5 Mistakes people make when thinking about personal brand

When I introduce the topic of personal branding I often get blank looks, resistance or people start talking about social media.

As the conversation progresses the following objections are often revealed:

1.    Branding is only for products.

Whether you like it or not you have a brand. It’s the reputation you have. The question for you to think about is, is that reputation aligned to how I want to be known? If it’s not then there is some work to do.

So, you can choose to own your brand and maximize it to achieve your aspirations; or let it manage you and wonder why the same things seem to happen to you!

If branding were only for products it wouldn’t be something recruiters are interested in understanding about possible candidates...

2.    Branding is inauthentic, you can’t possibly pigeon hole people!

That is correct you can’t pigeon hole people. What you can do is discover what your real assets are and how to best utilise these so you get to do the work you love. It’s more about how you stand out.

When you take the approach I do, which is to discover you from the inside out, it can only be authentic. It is being authentic to who you are that stands the test of time. This is how great brands last!

 

3.    It’s all about your online presence.

True. There is an element of this that will link to any online presence you have. The trick is to be consistent in how you come across both online and off line.

If you appear one way online and when people meet you you’re different they will be confused and potentially suspicious.

4.    I’m too busy and it’s not important now.

Well you may be busy and it may not seem important right now, AND you are communicating a brand already! You could be doing this inconsistently so people don’t really understand the value you bring to the work place.

Spending time on your brand will help you focus your efforts more effectively and be noticed for what you want to be known for.

This IS important.

5.    This is far too difficult and I don’t have the time or money to invest in hiring a Marketing consultant.

This doesn’t require an awful lot of investment and in the process you’ll get some really great and valuable feedback that reinforces all the good that you do.

It doesn’t require a Marketing consultant either.

I have a process that will allow you to get to the heart of your brand within 3 to 4 hours. Having achieved that you’ll be motivated to do more and find it VERY easy.

So… if you are ready to own your brand and stand out send me an email. We can set up a complimentary discovery call to assess how best you can move forward and be the leader you were born to be.

"Be yourself - not your idea of what you think somebody else's idea of yourself should be."  

Henry David Thoreau 

Who do you think you are?

What story are you living?

Many of you will be familiar with the BBC programme of the same title, where a celebrity traces part of their family tree to reveal part of their history.

Whilst I admit to ‘stealing’ their title I’m not about to encourage you to do the same. However, I do want you to think about what your story is.

• Are you living your own story or how someone else is telling you should be?
• Do you have one persona at work and another at home?
• Do you feel you are being true to yourself?

If your answer to any of these questions indicates that you are not being yourself 100% who you are, then now is the time to do something about it.

Why? I hear you cry.

As human beings we are very good at picking up when someone is not being genuine. So if you are not ‘being yourself’ you can be sure someone is sensing this.

They may not be able to put their finger on it but they will have a sense that you are not being 100% congruent, 100% YOU, 100% truthful!

This could mean that you are not taken seriously, that people don’t know what they can rely on you for and that they don’t listen to you.

It’s also draining trying to be someone you are not, which could take its toll on your well being.

Whether you like it or not you have a reputation. A brand.

It’s what people say about you when you are not in the room.

The more you progress in your career the clearer you need to be about your brand and what you bring to the team and the organisation and to be able to articulate this clearly.

The question for you to consider is does what people are saying about me align with who I really am?

Is this what I want my reputation to be?

Defining your Brand

If you’re sitting scratching your head and wondering what your brand/reputation is, it’s time to get some feedback.

Start by identifying what you are good at. What are you the ‘go to’ person for?

You may have your own thoughts on this and it’s also useful to hear from others. They will either reinforce your thinking or provide you with some new insights. After all we all have blind spots…

Personal branding is defining what makes you unique so that you stand out from the crowd. Tom Peters first coined this as ‘The brand called YOU’ in 1997.

“Regardless of age, position or the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEO’s of our own companies:Me Inc.”

My approach is about understanding WHO you are from the inside out. Does what people see on the outside reflect what’s going on on the inside?

This means I work with you to understand who you really are:

·       What drives you?

·       What motivates you?

·       What is limiting you?

·       How do you play to your strengths more of the time?

How do you get there?

There are 5 steps to go through:

1.    Identify what you are good at and how you operate which often means gathering some robust feedback

2.    Define your values

3.    Develop your Vision

4.    Develop your Mission

5.    Develop your message so you can clearly articulate the value you provide

Each will take some time and then it’s a process of constant refinement, based on your own self-awareness and feedback.

Feedback and self-awareness are a constant for me in this process. It’s not a one and done process! As I mentioned earlier we all have blind spots those things that we do that we are, quite literally, blind to. We need others to point them out to us. That is why we actually need feedback.

So… if you are ready to stop living someone else’s story and not yet ready to go out and ask for feedback, send me an email. We can set up a complimentary discovery call to assess how best you can move forward and live the life you want to live and define your uniqueness.

“Do something today that your future self will thank you for."

 Author Unknown