A New Approach to Personal Branding

In response to the changing nature of work and the post-COVID environment, personal branding is no longer a superfluous consideration. If you are a college graduate, postgraduate or career transitioner, branding needs to be your starting point—your foundation—not the cherry on top.

I meet a lot of people who have mixed ideas of what a personal brand is, so let’s define it. Your personal brand is your reputation. Its what people say about you when you are not in the room.

Additionally, Gary Vaynerchuk notes, “we document so much of our lives on social media, creating a ‘persona’ is not an option.” Its important to convey one clear message.

Personal branding is a journey of self discovery; it should evolve; and it is the foundation of your career success.

Get to Know Yourself

The most significant challenge I see young professionals struggling with is failing to know themselves. If one cannot define or differentiate themselves, they won’t be able to craft a compelling story. This was the single reason I got in to coaching—to help people connect with themselves. If one cannot define themselves passed, “I like to help people,” then they have a lot of discovering to do.

Let me first clarify that crafting your brand is not the same as marketing oneself. Often times people confuse branding with marketing. Developing your brand is answering the basic question, “Who am I?” while marketing is promoting oneself.  Additionally, your brand is not just what lives in social media, its what other’s think about you during daily interactions. I tell my clients that personal branding is a journey, its not something you can complete in an afternoon.

Evolution

Part of your brand is what you are known for, therefore it is vital to stay up-to-date with the latest industry trends, which means continuous learning and evolving. Even the most well-respected industry leaders change their beliefs. Take Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence. In his original 1995 version, he lists five domains in his model, yet today it includes only four. Goleman realized after further research that the domain of motivation should be folded into the domain of self-management. In fact, today organizations are looking for candidates who are active learners both at work and independently.

The Foundation

Again, your personal brand is your foundation, its your starting point. Once you can answer the tough questions about your likes, dislikes, strengths, and weaknesses, then you can move on to your resume, social media and developing a long term roadmap.

Although it is tempting to make job applications your first priority, if you haven’t done so already, establish your brand.