It is critical to your success that others know about your personal brand and what it stands for, here are 7 ways to help you do that.
Jane was a Senior VP at one of the banks. She had been there for 15 years with regular career moves and promotions. Now she was frustrated because her last performance review made her realize that her desired promotion to the C-suite was blocked.
She came to me for coaching and we soon determined the reason why she was not being considered for this key move. She was invisible. Not to her colleagues or boss in the local office but to the people making the C-level decisions in New York. The solution was clear. We had to raise her profile in New York even though she was not based there.
We put in place an action plan to raise her credibility and visibility with the decision makers. Within 9 months she was promoted to the CFO role.
This was a classic case of the right people not knowing about Jane and her personal brand. This may be the very reason that you too are not progressing in your career or getting invited to join the latest project or team. More of the ‘right’ people need to know about your personal brand.
Here are 7 key things about your personal brand that you need to ensure everyone (who matters) knows about you;
Values
Your core values rarely change.. That is why, when we feel angry or upset at ourselves, or others, it can often be traced back to one or more of our core values being compromised in some way. Your values are your moral compass.
Understanding a company’s values can help you align your own values to those of the company which will facilitate the navigation of your career.
Exercise: You can take the EvalYOUation exercise by clicking here. This exercise helps you clearly define your top 3-5 core values. What do they mean to you? To really make this a worthwhile exercise, score them as to how you are living them right now and then make a commitment to raise that score on one of your lower scoring ones.
Strengths
It seems to be human nature to ignore or take for granted what we are uniquely good at. I see this all the time with people and their strengths. After all, if it just comes so naturally for you, . isn’t it easy for everyone? Well no it’s not. Ensure that people fully appreciate all of your value starting with self awareness of what they are.
Your strengths are the skills that you are able to fall back on under pressure or in a bind.
Exercise: If you are struggling with identifying what they are, purchase the book ‘Strengthsfinder 2.0’ and take the assessment that will tell you your top 5 strengths.
Attributes
It is important to know and understand the words that others use to describe you. It will help you to describe more clearly who you are. There will be two sets of words. Rational words are the ones associated with you, but they can also be associated with other good people who do what you do. Emotional words are your differentiators. These are the words used to describe you that make you stand out and will be the reasons why someone wants to work with you, for you or hire you.
Exercise: Ask 3-5 colleagues what words they would use to describe you. Look for the rational and emotional. If you want a more detailed 360 anonymous feedback of your personal brand take a look at our Personal Brand Audit offer.
Career Goals
Don’t just rely on the annual performance review to make it clear to your boss and others what your career goals are. Seek out mentors to help provide insight and advice. If you can find champions within the organization, they will be the ones keeping eyes and ears out for suitable opportunities and recommending you.
Exercise: Choose to be a mentor yourself so that you are not just rewarding you and the mentee but also help to make it easy for your boss when you are ready to make a move by providing them with a shortlist of your replacements. This immediately negates your boss pleading that they can’t do without you.
What You Know
Do not assume that your boss knows everything nor that they know everything you know. Be sure to share useful information that you feel will help them or the team. This displays engagement in the role and your ability to work well in a team..
Exercise: Pick a topic or area within the business that interests you and that you want to be known for and spend a few minutes each day reading up on it, sharing relevant information and seeing where there may be opportunities to get involved in side projects.
Who You Know
The old adage of it’s not what you know, it’s who you know can also ring true. Be sure to constantly build your network inside AND outside the organization. Your boss might be running a meeting and be looking for fresh outside content to bring different perspectives (like a good personal brand speaker!!) and being able to make those introductions will also show your depth of knowledge and connection.
Exercise: Make a point of making introductions between people regularly, set yourself a realistic minimum number to complete each week. Start with one pair then increase as it becomes more natural for you to do.
Passions
All the employee engagement surveys tell us that the majority of workers are dis-engaged at work. This apathy can be combated by employees developing and expressing their personal brands. Share your passions at work. This could be something obvious such as sports or family. There needs to be a balance and also an understanding of what is acceptable or not, but bringing more of who you are to work enhances relationships and makes you more three dimensional and thus stand out.
Exercise: Choose one particular passion of yours and think of all the ways that you could start to use and display that passion at work.
Many leaders are under a great deal of pressure, handling more responsibilities with less resources and more direct reports Your personal brand will make it easier for your boss to remember you even in these demanding times.
You can no longer rely on anyone else to manage your career. It’s up to you to own the definition of who you are
What ways have you managed to raise your profile inside your organization? Please leave a COMMENT below
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Understand where your personal brand stands right now. One of the most popular personal brand insights I offer is a Personal Brand Audit – check out our limited 50% off offer here