There’s been a lot of talk lately about the important of ones personal brand. With a tight job market, it makes sense that people be able to understand where they fit and to work towards a unique differentiation strategy for themselves.
With this understanding I thought I’d take some of the strategic thinking typically reserved for businesses and map a quick process for people to use for their professional selves. I’ll keep this extremely simple since I’d like this to be something people can run with and not a long dragged out analysis/paralysis process. I’ve translated the following concepts from the business to the individual, and seeing it this way makes me see the process a little differently. It’s actually eerie how people-brands and business-brands can be so similar.
The 4 Human Experiences Your Brand Should Affect:
1. Perception: What do you want people to think of you? Be this person.
2. Reason: Are you who you say/act like? Authenticity is critical, look for your deeper truth, what’s beneath the surface you may be afraid to expose?
3. Emotion: Are you connecting with people on a deeper level? What do you believe deeply in that you can advocate/evangelize?
4. Resonance: Do you connect with people in a way that’s meaningful to them? Are you reading other’s needs or are you acting on your own?
The Building Blocks of Your Experience:
1. Where do you have the most credibility?
2. Where do you have the most experience?
3. What are you passionate about?
4. What causes are you aligned with personally?
5. How do you define success for yourself? Money, achievement, freedom?
6. What do you stand for?
7. Who are you competing with?
8. How are you different from them?
9. Who would you be excited to collaborate with?
10. Is there a social context to your desires?
11. Choosing only adjectives, how would you describe your best qualities?
I’m really just winging this but in looking back at this post this is some powerful stuff for any person to do for themselves. If you’re like me and you’ve had a difficulty in the past describing what you do to strangers, this would be a fantastic immersive process to take on, even if it were just for 30 minutes.