Let’s Talk Personal Brand

When it comes to personal branding, there are many articles that can be found about it, but I wanted to write this article to share my experience and what I have learned about the importance of having a good personal brand and how this can change the way you approach life. 

Around 9 years ago, I was working at Symantec as a Distribution Manager and they invited a Harvard consultant Elizabeth Doty who held a 3-day training for all the sales team, I don’t recall the reason of the training specifically, but I do recall one of the sessions, it was about personal branding. Before that day I had never heard the expression “Personal Brand”, even though the concept has been around since 1997, Tom Peters wrote an article that was later published in 1999 called Be Your Own Brand. After this, many others started using these expressions or similar expressions to talk about perception or representation of yourself to the world.  

In this session, Elizabeth asked us to think about brands like “Nike”, “Apple”, “Mercedes Benz”, “Coca-Cola” and write down the first 3 words that came to mind on those brands. Then she explained that the same thing will happen when people hear your name, words will pop into their heads to form an “opinion” of who you are, and this is your personal brand. 

This stuck with me since that day, I never looked at myself the same way. Those who know me know that I am very opinionated and that I don’t hold back on my opinions, but I have learned throughout the years that my personality and the things I say and do, not only affect my “brand,” but also the brand of the company I represent. 

“Perception is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment”[1]. In other words, Perception is the reality of the person that holds that idea, it may not be true, but it is the one that sticks.  If you think about how people are perceived in a job interview, if the interviewer likes or does not like one aspect of that applicant and—pursuant to the halo effect—assume that person is entirely a good or not a good fit with the company, that can make a person get or lose the job of their lives. 

This is why personal brand is important, the first thing to understand is that personal brand even though it has the word “personal” in it, not only represents you in your personal life but also in your professional one too. Today we live in a digital era where everyone gets information from online sources or social media, separating them from your professional life is almost impossible; unless you are one of the few that refuses to have social media accounts. Ergo, what do we need to do to make, keep and evolve on our brands?  

Do Research 

First thing first is to Google yourself, this will really show you how you are perceived in the online world, but don’t get discouraged about what you may find, this is information that could help you in building your brand and improving it.   

Stay Current 

Take a look at your LinkedIn, when was the last time you updated your information? As companies invest in their marketing strategies for brand awareness, same applies to people, you need to promote your brand. A lot of people that I know have not updated their information for as long as they have been in their current role.  Updating your LinkedIn with interests and accomplishments is crucial, it says a lot about you. According to a 2018 CareerBuilder survey, 70% of employers use social media to screen candidates during the hiring process, and 43% of employers use social media to check on current employees.  

Find Mentorship 

Understand how your personal brand is being represented within your organization, in here I recommend looking for a “mentor” or someone in the company that can coach you on professional growth. These mentors will let you know how the company perceives you and what are the areas you need to improve. This is a bit different than having your annual review, as this review reflects your performance more than your brand, this is also very important to keep your job and grow, but mentorship allows you to ask internal question and how you want others to see you. 

Social Media 

Be careful what you post on your social media accounts, most companies have specific guidelines that point out how important is to represent their company in a lawful, professional and appropriate way as you are the face of the company and what you do could harm their brand. Feel free to ask your company to help you build your personal brand, maybe they could offer trainings or sessions, this could help you and them to be on the same page when it comes to representing the company’s brand and creating brand awareness.  

In Conclusion: 

Your brand is everchanging, as you grow and learn new things you modify your brand, you may have 50 years of experience in something but new things come along, and you have to get with the times; therefore, as you evolve so does your brand. Working on your brand could make the difference between people wanting to talk to you or asking why they should talk to you?  Just think of those brands you will not use again, why won’t you and how long has it been since you decided to leave them behind? Your brand is unique to you, and however you build it is how you will be perceived on the outside world, so get a move on, it is never too late to start.  

“If you want your brand to shine, never stop working on it, transformation is what makes a good brand great”