Building a Personal Brand
I’m well aware that it’s been an epic period of time since I got on here and wrote a blog post, let a lone a decent one. Life has been crazy let’s put it that way. Work, work and more work and trying to just keep some work life balance let alone getting on here and writing. As I head towards the topic of this post, it’s not personal finance based, but like all things you do it is directly tied into the money you put in your bank account. One of the really interesting topics that has continued to come up at work whether it’s been in work hosted seminars, or at informal/formal mentor meet ups, it’s been about building a personal brand. How we’re perceived and how we want to be perceived in the workplace can have a major impact on our future career opportunities.
I’ve had the opportunity to take part in a few events run by my company as well as the opportunity to be in a women’s network cluster and a formal mentorship. All great resources that I knew I just had to take advantage of so I could navigate the crazy waters of the corporate world. This topic of a personal brand keeps surfacing which honestly is great, because I try to put together a Lauren that conveys a sense of professionalism and hard work, but have I really put together a proper personal brand? So my question to you is…how do you want to go about building a personal brand?
Here are a few great starting points and a bit of an exercise to get you on your way. It’s been eye opening experience for me, and has lead to some great conversations with peers, mentors, bosses and my family and really made me take a hard look at myself and how I want people to perceive me.
Building a Personal Brand
- What makes you unique?
- What are the benefits of your unique experiences/traits/hobbies and how do they impact the person you are at work and the results you can bring to the table?
- Ask 2 closest friends, your parents, a sibling etc to give you 3 words that describe you. After that..ask your boss the same question.
- Identify your strengths and weaknesses; 3 each
- Lastly; reflect. How do people perceive you? How do you want to be perceived? What do you need to do to change your weaknesses to strengths or at least improve them?
In general, myself included, we don’t often take a hard look at ourselves enough and how people perceive us. Sometimes were mindful of it, but often only when we slip or make mistakes. By asking yourself the questions or at least heading in the right direction you have the ability to really start building a personal brand or at least managing the brand that is you.
What other activities have you completed in the past to help build or develop a personal brand?
