What is Your Brand?

Have you thought about this question - What is Your Brand? Is it that you are someone who gives all that you have got to do a good job, that you are a team player, or that you have a growth mindset and are eager to learn?

Like it not, your brand exists whether you have deliberately worked on it or not. Also, you will be judged on your brand and this might affect your career prospects. People build up a perception of who you are from what you do or don't do, what you say or don't say and your social media presence. It is from this perception that people or employers choose to hire, promote or do business with you. So you might as well become aware of what is your brand currently and learn how to shape it.

Since we are talking about brand, my top 3 attributes are 1) professionalism as I pride myself in being an excellent coach; 2) authenticity as I am in touch and honest about what is going on within myself and my clients and I am not afraid to show my vulnerabilities; and 3) challenging the status quo as I am passionate about creating change for others. I have given this a lot of thought when I started my business and this reflects in everything I do from my styling and colours to the topics I choose to talk about.

So what is your brand?

If you think about the big companies, like Google, Apple and Nike, you can probably rattle off what they stand for because they spend a lot of time, energy and money in shaping how you think of them. But what about your own brand? If I say your name, what would it come back with?

Step 1: Get to know your current brand

The first step to building your brand is to get to know your current brand as it exists because it exists.

Ask at least 3 people on how would they describe you if someone asks about you. Then see if there are any common threads in their answers because these are the gold nuggets of your brand, these are the attributes that make you you.

Step 2: Decide what you want to stand for

Independently of the answers from step 1, decide who you want to be and what you want to be known for. These might be attributes that you are the most proud of and want to show the world.

For some of us, it might be strategic, big picture thinking and for others, it might be detail oriented. There is no right or wrong answer here or what you should or should not be. It is simply what and who you want to be.

An important question to reflect upon here is also is how does this brand impact on your career prospects or the goals you have set for yourself? Will it help you go further or does it hinder you?

Step 3: Reflect upon the answers and ask do they marry up?
From the answers of steps 1 and 2, ask yourself do they marry up or is there some work to do? Maybe you want to be known for being systematic and careful in your thinking but currently you come across as risky and inconsistent. If so, this will indicate that you need to show more of you that have researched, weighed up the pros and cons and taken the time to come to a decision or that this is an area that you need to improve upon.

Brands are not built in one day because as consumers of brands, we all collect evidence day in and day out consciously or subconsciously on whether a brand like Apple stays true to what they say they are. So the key is once you have decided what is the brand you want, you stay consistent in your efforts to show that you are that brand and people trust you.

If you want to talk further about your career brand and how that affects your career prospects, book me in for a free 30min 1:1 chat using the link below.