How to Develop Your Personal Brand

Transcript

Jennifer Holloway: What good managers and leaders understand is that part of your job, on top of the technical stuff, is getting people to buy into you. As a leader, you need the buy-in of your team, you need the buy-in of your colleagues, you need the buy-in of the people above you. So using your personal brand to get that buy-in is a no-brainer, it should be part of what you're doing.

Personal branding is essentially what you have to offer and who you are when you're offering it, and it's about getting that out there, sharing it with people, so that they can buy-in to you. I mean, this old phrase, "people buy people," is as true today as it was 100 years ago, and your personal brand is just the nice package that says, "Here's what you get when you buy me."

Your personal brand is essentially this mix of what and who, but when you start thinking, "Well, what is my brand?" That could be a bit broad. So a good way to think about it is to break it down into six key elements, and here's what they are. The first thing you want to consider are your values. Ask yourself, "What are the things that set my moral compass?" Is it honesty that matters most or fairness or respect, or what is it?

You then want to start thinking about your drivers, your motivators, you know, why are you in business? What satisfies you? Is it working by yourself? Is it being given recognition for what you do?

Your reputation, that's the third element, considering if people are gonna say things about me, what would I love the number one thing to be known for?

Your behaviors, that's the fourth element of your brand, your personality. If you were to just have three words to describe yourself, what would they be? You'd tend to come up with behaviors as your answers.

Your skills and strengths, that's the fifth element of your brand. A lot of people are very happy to define themselves by sort of the things they put on their CV. But your skills and strengths have just taken that a bit further and asking, "What are the actual skills and strengths I used to contribute to delivering those things?"

And then the last element that people think doesn't matter, but is actually very important, is image. Image is the packaging for your brand, it is how you look, how you sound, how you act. And, if you have a good brand, as soon as you walk into the room, your packaging is saying to people, "Here's what you're gonna get from all those other elements." So there's a reason why I wear bright red lipstick and a cocktail ring in the middle of the day, it's 'cause as soon as you see me, you know that's a strong brand. But if someone is much more quiet, much more reflective, they might walk in in sort of more muted tones and much softer tone of voice.

And all of those six elements need to be considered before you can really go out and sell your brand. In the public eye, if you think to yourself, "Who is there who's really good at personal branding?" Probably top of people's list will be Richard Branson. There is a man who from the very earliest days of his career has put not just his companies out there, but him out there as the underdog. You know, how he looks says, "I'm in the corporate world, but I'm something different, I'm gonna wear my jeans, I'm gonna wear my open neck shirt." He's very good at using his personal brand to bolster the Virgin brand. Every time they launch a new company, he will be there doing something like being dressed as a bride or abseiling off a building or those sorts of things. His brand is a big part of Virgin's brand, even the parts of the business that he's not directly involved in anymore.

If there's three things that someone should really focus in on when we think about the subject of personal brand, number one, "people buy people." So as well as telling me what you are offering me, what skills, what knowledge, what experience, help me understand who you're offering me. I can't buy into you until I get the whole package, and that's what personal brand is.

Number two, what people are saying when you're not in the room is having a huge impact on whether they are buying you. If you're lucky, cheerleaders are getting you all around the business, they're singing you praises and getting you buy-in without you trying. If you're not so lucky, they're not singing your praises and that's damaging you, so go out and find out what is being said, because it is somewhat naive to think that nothing is being said.

And the third thing I definitely say is people are picking up clues to your brand from the tiniest little things. How you open your email and start off your salutation to me, how you close your email, what you're wearing today, the pen that you're using, the ringtone on your mobile phone, the tiniest little things. So just stop and really, really try and look at yourself as someone who's never seen you before and ask yourself, "If I was reading these clues for the first time, is this the person that I would want to be seeing, be hearing, having in front of me?" When you define your brand and come up with the best version of you, it gives you the biggest amount of confidence that, actually, I can sell this person, because that's a great person to go out and sell.

About Jennifer Holloway

Jennifer Holloway is a personal brand consultant, author and coach. You can find out more about Jennifer and her book, "Personal Branding for Brits," at http://www.jennifer-holloway.co.uk.