Building Your Personal Brand

While leadership studies may argue that there are a certain, specific set of leadership personality types or characteristics, within those categories, every leader brings with them their own personal brand. A personal brand is what makes you different, individual, and gets the attention of others. It’s important for leaders, and potential leaders, to curate and develop their brand. Doing so starts with being clear about how others perceive you, and how that aligns with what you want people to know about you. Your brand should convey your competencies, special abilities, and interests. It should speak to your vision, values, and reputation. Ultimately, when you’re true to your personal brand, you’re being true to yourself.

It should be emphasized that personal branding is a leadership technique, not a self-promotion campaign or merely a list of accomplishments. It isn’t bragging or boasting, and its purpose is not self-aggrandizement. Think of it as a trademark that needs to be developed, managed, and protected. And it begins with your story – who you are and what you stand for. Be clear about what you stand for. Are you a strong leader? A collaborative leader? Identify what you deeply care about. Think about those activities, interests, situations, and challenges that excite and energize you. These are key components of a personal brand. Next, consider what you think of as your greatest strengths, your expertise, and your professional accomplishments.

Think of your competencies – things that you’re extremely good at – that have benefited your team and the company. What can you offer that no one else does? Your strengths could be things like collaboration, critical thinking, being strategic, or creativity. Consider how you align those strengths to face challenges within your team, your functional area – indeed across the entire organization. Think about the value you add and share examples so others will appreciate your value as well. This also plays into your professional goals – what you hope to accomplish as a leader. Think about the trends and opportunities happening within the organization, and the challenges it’s facing. Where can you best apply the value you bring with you?

What do you aspire to in the next two to three years? How do your career goals align with the company’s needs and strategic plans? The answers are part of your brand. Your personal brand is more than just a summary of who you are right now; it’s also a roadmap of where you want to go. In addition to understanding your existing skills and competencies, also assess your strengths and weaknesses as they relate to the career you want to have. This allows you to uncover not only what makes you distinct now, it also exposes areas where you need to improve or gain new knowledge in order to advance. And that helps you determine what steps you need to take in order to get there. Any value to personal branding, however, is dependent upon making your brand known.

Communicating the value you bring with you requires professional networking and cultivating your online presence. First, it’s important to establish and grow networks both inside and outside your organization. Many female leaders, in particular, fail to prioritize this. They tend to spend a lot of time building internal networks at the expense of the outside world. But too often that can lead to having your talents neglected, taken for granted, and perhaps even overlooked. Kay Koplovitz, founder of the USA Network and chairman of Springboard Enterprises suggests that, in general, men aggressively use networks for business and personal enhancement and women use them to engage and help others. It’s important to bear in mind that networking, in terms of branding, requires a business purpose and targeting specific outcomes.

The basis for networking must advance business interests, provide introductions to industry insiders, mentors, and experts. The more connections you make and the more value you can provide in these interactions, the more likely it is your personal brand will be recognized. When you stop to consider that an estimated 85% of all jobs are filled through networking, fostering networks will not only help build your professional brand, but potentially advance your career as well. Networking events are a good way to arrange follow-up meetings with other professionals outside of your own organization. If you don’t get an opportunity to connect at the event, reach out via email or social networks to spark a conversation. And this leads to an important aspect of personal branding, sharing your brand publicly.

Unless you do, people are not going to know who you are, nor the value and ideas you have. While speaking up in meetings and taking the lead on projects and initiatives at work is great internally, taking visible public positions, such as becoming a leader in a professional association or speaking at conferences, gets the word out externally. But even this is not enough to ensure your brand gets noticed. An online presence is imperative. Your online presence will likely look different depending on the medium you choose. Regardless, your story should match across all social media platforms. Professional platforms like LinkedIn can be good sites for presenting your brand. Participating in groups, making introductions with people who interest you, and asking for and giving recommendations are positive steps you can take to put your brand in front of others.

Personal websites and online portfolios can easily be linked to from professional platforms. If you want one of your sites or profiles to be exclusively for friends and family, adjust your privacy settings to ensure that your current and potential employers don’t stumble upon anything that could potentially harm your career. Keep your personal life personal, and your professional profile professional. Remember, too, that your brand is more than just an online persona. It’s how you carry, present, and represent yourself. The more opportunities you have to work with others, taking responsibility and showing accountability, the more you assert yourself as a competent leader. It all becomes part of your brand. That story you tell, combined with your everyday interactions and aspirations, ultimately define your personal brand.