A Brand Within a Brand
As business owners, we create a brand for our company. We create a unique name, an identifiable logo, and walk within those designs for the foreseeable future of our firm. But within the walls of our corporate logo, one will find individual personaL brands.
If you work for a large corporation, you will likely be expected to conform to behavior required to represent the corporate brand. If you are in a community relations position, rest assured you will be expected to dress professionally and be representative of the Employee Code of Ethics presented to you during your orientation. Things like professional attire, expectations of appropriate hair cuts, well-shaven faces will likely be your new expectation. If you have a more back office role or support role to the front line employees, you will likely find more flexibility in displaying your unconventional personal brand. Either of these roles will shape what those around you perceive as your ‘Personal Brand’.
Asking the question in a Google Search, What is your Personal Brand, yields this result:
‘Your personal brand refers to how you promote yourself. It is the expertise, experience and personality that you want everyone else to see about you. It can be a combination of how the media depicts you, the idea people get from the information they find about you online and how they perceive you in real life.’
So, now that you know what it is and that it does exist and will influence how others perceive you, you should put effort into managing it.
Changing your Personal Brand is up to you. Ask those around you how they see you and let that guide whether or not you believe you need to adjust it. Write down what you would want people to say when asked how they view your Personal Brand. Compare those answers to what you write down as your ideal list of adjectives. If they are not close in description, you likely have some work to do.
The good news is your Personal Brand can be managed by you quickly and effectively. A change of clothes, a change in places you frequent, a change in community volunteer efforts, a clothing or hairstyle change, a change in the way you act or deliver information. All of these actions define you in some aspect and influence how those around you perceive you. Make sure you ask the right people for feedback. How you define that right audience is key to achieving the impact you desire.
Be like our gorgeous Afghan dog of the week pictured here. She has confidence, beauty, a great groom, and just exudes grace and happiness. It should be that easy for all of us!
Be well.
