In 1997, author Tom Peters published a cover story in the magazine Fast Company in which he declared: “We are the CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called YOU.”
Everyone has a personal brand, or, as Peters calls it, “a sign of distinction” (unique skills and attributes) that can be cultivated and marketed to be successful. Yet, research shows that a whopping 70 percent of people do not know what their personal brand is. The rest couldn’t care less.
Despite being a valuable career-development strategy, many professionals understandably avoid personal branding. One of the biggest mistakes people make is to equate personal branding with manipulating their social media in the relentless pursuit to be visible, known and popular. Indeed, personal branding has been largely hijacked by marketing gurus who associate it with building websites, taking pretty pictures, coming up with snazzy slogans and posting inanely on social media.
Further, the discourse around personal branding for a long time made it the preserve of celebrities and public figures ... who leverage their image largely for profit or votes.
Moreover, there was a time when working professionals could get away without having a personal brand. You could simply graduate from college, land a job at a company and remain at this employment, slaving away in the same position for 20 or 30 years until retirement. Many professionals with superior skill sets that could be leveraged elsewhere would refuse to part company with their employer, fearing loss of that golden pen and pension.
The manifestation of our personal brand comes through action.
In today’s fiercely competitive business environment and an ever-changing job market and work environment, both entry-level and seasoned professionals are obliged to find new ways to demonstrate their value. This is where having a personal brand becomes an asset.
The key premise of personal branding is that you are your own brand. In other words, your personal brand is YOU, the combination of your image and reputation – that is, your personality, skills, assets, experience and expertise, as well as your values. Think of personal branding as discovering who you are, what you bring to the table and how you can position yourself in the marketplace in order to become or stay competitive in your industry.
Positioning is also a fundamental imperative for leaders looking to influence and enable the full potential of others – employees, clients, colleagues and even themselves. In fact, according to Forbes Magazine, companies get 561 percent more reach when employees – not companies – share brand messages, and only 30 percent of people trust messages from a company, whereas 92 percent of customers trust recommendations from individuals even if they don’t know them. Organizations therefore need employees with strong identities who can help articulate the company’s mission and values with clarity and credibility.
Remember, however, no amount of “Facebooking” or “Instagramming” will help you build your brand unless you have a strategy to deliver value – quality service, professionalism and positive relationships. It is also wise to remember that people can’t see inside of us, so the manifestation of our personal brand comes through action.
Just as a company is building its brand, so must you. Whether you are an entry-level clerical worker, a mid-level manager looking for that promotion, an entrepreneur aiming to start your own business or a college senior about to graduate, personal branding is a useful and vital tool to help you take charge of your career and build the future you truly want. n
Hume Johnson is a communications consultant and associate professor of public relations at Roger Williams University. She is also an author, most recently of “Brand YOU! Reinvent Yourself, Redefine Your Future.”
