You are in control of your personal brand if you choose to be.

As a leader you are on show all of the time and people are watching you even when you think they aren’t! It is essential that you define yourself carefully and cultivate your image – remember that perception is reality. When you take the time to define yourself and present this definition to the public, your will reap the benefits that come with taking control of your personal brand.

Take Charge

It is easy to underestimate the importance of personal branding and avoid actively engaging and developing your brand. The truth is that branding occurs whether you participate in it or not. If you do not take the time to take charge, others will brand you, and it may not be favourable.

Taking control of your personal brand is essential in managing your reputation.

Be Real

People are attracted to genuine people. The key to personal branding is to make it personal. Your brand must have your personality. Ensure your brand attracts the people you want it to. Share ideas, implement humour if appropriate, and connect with people. Remember leadership is all about connecting with others and taking them with you!

You are under no obligation to share personal details about yourself, but everything that you do share must be genuine. Never make up facts, statistics, or tell lies. Fact checking has become easier than ever, and lies will do nothing to improve your brand’s reputation.

To define yourself, you need to know yourself well. Identifying your values, passions, and strengths will help you realize what you need to communicate in your brand. Once you understand what you have to offer, it will be possible to create a brand that is both honest and positive. It will allow others to see you clearly.

Pillars

Consider your values to be your pillars. They are the attributes that help define your identity. Ask yourself what is important to you about the work that you do. Your values are what motivate you; they explain how you offer what you have. For example, you may offer years of sales experience, but your pillar could be offering an honest and authentic sales experience. There are no right or wrong pillars; they simply need to reflect your work values.

Ask yourself what is important to you and make a list. Then prioritise them in order of the most to least important. Those higher on the list will have more meaning for you and it is these that you should link to what your brand has to offer.

Passions

Your brand should reflect your passions. Ask yourself the following questions to identify your passions:

• What do you care about?
• What drives you?
• What do you love to do?

Remember to list all of your passions, not just the ones that are obviously related to work. If the only passion you communicate is linked to your work, you may appear work obsessed. People know that there is more to you than your work. Your brand needs to personalise you to other people, so a passion for art, family, or the environment could only contribute to your brand. You are bound to attract people with similar passions.

Performance

Branding requires you to identify your strengths. Your strengths are essential in your brand and you need to ensure you play to your strengths, this is when you will perform at your best.

Consider your natural talent when defining your personal strengths.

• What comes easily to you?
• What do you do better than anyone else?
• What aspects of your character are natural strengths? For example, self-control, trustworthiness, and intelligence are all strengths that define you and your brand.

Bringing it to Life

Committing to your brand requires you to take action every day. It is about being consistent. Every interaction with your brand needs to build a sense of reliability. Committing to living out your brand is the only way to make this happen. How you execute day in and day out will depend on your brand – your pillars, passions and strengths.

As you take action you will be able to expand your brand’s reputation.

If you would like a free copy of my Demystifying Personal Branding simply click here.

Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.

George Bernhard Shaw