Career Conversations

Chapter 5 What's your personal brand?

‘At the centre of your being you have the answer: you know who you are and you know what you want.'

Lao Tzu

Whether we like it or not we all have a brand. Our brand differentiates us from all others. Fortunes are often shaped by perceptions of our brand, whether those perceptions are accurate or inaccurate.

Social media can play a big role in creating perceptions of our personal and professional lives, and in painting a true or misleading picture of who we are. Our many and varied personal interactions also create impressions of our persona.

Useful questions to consider are:

• Who are you?
• What do others think of you, and are they right?
• How would you describe yourself and how would others describe you?
• If your brand could talk, what would it say?
• How do you connect with people's emotions, hopes and dreams?

Your personal brand is powerful and can play an important role in your career opportunities and pathways. What may seem like happenstance (discussed in chapter 10) could be your personal brand at work. And your brand often precedes you. Most people will only ever experience a perception of you through your brand, rather than experiencing you personally. Similarly, communities, such as your workplace or industry, will form a collective (and often lasting) view of your brand that can influence people's perception of you. This may impact what career opportunities are available to you.

Building and nurturing our personal brand is essential ...