Gill

Hi.

I tick some of the boxes. I am missing others that would raise my profile in the company.

I am loyal to my family and myself. My team come next. Then my customers and company, equal third.

I am honest with myself about my weaknesses and strengths. I try to improve myself all the time, as a person and as a manager. I am consistent. I am fair and never favour one member of my team over another even if I personally prefer one person. I look after myself by exercising and eating well and always look smart. Feedback reports say I am a skilful manager who inspires loyalty.

Where I fall short is my self- projection. I need to network more. I must also raise my profile by standing up at our weekly heads of department meetings instead of only listening because I do not want to appear pushy.

Other readers have also said they are reluctant to brand themselves as they do want to appear boastful.

Gill you have shown branding yourself is essential in today’s business world. It is the right thing to do provided a person remains true to himself or herself.

If a person does not do this he or she will be overlooked for promotion and others who have branded themselves successfuly will advance. But they might not be the most deserving of success.

Such tactics are most relevant in Western businesses, which stress competition and individuality. Increasingly this philosophy is being adopted in regions with traditionally communal cultures.

The message must be for a person to realise his or her potential with honesty.

Loyalty to one's team can be dangerous. Some years ago, when I had been given responsibility for a team for the first time, I made the mistake of worrying too much about individuals. I forgot that what counted was the team performance. I went out of my way to encourage older members of the team who felt they had been overlooked in recent promotions. In doing so I neglected the younger team members. That was bad but what was worse was how my strategy was interpreted. The older people thought I was weak and despised me for it. The younger members thought I was inept. No one benefitted from my strategy I agree with you Gill. Be loyal to yourself. Leadership is about making tough decisions for the right reasons. It is not a popularity contest. Effective personal branding is about having the courage to make difficult calls.

Gill

Great advice. But what if someone tries too hard to set up a personal brand? The challenge is to put into effect all you have said without anyone knowing. You have to stay natural. We have all had colleagues who transparently work on making themselves higher profile. It does them no good with co-workers or bosses. Does anyone have any advice on how to implement’s Gill’s strategy without going too far?

I agree, successful people have always branded themselves. Usually this was instinctive. A charismatic CEO of the 1950s probably had never given a thought about his image. He just WAS.

Today’s aspiring CEO cannot afford such an approach. Whether or not an individual is working in a corporate environment, is “an independent” (doctor) or is 'a creative' (new media) image is everything.

Advertisers saw this before it became a canon of business studies. Look at how the German car manufacturer VW became a byword for reliability and affordable style. Market leaders in every consumer industry, like cosmetics, clothes and pharmaceuticals, understood that sales depended on a strong image as much as the quality of the product. Often branding was all that distinguished rivals. Shampoos within a certain price range are similar. What makes one the runwaway market leader? Branding.

Today celebrity chefs in Britain have become important image makers, for themselves and for others. Jamie Oliver, a young man who retains earthy working class attitudes, has become the face of the supermarket chain Sainsbury’s. He has transformed the chain’s fortunes. Shoppers think of the irreverent Oliver when they see a Sainsbury’s. Another British celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has become his own brand. Through reality television programmes he has established himself as a brilliant, tough talking chef and business genius who has a soft heart. He has restaurants in London and around the world. People flock to them because of the Ramsay name although he is to busy to cook in any. It is all about the power of the Ramsay brand.

To say we must approach our self-branding as if we made cars or ran restaurants is going too far. But we live in a noisy, multi-cultural, multi-national world. Each of wants to be unique and to be heard.Each of us must ask ourselves: how are we perceived; how can we improve our image; how can we be better at what we do? How we can do all this without betraying ourselves?

Great advice Gill. But don’t women have to face other issues apart from effective personal branding? Men dominate the work place. The office as an institution is framed around male values of aggression and hierarchy. To succeed women must compete on men’s terms and yet also retain feminity. Or we are labelled as anti-men or gay. (Not that there is anything wrong with either!) A man who followed your excellent advice would almost be guaranteed a stallar career. But a woman who did the same would also have to overcome gender.

Though I agree with Gill that creating Personal Branding is important in todays competitive world, I would recommend a check to the extent one should go overboard doing that.

We have all known that great leaders though not self marketed are always known within their circle of influence. I have known many individuals who are truly genuine leaders in every sense keeping a low profile and act when it matters.

