Time to be seen differently?

The organisation I work for underwent a huge rebranding exercise last year – as you would expect this created a lot of buzz! But what about those now thinking their personal branding would benefit from an overhaul too?

Due to current circumstances, many of us are hoping the brand we have in the office every day stands strong, when we are now seeing our colleagues less in person and more through video conferencing.

Much of our rebrand has focused on consistency – highlighting what we do best, and this time really putting our people at the forefront of our campaign (I’m one of the faces!).

Think about those organisations whose brand is built on pillars of strength: 

Apple as flawless design, Asda as everyday low prices, FedEx as dependable delivery.

People who have successfully branded themselves are also known for something specific.

Mary Berry for domesticity, Richard Branson for authenticity.

Whilst it is true that consistency helps branding, the reality is that individuals (and organisations) are more complicated than a single tag line or campaign, and sometimes you want to be known for something else.

You already have multiple pursuits in life so you already have more than one personal brand. You might be a marketing manager and a wife and a parent and a marathon runner. Or a Middle manager and a full time carer and an avid eBay seller.

You will know different people in each sphere and they will brand you based on what they know in that area.

Even if you are not consciously branding yourself as a mum, the parents of your child's classmates probably think of you this way. On the other hand, your Park Run group may not even know you’re a mum.

How many times have we met someone in a casual context and are surprised when we learn what they do for a living (or vice versa)!

Here are three tactics to mix up your brand or re-brand altogether:

1. Focus on the area that positions you in the best light.

I coached a stay-at-home mum once who didn’t think prospective employers would value her contributions because of her long gap in traditional employment. But she also headed several community charity initiatives and was a record-breaking fundraiser.

I guarantee that people from her charity work saw pound signs before they saw her mum skills. Yet she always branded herself as returning to the workforce (the mum brand) instead of focusing on ways she never really left (the program leader brand). When she finally re-positioned herself to lead with her accomplishments, she found herself in demand from several companies for sales and business development roles.

2. Focus on where you want to go, not what you’ve been doing.

Say for example an experienced financial services executive is interested in leaving for non-profit work in women’s leadership. She volunteers in a few women’s leadership programs and is already well-regarded in that space. Yet her professional biography makes little mention of this and instead focuses on her long list of financial services-related accolades.

Whilst her track record in financial services is impressive and longer in actual duration, her new track record in women’s causes is equally substantial. If she wants to start being seen as a leader in the women’s leadership space, she needs to focus her story there, regardless of whether there is more time spent in the other areas.

3. Expand your network to broaden your brand.

Sometimes people who have known you for a long time have trouble seeing you in a new way.

Using our previous example, you were always the finance person, so they can’t see you in non-profit.

This is understandable – you are changing, and they are not.

Get some new friends!

Seriously, you don’t have to drop the old ones, but if you’re serious about re-branding yourself in a specific way, broaden your network to new people who never knew the old you and don’t have to be convinced.

You don’t have just one brand. It evolves over time. It is different day-by-day in the sense that we all have multidimensional lives.

Use this to your advantage.

Proactively choose what and how you brand yourself.