Creating a Superior Personal and Professional Brand

Just as companies dedicate time, money, and strategic resources to establish a winning and credible brand, senior executives (and those who aspire to this level) should attempt to create a similar personal brand. This is easily the best way to rise above the executive “crowd” in all job markets, particularly tight ones.

Importance of a Strong Personal Brand
A senior executive personal brand is just as important as a respected corporate brand. More than merely image, a successful brand projects reliability, character, dependability, quality, and honesty.

For an aspiring senior executive, little is more important than establishing a credible personal brand. You should realise that creating a superior personal brand leads to an equally impressive professional brand for yourself.

A strong personal brand also bolsters your credibility within your current company or with potential future employers. It will speak louder than a fabulous, well written resume or any other peripheral written or oral comments from you or others.

Create a Superior Brand for Yourself
Here are some suggestions to help you create a winning personal brand to advance your career and improve your performance.

1. Your vision of the world and your place in it is critical to developing your personal brand. Define your personal purpose and your personal goals. Senior executives should project their vision to all on the organisation chart and to potential future employers.
   
   
2. Examine your values. Know what you want. Learn what you’re interested in and where your passions lie. This forms the basis for your personal brand development. Your personal brand should reflect your values and combine with your vision to inform your “audience” who you are and how you perform.
   
   
3. Define your most important goals for the next year, two years, and five years. To ensure that it is meaningful and professional, your personal brand should be a reflection of your strategic plan and anticipated action.
   
   
4. List your strengths that support your brand. Write down the best adjectives that describe you and your professional behaviour. Understand that your personality either enhances or inhibits your professional strengths.
   
   
5. Get feedback from everywhere. Concentrate on those that know you best, including family, friends, and close peers. Objectively compare your strengths list with theirs. Do they match? Are there significant differences?
   
   
6. Determine your primary skill sets. Your skills may - or may not - mirror your perceived strengths. Ask, “What do I love to do?” and “What do I dislike doing?” You may be surprised to learn that your best skills may directly relate to things you love to do. Similarly, you’ll often discover weaknesses that correspond with tasks you dislike performing.
   
   
7. Understand your industry, position, and desired “audience." Are your current industry, job title, and employer at the top of your professional “wish list”? You must first thoroughly understand these areas to answer this question correctly. If you answer, “Yes," you can upgrade your personal brand within your company to improve your promotion opportunities. But if the answer is "No" for one or more of these categories, you might consider a future job search, including contacting the Executive search professionals such as Kelly Executive.
   
   
8. Perform a personal SWOT analysis. Most senior executives are familiar with a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) when analysing companies, strategies, and action plans. SWOT works very well on a personal level, also. Creating your personal brand using SWOT can help devise a great strategy.
   
   
9. Understand your personal competition. You should evaluate and understand your personal competition just as you do for market competitors from your corporate position. Your personal brand should mirror or exceed the talent of your perceived competition. Ask, “How am I different? Better? What do I need to do to become better than my competition?”
   
   
10. Use the “Three C’s” of personal branding. Clarity defines who you are (and are not). Consistency helps you create - and continue - steady behaviour and performance. Constancy mandates that you remain visible and passionate about your work (and your brand).

Corporate author Tom Peters coined the phrase “personal branding” in his thoughtful 1997 article, “The Brand Called You," and the concept has evolved into a staple professional strategy for C-level executives in all industries. Effective personal branding can enhance your career now and in the future. Become identified with your own brand to project your vision, talent, value, skill, and leadership.