Inventing 'Brand You': Being the Most Engaging Person in the Room

Synopsis

The article delves into the significance of personal branding amid a global shift toward increased brand consciousness.

It highlights the discrepancy between how individuals readily identify with established commercial brands yet struggle to define their unique personal brands. Emphasizing self-awareness and intentional actions, it distinguishes personal brand (PB) from reputation, stressing the need to craft how one wants to be perceived.

Strategies for building a personal brand include defining oneself, aligning with organizational goals, nurturing networks, and sharing unique intellectual property. The piece ultimately encourages authenticity, gradual growth, learning, and the development of distinctive value in defining one's personal brand.

Which brand are you?

Are you Kareena or Katrina or ......just Bond, James Bond?"

Intelligent marketing and business efforts have led to a growing brand consciousness and awareness worldwide, as consumers increasingly associate certain brands, such as Gucci, H&M, Chanel, Post-it by 3M, Hyundai, LG, with qualities like authenticity, quality, certification, consistency, and reliability.

We proudly display the "brand badge" indicating our trust in and willingness to pay for certain brands, while shunning their knockoff counterparts. This phenomenon holds true for many consumer products.

However, when it comes to our personal branding, why do we emulate others? It's important that we recognize our own identity and values. It's time to become more self-aware and take ownership of our personal brand. All round artist Efrat Cybulkiewicz, beautifully paints-

“I am an art work in constant progress; I am my own canvas, my own colors, my own brushes and my own inspiration.”

Understanding Personal Brand

• Reputation is not same as PB.
• Harrison Monarth defines, reputation is made up of the opinions & beliefs people form about you based on your collective actions & behaviors while PB is much intentional, it is how you want people to see you.

"We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done." -Longfellow

• Build Influence. Think about your most recent conversation lasting over 10 minutes. Now, picture that person leaving and consider what impression they will carry with them after interacting with you. Are you someone whose presence others value- in meetings, discussions, and interactions?
• Build credibility. To influence how others perceive us, it's important to align our actions with our intentions and the values we hold. Developing a clear image of ourselves and helping others understand our values creates an emotional and intellectual connection with them. It requires a conscious effort to build and maintain this image in order to build trust and credibility with others.
• Constantly starting from scratch? According to Nadia Orduna, author of "Your Digital Reinvention", personal branding offers valuable insights. Based on her experiences, individuals who switch roles or projects often need to reestablish themselves and start from scratch. Personal branding, however, helps avoid the repetitive cycle of starting anew by providing a consistent and recognizable image that follows individuals throughout their careers.

• Long term effort. Establishing a strong PB is a long-term effort that demands consistent and dedicated effort for sustainable success. It is an energy-intensive process that demands continuous effort and commitment. As Dr. Carol Dweck aptly puts it, "We are all in a constant state of becoming," and personal branding involves understanding and recognizing the differences between our past, present, and future selves.
• Change is inevitable. and we are constantly evolving, whether we acknowledge it or not. The crucial question is whether we let change control us or take charge of the change. By daring to act accordingly, we can shape our own futures. As Dr. Daniel Gilbert aptly puts it,

"We tend to think that the person we are today is the person we will always be,"

but with PB, we have the power to actively shape and redefine our personal identities over time.

Building our Personal Brand

1. Define your brand.

For years, we have either adopted an identity given to us or allowed ourselves to be shaped by our environment or organization (colors'). It's time to create our own unique personal identity by exploring and identifying our interests, skills, talents, values, beliefs, and goals.

What motivates you? Which problems do you find interesting? Are there any areas where you need to develop new skills or knowledge? Take time to work on these areas. It might be helpful to choose a keyword or characteristic that can help define your personal brand, such as innovator, creator, or environmentalist. By focusing on your strengths and areas of expertise, you can create a PB that sets you apart from others and communicates your unique value proposition.

2. To align your personal brand with organizational goals, seek out projects that align with your brand and develop your skills in those areas. Stay informed by reading industry materials. Take on challenging jobs, volunteer for initiatives, and contribute value to the organization.

3. Build a Mastermind group of like-minded individuals who can support, challenge, and inspire you. This group can offer a valuable support system to help you generate innovative ideas and achieve your goals. Building connections and showcasing your interests can help create opportunities to form this group, which can catapult you forward both quantitatively and qualitatively.

4. Build and sustain relationships with your audience, clients, and customers by increasing your visibility and regularly connecting with them. Seek advice and learn about their approach to challenges or limitations. Make efforts to connect with key individuals and invite them to have coffee or lunch to build a stronger relationship

5. Develop and share your own unique intellectual property (IP) to communicate your passions, values, and personal brand. Create content that provides real value and start small by sharing relevant articles, journals, and videos with your own unique perspective. By leveraging the strength and innovation of your ideas, you can build a global brand for yourself.

Finally,

• Be & stay authentic.
• Grow slow but organically.
• Learn & develop the distinctive value that you bring in.
• Develop connections to break silos.
• It might appear as promotional but its not.
• Its how you define, you.

Canvas-Me. My colors. My Brush. My Portrait.

To Deep Dive

• LinkedIn Learning courses such as "Creating Your Personal Brand" by Lida Citroen, "Influencing Others" by John Ullmen, and "The Nine Best Ways to Invest in Yourself" by Scott Mautz.
• HBR articles such as "The Brand Called You" by Tom Peters, "The Power of Personal Branding" by Dorie Clark, and "The Business Case for Curiosity" by Francesca Gino.
• TEDx Talks- "Personal branding: Building your social capital" by Richard Gerver.
• Books- "Your Digital Reinvention" by Nadia Orduna, "The Confident Speaker" by Harrison Monarth, and "The Long Game" by Dorie Clark.

One effective approach to benefit from these articles is to?keep a personal journal?and reflect on the key?ideas that resonated?with you.

Follow Nishesh Garg , author of MyNewSpectacles- Website , QuickReads & Newsletter to discover valuable insights and gain a fresh perspective.

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