“If you can follow these five steps you can manage your brand and build it into a true asset. And it is not at all difficult.”
I was explaining to my Coachee the importance of building her personal brand. She was not sure how to go about it. Her other doubt was that it was too complex. I told her to take out a sheet of paper and put down five words that would describe her personal brand. For ease I put a list of 100 words in front of her to pick from. This took a few minutes. She was finally happy with the five words she had chosen to describe her personal brand.
This is the beginning, I explained. Oh, so there is a lot more to be done? Where is the time? was the next complaint. Well, for one the process is not too complex with hundreds of steps. There are just five steps. You have taken the first step, I added.
What are the next four? She asked. Describing your personal brand in four or five words is fine, but is that what people see of you? The second step is to verify if what you say is also true to the others around you. Pick two people who will be honest and candid with you. Ask them to validate what you have said. If they disagree then ask them how they will describe your personal brand. At the end you will have four or five words that stand for your personal brand.
The third step is to ensure that you are reflecting this in all that you do. From the way you dress to the way you speak to the way you write. You have to imbibe your personal brand values in your ‘excutive presence’ and ‘executive voice’. If you want to come through as an analytical person with a sense of humour, are you living it? Do your presentations have a touch of humour?
The fourth step is to amplify the personal brand through multiple touch points. This could include being active in industry circles. Taking guest sessions in B Schools or client organizations. It definitely includes keeping your social media profile up to date.
The final step is to keep monitoring your personal brand and making changes when necessary. You may have joined a new company which is publicity shy. Then you cannot continue your guest speaking engagements without a clearance from corporate comm team, to name just one guard rail.
If you can follow these five steps you can manage your brand and build it into a true asset. And it is not at all difficult. Remember, “your personal brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room”, a quote attributed to Jeff Bezos.
This concludes my six part series on Personal Branding, written exclusively for Coaching Foundation of India. If you enjoyed this, go back and read the other five. You may then want to take control of your personal brand and build it the way you want to be perceived, and not leave it to happenstance. Happy personal brand building!
About the Author
Ambi Parameswaran is a CFI Certified CEO Coach and a best selling author of 12 books. His latest book ‘All the World’s a Stage’ is a personal branding story.
