You already have a personal brand. Is it the one you need to get where you want to go?
Everyone has a personal brand. I describe it as how others view you. But, is it how you want (and need) others to view you in order to reach your career goals?
I’ve been seeing a lot written about self-reflection lately which is great. It is one of the hardest things to do. You have be open your reality, to be honest with yourself and to be unbiased. The odds are you come across to others differently than you think you do.
The good news is you aren’t stuck with your current brand for the rest of your life. It takes effort and time to evolve your personal brand but it’s so doable. How? Fake it…
I had a boss 35 years ago that stood up in front of our physician recruiter group and said fairly quietly, “If you want to BE enthusiastic, you have to ACT enthusiastic.” He asked us to repeat it out loud which we did. He asked us to say it again but a little louder. We did. He repeated this over and over until the building was shaking from the volume. It was totally energizing! What I took away from that meeting was how I am going to be, is a choice. It’s a choice I get to make every day.
So if you want to evolve your brand to a better version of you, you have to be the person you want to be. I don’t think it has to be that complicated. But what if you just don’t feel it on a particular day? Again, fake it. What I’ve learned over the years is if I’m not feeling “enthusiastic” and I go ahead and act “enthusiastic,” I become enthusiastic. It doesn’t matter which characteristic you need to be, act it enough and you will become it. It’s that simple.
A real-life example: I had an aspiring physician leader tell me they were going to have to leave their organization to pursue their leadership career because their supervisor and other leaders within his organization didn’t view him as a leader. I pushed back a bit and asked what he was doing to be thought of as a leader? After some discussion, I suggested this to-do list:
- When attending a meeting to discuss a challenge, roadblock or out and out problem, don’t go to complain.
- Research the issue and come to the meeting with ideas for discussion to help solve it
- No bitching but rather problem solving
- After all, isn’t problem solving one of the most important things leaders do?
- Be optimistic
- Be flexible and ready to compromise
- I really do believe flexibility is the key to happiness
- Go to meetings as an engaged participant
- Get more involved
- Ask to be included on a couple committees where you can really contribute
- Even ask to Chair a committee
- And finally, tell your Supervisor of your aspirations to lead and ask for their help and mentoring (You would be surprised how many times I’ve heard “My boss doesn’t know of my goals to lead.”)
- Give them the benefit of the doubt.
- If you run into resistance or get shut down? Then, it might be time to consider your options.
The ending (really the beginning) of the story: He did talk to his supervisor, got on some committees and even chaired one. He was engaged, optimistic and started to be known for his ideas and eagerness to find solutions and even more so, his results. Within several months, he was asked to take on a more formal leadership role.
The moral: Your personal brand is your ticket to career growth. (and personal growth) If you have doubts about how others view you then start being the person you want them to think you are. Don’t tell anyone, just do it. You’ll soon experience more cooperation, an eagerness by others to engage you and the feeling of progress toward to ultimate goals.
One of my favorite t-shirts says… “Be the person your dog thinks you are”
