What a Personal Brand is NOT

Welcome back to Let’s Talk! After some time away, I'm excited to revive this space! I've been pondering this topic for a while, not because it's been spoken a little too often, but because its significance appears to have diminished with each mention.

In the corporate realm, you would have heard enough about establishing a distinct “personal brand” that hopefully leaves a lasting and unique impression. However, over the years, it has evolved into a mere buzzword, an overused jargon that has potentially lost its true meaning and intent. Due to numerous misconceptions surrounding this phrase, I believe it's worthy of an in-depth article rather than just a casual post.

• It is not your social media presence

I think this is the biggest myth when it comes to the personal branding process. A lot of us mistakenly believe it is having a strong social media presence with each of our posts getting the number of likes we deem sufficient (unfortunately, it never is). And this couldn't be further from the truth! While we can leverage social media to strengthen our brand or gain the right kind of visibility, anyone who tells you that it is the only way to establish your PB is grossly mistaken!

• It is not what you’ve done?

While it’s tempting to list your accomplishments as your brand, it is again inaccurate. When it was first coined by Tom Peters in 1997, the intent was to demonstrate or convey how you can add value through your work to those around you and to become a trusted member of whatever team you’re a part of! So remember this before the next time you think about your brand.?

• It is not what you say about yourself?

What you say about yourself doesn’t hold good if you can’t back it up with an intentional narrative or thoughtful examples. It could be in an interview or even on social media, being your authentic self and leveraging your knowledge to show the world your unique views or learnings rather than telling them you’re good at ‘xyz’ is a more sustainable way to build and maintain your PB.?

There are many ways to describe PB:

“It’s what people talk about you when you are not in the room”

“It’s what you want to be known for by those around you”

“Its what you become the go-to person for”

Cue the word “personal” because I notice oftentimes we emulate our peers or colleagues and end up sounding like everybody else by fervently chasing “standing out’. It is not a rat race, there certainly isn’t only one ‘right’ way when it comes to defining what you want to be known for. If you’re wondering how then do you go about it, here are a few tips that can help:

• Start with a lot of reflection - being self-aware of your strengths and weaknesses will allow you to articulate your value best.?

• Focus on diverse dimensions - such as your strengths, values, motivation and your passion/purpose.?

• Remain authentic - tune out the rat race for just a bit and think about all that makes you, you. Try to bring that forward in everything want to be known for, and everywhere you want to be known.?

• Put it all together - bring all of the above together into a few lines that describe you. And voila! There’s your personal brand!?

This little exercise can help you answer the all too familiar “tell me about yourself” in an interview or simply give you a chance to sit with yourself and envision what’s next. Think about it, a hiring manager doesn’t want a recital of your resume but more of a narrative of what brought you to that moment. This is why it’s also important to contextualize your personal brand to make it make sense to your audience. Check out the example below to help inspire your own PB :)