The tricky thing about a personal brand is that if you aren’t actively managing it, someone else may be doing that for you.

What is a brand?

A brand is a set of promises or expectations, stories, and relationships that, when combined, account for a buyer’s decision to choose one product or service over another. In the case of an individual, it’s very similar. A personal brand is essentially the experience or perception that comes to mind when others think about you or see your name.

Everyone has a personal brand. The challenge is that what you want your brand to be, what you envision it to be, may not be what others see. 

Why does this matter?

Defining and communicating your personal brand will help you to support your professional aspirations and your career. If you’ve clearly defined what it is you want people to think of when they see your name or run into you in the elevator, you’ve begun to shape and form your value proposition. Your value proposition is what makes you unique. It summarizes why you bring more value or better insights than anyone else.

Start with a brand audit

As a first step, it can be helpful to have a moment of reflection and understand whether the messages you are sending align with what you envision your brand to be. You may wish to ask a friend or a colleague for feedback. Perhaps there is a disconnect between the two which may require you to be more mindful about your interactions and the messages you are sending.

Revealing your personal brand

Understanding your personal brand is about finding the intersection between your strengths, purpose and goals.

• Strengths: What skills do you have that empower you to be your best at what you do? For example, are you an excellent communicator? Are you good at solving problems for people? Do you have excellent change management skills? Think of this as a headline in an article. 
• Purpose: What are you most passionate about? Is it helping solve problems for others? Is it coaching and guiding others? People who are passionate about what they do are motivated to succeed. 
• Goals: What are you working towards? This can be one of the most important considerations in the personal branding exercise because it’s about being intentional about where you want to go in your career. 

Developing your brand story

Once you have completed this reflection, it’s important to consider your brand story or the narrative that defines your brand. Your brand story will consist of who you are, what problems you solve (or what makes you unique) and it will be supported by evidence or examples of where you have proven action and delivered results. It is from this statement that you begin to build your brand.

The art of personal branding

Personal branding is simply taking your vision and putting it into action. Think about your approach to this as though you were the entrepreneur running the “business of you” or as if you were your own PR agent. This is about thinking about how you can share the key messages you want others to know, whether that’s online or in person and doing so in a way that is authentic to you.