Even if your organization has it’s own products, services, and a brand, you still need to be your own brand. To be an effective leader, you need to possess powerful ethos, as they would have called it 2500 years ago.
When people hear your name, what do they think? If your reputation proceeds you, what is it? It’s your personal brand. A brand is a promise of specific benefits and values:
How a product will work.
How it will make us feel.
How it will affect our lives.
You are a brand. A brand is strategic asset and a key to longterm performance. And so it should be managed that way. A brand in the customers mind. It’s a trust of perceptions based on an experience.
You are a brand. Powerful brands focus on owning a single relevant benefit or value that differentiates itself from all others in the marketplace.
So what is your background? What is your experience? What is it you’ve been up to the last 5, 10, or 15 years? Because you know that and understand that, how does your organization benefit? How do internal and external customers feel when they work with you? What are your values, standards and ethics? What’s your personality like? What’s it like to work with you day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year?
That is your personal brand.
Think about the value you provide to your coworkers and your customers. You sold yourself to get the job. Now, remind people with your good work what a great decision it was to hirer you in the first place.
For more on leadership, watch Kit Welchlin’s presentation on Effective Leadership. And don’t forget to check back next Monday for another video blog.