DEVELOPNENT formerly Your Career Brand: You How to build a personal brand to differentiate yourself and create demand for your services. By William Arruda In the past, workers and suppliers were valued for their seniority with a company and their loyalry to i, But times have changed. Now, businesses are in a con- to the rapidly chany ids of the marker, That changes the way you, as a worker or supplier, must behave, As you project colleagues, you are, in a sense, function: ing like a mini corporation. And, like a yourself and build demand for your ser narkets. You do that with a personal brand, which distin guishes you from your colleagues and competitors and promises value just as a corporate brand does. Personal branding isnot about creating an image; it’s about understanding your unique combina tion of attibutes—strengths, skills, val tues, and passions differentiate yourself and g and using those to ide your ca reer decisions,If you're and 1't succeed by f Whether you're a senior executive, the president of your own company, or worker at a small organization, manag. ing your brand is critical to achieving your professional goals. Building and nurturing a winning brand will help you understand yourself berter raise your confidence increase your visibility and your com- pensation © thrive during economic downturns expand into new business areas © attain more interesting jobs and Follow these steps to successful per- sonal branding Before you can clearly define your per sonal brand, you need to look at the big picture: your vision and purpose. Your sion is external: i's what you see possi- ble in the world. Your purpose is inter nal; ie the role you play in supporting that vision. Gandhi said, * must be the change we wish to see in the world.” In addition, your personal brand should be tied to your goals. Think about how you'd like your life o look in a year. Two years? Five years? Be sure to document your answers. With a good understanding of your vision, purpose and goals, you can begin the assessment process required to develop your brand. resenting yourself Know yourself. A successful personal brand is authentic, so you must be hon- est about who you are. If you're creative, dynamic, outgoing, and whimsical, you wont succeed by presenting yourself as predictable, steady, and focused. Know your competitors. How can you stand out unless you know whom yc In other words, who are you really competing against? Your col- leagues? larger g workplace? Others wie Consider you industry? goals: Ifyou plan to make arent your current colleagues. Once ified your competitors, de- termine their brand attributes. Know your target. To be successful, you must not only have a personal brand but also communicate it to the right people. Aiming at the whole world will exhaust your resources quickly. The key to successful personal branding is focus Barbara Bix, founder of the business development and marketing firm BB Marketing Plus, has defined her target as follows: executives in firms or busi- ness unit directors who sell advice, dat or technology; have fewer than 50 em. ployees; earn from USS1 to $10 million price of at least $30,000; senior managers, or perhaps a sir nd depend on salesperson, to get new business, Namie mt interactive 3D oe ol GRAIN Interactive 3D for OSU Reactor Service # 200 Titi 2000 59DEVELOPMENT You may not be able to define your target as narrowly as Bix has, but you should atleast be able to identify specif- ic people in or characteristics of your target audience (0 help you focus your messages. Step 2: Express yourself. From the results of step 1, start to creare personal brand profile. List your brand attributes, create a brand statement, and generate a personal brand tagline. Each of those will help you develop a plan to communicate your own brand. Find the right mix. Once you know yourself, your competitors, and your target, you can identify the ideal combi- nation of communications tools to reach your audience effectively. Those can vary widely depending on your goals; examples include writing articles, contributing to your company’s internal newsletter, and attaining regular speak- ing gigs. Evaluate each communication tool to select the best combination for reaching your target audience. Mark everything you do with your brand. Whether youre giving a presen- ration, participating in a meeting, or writing a report, always bring along your brand. Ask yourself how you can connect your brand to every situation, from a project to a business meal Live and breathe your brand. Question everything you do, every tool you use, every article of clothing you wear. Are they consistent with your brand? Do you have a WAP phone but use a printed calendar ora handwritten to-do lst? Make sure that your brand is clear and consistent. Brand Profile: Pat Hume Here is one person's example of personel branding. Pat Hume is @ leader who cares deeply about the people on her team. She is warm, open, and honest and inspires loyalty among all who work for her. ‘When she changes jobs within her organization, there is a line of people out- side her door wanting to make the move with her. Pat believes in open communication among her staff and colleagues. She has implemented innovative activities to ensure that. One example is “Chat with Pat," meetings with business partners to get honest feedback. Another is Chug and Hug,” a social event each Friday when members of her team gath- €er on the balcony outside of her office to drink beer, talk, laugh, vent, share, get to know each other, and, yes, hug. Here is how Pat describes her personal brand. Brand attributes. Relationship builder, global, warm, sincere, credible, visionary. Vision. A world where people lve together with mutual respect and collabo- rate on programs to build a better future. Purpose. To be_a leader in every activity | undertake (business, social, commu- rity), bringing humanity into each project. Values. Respect, sharing, communication, fun, relationships, commitment, trust, loyalty. Powers. Motivation, energy, leadership, warmth, confidence, openness. Passions. Family, developing people, giving back, social activities, community, global involvement. 60 WD Apri 2003, Step 3: Evaluate and evolve. You've defined your brand and identi- fied communication tools to reach your target audience. Now, how do you mea- sure your brand success? Evaluate, The key is establishing metrics up front. Two tools available to you as a ‘worker are performance evaluations and informal feedback from managers and poets. Find a group of people you trust to give you honest feedback, and use them as your focus group. If you're a consultant, provide your clients with feedback forms after every project. Also request feedback on your Website. Evolve. To remain relevant to theie tar- ‘get audiences, all strong brands evolve over time. That could mean creating line extensions (Starbucks is now serv- ing teas; McDonald’ is offering salads) or modifying the ways you communi- cate your brand (moving from a printed resumé to a resumé on CD). It could al- so mean augmenting brand attributes as you continue to grow in your career— much like Volvo has been adding style to safety in the design of is cars. Whatever direction you take, make sure your brand continues to be authen- tic, differentiated, and consistent. Ina world in which cities, wars, CEOs, politicians, and even highways are branded, you need to think about your- selfin the same terms. William Arruda has more than 20 years of international branding experience. He's the founder of Reach, a branding consultancy focusing on people, and author ofthe upcom= ing book, Bullet Proot Your Career 4 woww. bulletprootyoureareer com; willamarruda® reachee om, ‘Send submissions to Development, 1+0, 1640 King Street. Box 1443, Alexandria, VA 223192043; development @esta oraCopyright © 2003 EBSCO Publishing