. It gave us a wonderful brief few moments to reconnect and I was humbled by his kindness when unprompted he wrote...

You always impressed me in our interactions, with your smarts, social intelligence and teamwork.

Like most people... I am uncomfortable taking a compliment...especially one that meant so much to me and I almost made efforts to brush it off...instead I simply said "thank you". It was a gift from someone I admire in an unexpected moment and it serendipitously went along with all the overthinking I was doing on personal branding. Maybe the work has been paying off over the years if Archie could hit so close with what I have been working on for my personal brand.

Lastly... Archie was kind enough to provide the closing thoughts on the topic....

What would HE say is the Top Three Pieces of Advice or Learning on Personal Branding?

1. Be specific about the brand you want to create, mine was about servant leadership.
2. Decide on the non-negotiables... about which you're not willing to compromise on the brand image you wish to create.
3. Consistently communicate about topics that support the brand image you desire.

Leadership Questions of the Week for YOU!

• How would YOU sum up elements of YOUR personal brand?
• What have YOU learned about personal branding over the years especially knowing you aren't in the rooms where your brand is being discussed?
• What tools or approach would YOU tell others as they start the journey on defining and promoting their personal brand?
• Is there any advice YOU have for your in-person brand versus your digital footprint/brand?
• I focused on Values, Mission and Traits as three important points to summarize as you live and articulate YOUR brand....what are YOUR answers to these?
• When was the last time YOU got feedback on YOUR brand and if what you have been working on is aligning with what others see? If not what is stopping YOU?
• Building on Archie's top three pieces of advice... share in the comments YOURs.

Thanks for reading and remember...YOU make a difference!

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