Building a strong personal brand and desired reputation doesn’t happen overnight. However, with intention, alignment and consistency, you can leverage your personal brand in a most powerful way.
INTENTION – it all starts with mindset – a desire to shift, an attitude to evolve and a commitment to take action
Building a strong personal brand is an intentional decision to get in the driver’s seat of how you want to be perceived – your reputation! This intention sets in train a series of decisions to gain clarity on your purpose, your beliefs and values, your message, your specialist value, your leadership style, your presence – in essence, how you intend to show up to the outside world.
Building a strong authentic personal brand with volition will position you more favourably when…
- going for a more senior role
- putting forward your opinions and ideas
- pitching for new business
- seeking media coverage.
ALIGNMENT – aligning your words, tonality and behaviour with personal beliefs and values builds authenticity and credibility
People with a strong authentic personal brand are grounded in reality, with an unwavering and unapologetic way of being true to themselves by thinking, speaking and acting in alignment with their beliefs and values. This alignment powers up their confidence, presence and influence.
Think of sports stars, such as Ash Barty and Roger Federer or political leaders, such as New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Adern or Finland’s prime minister Sanna Marin.
Although holding the country’s most senior position, Sanna Marin stood firm on her belief to unapologetically express her youth, after a leaked video showed her dancing and singing with friends at a private function, in the face of being accused of misconduct.
Similarly, Jacinda Adern’s belief in a compassionate and open communication style of leadership, rejecting the premise that prime ministers must be aggressive and masculine, has a become a beacon of what effective and modern political leadership looks like.
CONSISTENCY – consistency builds visibility, trust and momentum
You know you’re great at what you do but it’s hard to scale a business if no-one else knows. If you’re consistent with your brand presence, both online and in person, you’re going to cultivate a more cohesive brand reputation because people have a more unified understanding of who you are and what you’re about.
Consistency of brand presence also fosters trust with people because when you consistently make clear your unique character, qualities and capability, you cumulatively build a sense of familiarity, dependability and credibility in people’s minds. Conversely, if you’re inconsistent, people may be confused or unsure of what you’re about. Over time, consistency builds your public profile as your thoughts and ideas come more under the spotlight.
May the positive ripple effect of your work enhance your reputation!
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©Ros Weadman 2022 Ros Weadman is a brand communication and reputation specialist who empowers leaders and organisations to communicate their value, build public profile and enhance brand reputation.
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