An interesting question came up in a conversation I had last night with an HR representative of a major corporation: “Why is it important for people who work in corporations to have their own personal brand? After all, doesn’t the company itself have a brand?”
Corporations have their own brand and you, as a representative of that corporation express this brand wherever you go, whether it’s dealing with internal or external clients.
Yet each of you brings something unique to the table whenever you promote or provide the services your company offers. Your brand, the way you communicate with others, the way you do your work, the way your successes and failures are viewed by those who matter, have tremendous implications on your career. Understanding the underpinnings of your brand, what makes you unique and what helps you stand out enables you to create your career by design.
Consequently, it’s important to understand how you are viewed, both internally as well as by the outside world. These are some questions you should be asking yourself.
1. Is my reputation, what people think of me, equal to how I view myself?
2. How do I really want people to think of me and to respond to me?
3. Have I been able to differentiate myself and what I do in a positive and productive way?
4. Is the way I am viewed going to help me achieve my professional goals?
5. Is my reputation helping or hurting my work and my future?
6. Is my personal brand (my vision, purpose and values) in alignment with that of the company?
Understanding your personal brand is integral to obtaining satisfaction from your job, enjoying the company you work for, and in obtaining the career goals you set for yourself. Having a strong personal brand plays a critical role in your success in managing your career.
So ask yourself these hard questions. If the answers are not what you expect then you have some work to do; it may be difficult but worth it.
How do you measure whether your personal brand is working for or against you? I would love to hear from you.
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Utilizing her experience of over 25 years, Mary Rosenbaum helps entrepreneurs and careerists position themselves so they can stand out from the competition. Get her free report Top Strategies for Getting Visible and Getting Ahead.
March 19, 2010
11:21 am
Mary, enjoyed today’s blog – brings up an important question as I am in the process of building my personal brand website, and have been an avid reader of many personal brand experts and want-to-be experts. Re: question number one, how do we measure, or estimate, if our reputation as we view it is similar or different from those in our business community? Thanks for your imput Mary, appreciate it.
Kathy Carrico, UNR NV Small Business Development Center
March 19, 2010
11:40 am
Great question Kathy. To determine how you are viewed you can do a number of things. The first, though not necessarily the easiest, is to ask. You can ask a number of different questions – how do you like working with me, what do you believe my strengths are, what do I provide that you believe no one else does, and so on. The reason it’s not the easiest is obvious – they may be uncomfortable answering, they may not answer honestly, you may be uncomfortable asking. The second method of finding out is sending a survey to those you work with/for (like survey monkey) with several questions they might respond to, but again, honesty is difficult to achieve. The third way would be to conduct a 360 evaluation such as 360Reach (as a Reach certified strategist, this is what I use with clients) – it’s anonymous and therefore your respondents would be more apt to be honest. Does this answer your question? If I can be of further help, let me know.