Dr. Andrea Wojnicki is a Harvard-educated executive communication coach, keynote speaker and host of the acclaimed “Talk About Talk” podcast.
How much time and energy do you spend on developing your professional reputation? Are you satisfied with the status of your personal brand? These are not the two questions.
In my survey of more than 650 business executives, more than 90 per cent agreed or strongly agreed that “working on my personal brand can have a significant effect on my career success.”
These respondents are correct. Clarifying your brand can help you in several ways, such as providing you with focus and direction and boosting your confidence. Research in social psychology consistently demonstrates the relationship between self-concept clarity and self-esteem. In other words, when you do the work on your personal brand to clarify your unique strengths and value, your confidence is elevated.
But the process of building your personal brand can be overwhelming. In the same survey, 3 per cent of respondents said they strongly agreed and 16 per cent agreed that they know exactly what to do to build their personal brand. In other words, more than 80 per cent admit they do not know how to develop their brand.
Before you start communicating your personal brand, I encourage you to spend your time and effort in articulating what it is. Garbage in, garbage out; quality in, quality out. The effort you expend in articulating your brand will make communicating it much easier.
There are many exercises to help. You can do some independent soul-searching or ask others for input. You can look at the comments in your recent formal reviews at work, focusing especially on your strengths as opposed to your “areas for development.” You can also consider input from personality tests, ranging from the Big 5 of Social Psychology (the science-backed test that social psychologists use) to the MBTI (the less valid and reliable but most popular personality test in the world), or you could identify your professional identity archetype (a quiz I assign to my clients to help them define their brand).
As you embark on your personal branding journey, I encourage you to accelerate the development of your brand by engaging in thought exercises based on two specific questions.
What do others think and say about you when you’re not in the room?
The first question comes from a famous quote from Jeff Bezos:
“Your brand is what others say about you when you’re not in the room.”
More than an effective definition, this is a productive thought exercise. Imagine your boss is in a succession planning meeting. Or you leave the room after giving your pitch to investors or prospective customers. Your name comes up in the conversation. What do these important stakeholders say about you? That is your brand.
When I encourage my coaching clients to run though this exercise, the look on their face tells the whole story. What they want others to say about them and what they imagine them saying is not aligned. That’s okay. In fact, that’s exactly why we’re doing this exercise.
What can you do to resolve the disconnect? Do you need to improve your visibility? Your communication skills? Your leadership identity?
What do others expect you to do next?
For years, I relied on Mr. Bezos’s definition of personal branding. Then, I interviewed marketing guru Seth Godin for my podcast. There’s no question, Mr. Godin has a strong professional reputation. So, I asked him, “How do you think about your brand?”
His response stopped me in my tracks:
“My brand is what others expect me to do next.”
Wow. Now we’re focused on the future.
Immediately after the podcast interview, I took out a piece of paper and wrote out my lofty career goals: I want to publish a book. I want to speak on the Ted stage. I want to be recognized by Thinkers50. Then I asked myself: Do others expect me to do these things? And if not, what can I do to encourage this thinking? It all became crystal clear.
This is not about manifesting. This is being strategic about how you’re communicating your brand today so you can achieve your goals tomorrow.
Now, I urge you to do the same. For example, is it conceivable or inconceivable that you will:
- exceed your business targets?
- expand your technical expertise?
- mentor and elevate others?
- create meaningful impact for others?
- get promoted?
- successfully lead a team through transformation?
- become a thought leader?
What are our lofty goals? Does this align with what others expect of you? Now, I encourage you to start your personal branding journey by answering these two questions for yourself. What do others think and say about you when you’re not in the room? What do others expect you to do next? Then compare your answers to your list of what you want to accomplish. What can you do to narrow the gap?
These mental exercises can accelerate and optimize the brand narrative you are signaling not just to others, but also to yourself.
This column is part of Globe Careers’ Leadership Lab series, where executives and experts share their views and advice about the world of work. Find all Leadership Lab stories at tgam.ca/leadershiplab and guidelines for how to contribute to the column here.