You probably were not on the invitation list for last weekends Academy Awards ceremony, in fact most readers of this probably only got as close to this as I did – the TV. Although one of my former clients has had the pleasure of going and has been involved in the all important tallying of the votes – apparently it's not quite as exciting as you might think!
Here are three ways though, when judging performance, to relate back to personal branding:
1. When looking to give feedback to those that report to you, seek the input of others so that you are getting an overall view of someone. You cannot be expected to know everything, everyone in your team is doing every day – so don't base your judgments on just your observations, seek the counsel of others either formally or informally. You will help your teams personal brand development by giving them a rounder understanding of their own brands impact.
2. When someone else judges you, ask for examples of when you displayed certain behaviors or actions. Understand the impact of them and how that affects your personal brand or even just the perceptions of your personal brand. Take it as a learning, never as a criticism, very rarely are people trying to be destructive, more constructive.
3. Take the positives from feedback and add them to your personal brand documents – bios, brag sheets, portfolio's etc. These are testimonials – anonymous or not – they are still testimonials and are living ways for people to understand your personal brand and what you are capable of doing.
How have you used the judgment of others to help with your personal brand development?