Branding Yourself |Leila’s House of Corrections

Do you know what emotions come up for your team, managers, and peers, when you walk into a room? How other people feel about you? This is your brand. If you are leaving your personal brand up to chance, you may discover it doesn t represent the real you. Come on managers, it s time to develop your personal brand.

Brand is about emotion. It s the feeling we associate with what we buy, what we drink, what we eat. People associate certain qualities and attributes with specific brands.

When you brand yourself, you are doing the same thing--helping people associate emotions with you and what you do and say. For example, if you are always late to meetings, that says something about you and your brand. While your brand as a manager or employee can t be created overnight, it is something you can easily influence by starting to consciously think about it.

To get started, consider these tips.

Tip #1: Focus on your passions and strengths.

Think of someone you admire at work. What emotions come up for that person and why? He is skilled in a few key areas that s what he is known for, relied upon, called upon.

What are the skills you use at work that differentiate you from others? What s your niche? Figure out the few, key passions or strengths that are part of your brand at work.

Tip #2: Determine the Benefits of Your Brand.

Now that you have determined what your strengths are, what will people get when they work with you? Define your brand by determining this yourself vs. having others do it for you. Think of the advantages you bring and how you help people.

Tip #3: Find Opportunities to Be Seen Using Your Passions and Strengths.

Visibility plays a big part in a personal brand. Identify opportunities to demonstrate your strengths, your niche. Create opportunities. Ask for them this way you ll be demonstrating your strengths and passions and the benefits they bring.

Tip #4: Be Consistent.

When driving around the country, we eat at some of the same restaurants we go to at home because we know what we will get. It s consistent.

Consistency is key when branding yourself. Remember this is about emotions, and you want to select the emotions people have when they see you and work with you. This develops when people see the same strengths in you again and again.

Once you get started branding yourself at work, you can move on to branding yourself online and using LinkedIn, Facebook, or blogs to help shape your brand and make you visible.

A lot of us grew up feeling we need to be a Jack or Jill of all trades good at everything. In reality the best brands focus on a few key elements. What are yours?