Intentionally creating a personal brand at work can showcase your stand-out strengths and values and enhance your career opportunities. Read on to learn the steps needed to craft your authentic brand.
“Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.”
Malcom Forbes, Businessman and former New Jersey State Senator
It might seem self-centered to cultivate a personal brand at work to enhance your professional career but consider this — you already communicate a personal brand to your supervisors, clients and peers. Why not be intentional and create the best possible impression?
Through self-awareness, honest feedback from others, and strategic communication you can authentically express your personal brand and attract best-fit career opportunities that foster greater job satisfaction and professional success.
“By determining your unique value and living in a way that promotes it, you can become known for your defining attributes. That reputation can help attract opportunities in your career and life that align with your authentic self,” writes Catherine Cote in Personal Branding: What it is and why it matters.
Develop Self-Awareness
Socrates famously said, “Know thyself.” This ancient proverb remains relevant today. Consider it the starting point from which to curate your personal brand.
Write down your values, passions, purpose and stand-out strengths. Consider how you authentically express these qualities in your day-to-day life and how they make you valuable in the workplace.
For example, perhaps you often see the larger picture and take alternative approaches to life’s challenges. If so, your personal brand at work could communicate that you’re a team member who brings a wide-ranging perspective and creative solutions to solving problems and tackling projects.
Or maybe you’re a highly responsible, detail-oriented person for whom meeting deadlines is paramount. If so, your personal brand could communicate that you’re the most reliable person to tackle a critical project at work involving several tasks on a tight deadline.
Seek Feedback
You may think you know yourself well, but the feedback of others will round out your understanding and help you see where you can improve. Ask bosses, colleagues, friends, family and others to share their truthful impressions of you. Select only those who will speak frankly.
“Be brave enough to also include someone who has rejected you (say, for a job or for a date),” write Jill Avery and Rachel Greenwald in A New Approach to Building Your Personal Brand. “Invite each person to spend some time with you openly discussing your strengths and weaknesses and assure him or her that you’re looking for complete candor. Then ask open-ended questions, such as ‘How would you describe me to a stranger if I wasn’t with you?” or ‘Which adjectives or phrases do you associate with me professionally and personally?’”
If it’s difficult to do this in person, ask participants to submit their positive feedback and constructive criticism in writing.
While this isn’t an easy exercise, it’s a valuable one. Remain open to all responses. You may learn that for some, your brand conveys strengths and positive attributes that you didn’t realize you projected. Negative feedback might surprise you but to address it you must first assess it honestly and fearlessly.
I have participated in two 360-degree evaluations. Both included anonymous feedback from my supervisor, customers, peers and friends. It was hard to accept that negative attributes were part of my personal brand, but I tried to take criticisms to heart. Addressing them – by making behavioral changes and pursuing training to gain new skills – has been a lifelong pursuit.
Define and Communicate Your Brand
Reflect on what you’ve learned about yourself and pinpoint the value you bring to your organization. Now consider your workplace and the clients you serve. What specific needs are not being met? Can you apply your unique attributes to address any of these? You’re on the way to further defining and authentically embodying your brand.
According to Cote, defining your brand and communicating it effectively should include constructing a value proposition and a narrative (think 30-second elevator speech) that helps differentiate you and what you offer.
You’re basically marketing yourself, something you may not be accustomed to. “While it may feel unnatural to market yourself as you would a product, keep in mind that it will attract opportunities that align with your unique value. By increasing your visibility, you can provide value to more people,” writes Cote.
Communicate your brand through LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok and other online platforms. “LinkedIn serves as a professional social media tool and is the ultimate site for defining your brand. The best way to use this network is to participate in groups, make introductions with people who interest you, and ask for (and give) recommendations,” writes Shayna Joubert in How to Build a Personal Brand: 10 Tips.
Also make the most of in-person networking opportunities with your supervisors, peers and industry leaders. These might be as casual as a hallway brainstorming session with a coworker about a difficult project or as focused as asking questions of a boss or industry leader after they’ve delivered a presentation on a topic that interests you.
Our Pitching YOU: Promote Your Best Self course provides tools and tips on how to communicate effectively to others through your elevator pitch, networking, personal branding, social media and business writing. You’ll also get to practice your new-found skills. Sign up today.
Exhibit the best qualities that you want to be known for when these opportunities arise but remember not to make it all about you. Sincerely listen to others and offer to help apply your strengths when you see a need. Take on volunteer and leadership roles in your professional organizations. Your contributions will not only do good, but you’ll also probably learn something along the way.
Intentionally cultivating and communicating your personal brand will not only attract opportunities that better match your strengths and values but also better serve others.
Liz Carmack is an award-winning writer, editor and author of two nonfiction books published by Texas A&M University Press. She has worked as a communications professional for almost four decades.
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