Your own brand is the best weapon in your arsenal. A question you may have thought about: why are some people more successful than others, both in a personal and professional capacity?
This is a question that Kate Moodley, Franchise Director of Discovery and author of I INC. Be CEO of your own Brand explores in her book.
After extensive research into the most successful people of the world and reflections from her personal corporate experience, Kate has discovered that there are certain common traits amongst people that are successful in their chosen career and peer groups. In addition, Kate believes that a well-crafted personal brand should not be limited to the likes of celebrities and celebrated entrepreneurs like Richard Branson.
Building your brand is undoubtedly the best investment a woman can ever make for your career and it's important to note that this means taking your brand both online and offline. In today's social media terrain it's easier to destroy a brand through navigating the obstacles of Facebook and Twitter than it is to build one. In the current information environment we find ourselves in, rest assured that employers will conduct a thorough search on potential employees before interviewing and hiring.There have been many disastrous personal brand examples as case studies since the landscape of social media exploded on home computers. It's critical to be aware that anything that lands up on the internet is there to stay, so should there be any unsavoury details about you lurking on the web, it's advised to start a blog or comment thread to mitigate reputation damage. Instances that may be damaging are provocative or inappropriate information or photographs and photographs of drink or drug usage and poor communication skills.
Your personal brand is your secret weapon. It is unique in its origin and different to any other brand out there. Like your favourite brand of soft drink or trainers, your personal brand has a unique value proposition. This brand positioning is defined by personal experiences, academic qualifications and the outer self presented to the world. To develop and configure these components, it's necessary to take the time to identify your key strengths as well as the areas in which you should improve. In essence, this is your personal Key Performance Indicator (KPI).Once your key differentiators have been identified, you will be able to leverage your authentic personality in order to attract the right attention in both personal and professional favours.
However, all this work is futile if you don't have a plan. Like any successful and well-positioned business, your brand will need a strategy. The first step to achieving this is setting relevant and realistic goals aimed at attaining progressive milestones, which will serve as a launch pad for your personal brand. As with any successful strategy, start big and then reduce the goals. Lifetime aspirations should be broken down into bite-size and manageable medium and short-term goals. From time to time, these goals should be reviewed and adjusted where necessary as it's likely your views shift. It's also important to note that your personal brand goals are largely dependent on your value system, and everybody's will differ.
If you strive to be the best at what you do, an optimum personal brand will be a natural extension of everything you do. This is not limited to the business space, but is an extension of your personal life too. How you present yourself physically, how you talk and how you dress is as important as your CV. There is a fundamental integration of all these aspects that mesh to become your personal holistic brand.
As with anything, the more time and effort you put into your personal brand, the more successful you'll be within yourself, with your peers and with your colleagues; and there's no better walking example of this than Kate Moodley.
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