What is Personal Branding? Why Does it Matter?

Do you ever wonder how you can get ahead in this competitive world? Sure you have. You want to have a job you find satisfying and be paid top dollar to perform it. How can you navigate your career to insure that you live that scenario every day? The workplace is a competitive environment and it’s pretty easy to get lost in the crowd. How can you make your future brighter?

The answer is personal branding.

Personal branding refers to your career identity and professional reputation. It reflects other people's opinion of you as a worker. It can be a positive association, negative, or even neutral.

Everyone has a career identity, also known as your personal brand. Most people haven’tgiven much thought to how they are perceived at work.  But everyone needs to think about how others see them if they wish to become the best they can be and get more joy, better rewards, and greater personal satisfaction from their job.

If branding can make or break a corporation or a product, just think what it can do for your career. You can stand out, be recognized for your strengths, and be sought after for promotions and top assignments; or you can be left behind, stuck in the middle of a pack, where little job security exists. Employers today are seeking a new kind of worker -- the golden child so to speak.

In the New York Times bestseller, “Break All the Rules,” over 80,000 interviews were conducted to examine why top managers excelled. There was only one element that all had -- successful managers consistently used their strengths on their job.   A recent issue of Employment Management Today, a trade journal for the Society of Human Resources Management, further supported this, noting the growing trend to accent the positive in employees and match their strengths to their jobs. 

The conclusions are common sense really.  People who are allowed to use their strengths perform their very best each day, and are much more successful and productive on the job. This approach results in a win-win situation -- employers get more engaged and productive workers and employees excel in a job that’s rewarding and fulfilling.

Enter personal branding. In any profession, any field, or any industry, you can become the cream that rises to the top by identifying your strengths, building on your unique talents, and establishing a distinguished professional reputation.  “Brand You,” as I like to refer to it, is not faked or manufactured. It is the authentic and genuine you. And, don’t get confused. Your career identity is NOT your job title or job description. It is your distinctive reputation among bosses, colleagues, and other employees.

Never forget that you control your own personal power, create your own happiness, and choose whether or not to use your talents. The first step in better defining “Brand You” really starts with your inner belief in yourself, and an attitude that you are special, have natural gifts and have great value to offer in your little corner of the world.

Every person has a destiny. Some choose to use their talents, while others ignore and waste them, living life unfulfilled and often unrewarded. Sadly, too many people don’t see how great they could be. Many people don’t see themselves as special. They reinforce these confidence-dooming thoughts with negative, self-defeating talk. Even outwardly successful people – managers, directors and top executives – can suffer from doubts or the imposter complex. Too many think, “I’m faking it. I’m really not that good.”  Others think, “I’m just average, there’s nothing special about me.”  But they are wrong.  It is their negative self-talk that reinforces the doubts, and devalues what is unique or special about each of them.

 “Branding” is an integral part of modern business strategy, and you need to apply it to your company’s top product -- YOU!   The seven Brand You components are:

• Brand Equity – Talents and Strengths
• Brand Advantage – Core Competencies       
• Brand
• Brand Values – Be True to Yourself  
• Brand Essence - The Traits that Make You – YOU! 
• Brand Image - The Right Appearance           
• Brand Reputation – What others think of you!

You must define your talents and apply them so others notice. Don’t be deceived. This personal brand process isn’t just for the lucky, the exceptionally talented, or the smartest people in the workplace. And you don’t need a diploma from a prestigious college or numerous professional degrees. You do need ambition, self-respect, drive, a love of learning and a success-driven, results-oriented, “can-do” attitude to better define your own unique career identity and to prosper in your career.

Personal branding is now one of the paramount steps essential to acquiring success in today's workplace. If you raise the bar on your goals and dreams and make happiness the ultimate meter, you can take complete responsibility for your success.  Deep inside you are all the talents you need to flourish and prosper. Using your innate strengths guarantees that you can successfully improve and advance. The best advice I can give you is to, “Work smart and use your gifts.”

America’s most successful people have uncovered this secret.  According to the CEO survey we conducted, top executives said they succeeded using their best talents, and they take notice of talented people who apply themselves at work.

Not everyone IS created equal.  Some people are perceived to be better than others at certain tasks the job may require, and it is essential that you be seen as the one who is best able to perform in today’s competitive workplace.

Whether you choose to acknowledge it or not, each person already is a brand, though most people do a very poor job of managing their professional identity and reputation.  How would you describe yours? Is it highly valued and continuously recognized?  Or, is your career identity nondescript, unknown and unrecognized? Is it one that does not serve you well in today’s workplace? These are critical questions you need to ask yourself!

“Soaring on Your Strengths,” is the book to use to help you shape your career identity intoone that is highly valued and well-rewarded by employers. Based on examples drawn from the experiences of my former career-counseling clients you’ll uncover HOW to be successful by more clearly defining and communicating your personal brand.  The results they achieved, and the results you can achieve for yourself, include:

• fast-track promotions
• power and control in directing your career
• greater autonomy in your work duties
• higher salary and nicer perks
• better assignments
• flexible work schedules
• greater joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment from your job  

By the end of “Soaring on Your Strengths,” you will possess a clearly defined career identity --  Brand You.  No matter what stage you are in your career – beginning, middle, or senior level — or if you are changing careers or reinventing yourself — you’ll have a game plan for your future. You will know how to self-promote and market successfully to become the very best you can be. By correctly communicating Brand You to bosses, potential employers, and co-workers, you can remain a viable worker longer and be retained when others are downsized. Your life will improve as you are actively recruited for promotions, special projects and new positions.  

To distinguish yourself among the competition -- people vying for the same jobs you want -- personal branding isn’t a choice it’s an absolute necessity.