What are they all saying about you that you don’t know? Career success depends a lot on what your colleagues think of you. Managing this perception is the work of personal branding – something we should all give some thought to as we plod through the days at work.
That’s the topic on Harvard Business Schools “Working Knowledge� in an interview with Laura Morgan Roberts. She notes that the brand you want them to talk about when you are not in the room is your desired professional image. The flip to that is the undesired professional image – what we do not want them to say about us.
Professor Roberts then gives five approaches to developing yourself as a strong brand: Identify your ideal state … assess your current image, culture and audience … conduct a cost-benefit analysis for image change … use strategic self-presentations to manage impressions and change your image … manage the process.
To me, what I would call “personal branding� is your core competencies and character traits that provide unique value to those around you, to the company and to your company’s various stakeholders. This is not unlike the process we all complete when developing message strategies. List out all the potential positions, narrow to a few, build around one. Stay consistent. Become that brand by delivering the value.
The time to begin this process of personal branding? Right now. While you’re still in school. What is it you will bring to future employers? What is it you will offer to your colleagues? How best can you present this brand as something highly valued and unlike any other?
