WHEN YOU LOOK INTO THE MIRROR, DO YOU SEE WHAT OTHER PEOPLE SEE?
In today's competitive environment, you need a way to differentiate yourself. You need an "X" factor that makes you indispensable. In short, you need a carefully constructed leadership brand.
Personal and leadership branding can be powerful tools for professional success. Leadership branding is not simply a cosmetic exercise, but instead, a process that helps to develop skills that increase the potential of standing out. As with many other worthy undertakings, the first steps in developing a brand are the most difficult, and where most people decide that it's too much for them. This is not because it's tedious or cumbersome or at all skill-intensive, but rather because it involves looking at yourself and your attributes in a brutally honest way. It takes guts to unflinchingly take stock in the details of your life, personality, and achievements.
This, of course, may not be much of a chore for the rare few that have a natural self-confidence and can joyously look in the mirror, like what they see, and decide to improve it further. For the rest of us, however, it can be a very eye-opening and sometimes soul-searching activity, which forces us to take stock of our limitations even while celebrating our strengths—which can be difficult.
But enough about what it is; time to hold up the mirror and just do it.
Begin by taking out a piece of paper. Make two columns, and in the first column list ten things you think people really like about you and your leadership. Anything is game, from your winning smile, to your cunning jokes, to your honest demeanor. It can be about you as person (you always know the latest sports scores) or it can be about you as the business-person (you always send personalized thank-you notes). Be honest with yourself; at this point, you are looking at what is currently there, not where you want things to be. Ask friends, family, or clients if you don't know, as most will be happy to help and will be able to offer a less-biased opinion on the subject.
Now, in the second column, write down ten things that you think you could improve upon. Again, this list can consist of things about you personally (you have a bad habit of telling jokes that make people uncomfortable) or professionally (you're always a least a few minutes late to meetings). With this one, it will be very important to seek the input of others, and to unflinchingly accept their answers. Part of building your brand is being able to accept criticism constructively, so that you can shape and reshape those perceptions as you move forward.
Review the sheet of paper with the two lists; this is the foundation of your brand right now. As with any brand, there are good things and there are brand opportunities. The trick to developing and strengthening this foundation is to emphasize certain aspects from the first column, while decreasing or completely eliminating lines from the second column.
A good branding coach can help you to become more aware of the skills that make you different. As a coach, consultant, and educator, I specialize in helping you capture a realistic snapshot of your current brand and then support you in selecting the right tools and taking measured actions that build the personal and professional skills necessary to create your unique brand while focusing on those things that drive personal and business success. If you are completely satisfied with the way the two columns shaped-up in the exercise above, then do nothing. However, if you would like to talk more about the foundations of your brand and how you can strengthen it, use the link below to schedule a FREE consultation where we will explore and co-create your "X" factor.