As they say the tree with most ripe fruits always bends.

Interesting article and some of the points were Out-Of-The Box. Looking at the emerging markets that follow western countries are also building the same environment as that of westerners despite off original culture had preached different values to the one stated above.
Country like India which is on Super-Economic boom is also following the same philosophy mentioned by Gill. One reason could be that we are 10 billion people country; but the other side is; as more globalization is taking place; competetion is now not limited to one's city or industry or country but has taken a higher step of being known worldwide.
Also; take any scenario; Leaders are Individuals but lead teams -Thinking on positive dimension as what different they have or what should be done to be seen differently to get to be successful (by being effective / efficient) is the call of day.

Lastly; Thank You Gill for bringing in some more insights to the way building the personal brand.

Gill

I beleive that Personal branding is critical in all different markets whther they ar edevloped economies or emerging markets.

Thanks for bringing out the points , so crisply that are easy to understand.

The one which i find most difficult is marketing yourself , without appearing to be too boastful , especially in the emerging markets and different cultures like India, china.

One thing that i would like to add is 'Manage Preceptions" as perceptions may be reality. So working on your feedback becomes important , without loosing your "real self" .

Excellent article, I guess this would apply to all not only the West

It is so sad that human beings are now told to become brands...

Certainly, our daily professional obligations force us to forge a certain image, whose atributes are “consistent”, “powerful” and “appealing”, just like that ultra detergent box we see on TV. This is particularly true in the suffocating realm of corporate “life”.

Yet, one needs to think just a little deeper, to realize that we are not commodities, but human beings, with virtues and imperfections too. Or, are we not?...

Gill,

Excellent post. I am of the belief some people think you are advocating falseness that is inconsistent with a particular individuals core value. As I interpret your comments all I feel you are suggesting is that a person do an assessment of skills (many of us never make such an assessment) and distill that assessment into actionable form which serves as both a map as well as grounding. Some possible examples might be, look your best, lose a few pounds if needed, stay in good shape (the tendency is for this to become a lower priority over time). Dress well and other personal superficial standards that might cause one to be noticed are critical. Personal branding should also cause a person to look deeper in an effort to juxtapose one’s strengths against others for win, place and show. It is not about being false, but in thinking about your strengths and opportunities and then developing a plan which grounds you against your personal best while at the same time providing a guide for improvement. He/she who goes not forward goes backward.

USING OUR PERSONALITY AS A BRAND. My understanding of success in career development is how we envisage both long and short-term goals. It is about the vision we set, how to achieve this is built on what we do everyday in our teams, individual assignments. For a good cause, I agree a lot with many points raised, our personality is the best available tool to characterise our ideal sentiments for being the true leaders who inspire, motivate and teach others to be leaders of their destiny.

True Jill!
It is also cheaper, and easier to brand on an honest note and be consistent with your reactions and reflex arcs!

-Dr Francis Ohanyido

Thank you Gill for this excellent article. I had impression that if I do my best and perform my duties with excellence, the boss or the HR folks will take note and I will be promoted. But after working 12 years in the same company and not moving anywhere in my career ladder. I come to believe whole heartedly that "personal branding is now a prerequisite for career success".

Thank you once again!

Hi Gill,

This is an excellent article I have come across and I feel personal branding can be done by effectively by altering the attitude towards your self, team, friends & company.
Having said that, our thinking has to change, because it does reap to an action.

Deepak

Hi, very helpful tip and I believe this applies eveywhere every position. This speaks about profesionalism, where every in an organization/setup demonstrates professionaly. Professionalism does not necessarily apply to only top positions. A cleaner a door man can be a good profesional if he demonstrates all these principles as Gill has listed.

Working in HR and in Africa, I would say I am at a happy place to see the effects of the Western "Personal Brand" concept in the workplace. Only a generation ago, younger people could not even speak in the presence of adults without permission and all protocols observed. That is being overturned by self-assured Gen Ys not afraid to say what they think and look an older person in the eye while at it. Profanity and leetspeak count for communication. The new African like their western counterpart is very "what's-in-it-for-me." However, the older generation continues to wield some influence especially since they are the ones to recommend the young and upcoming for positions higher up in the corporate echelons. It does pay to have a personal brand but one heavy with "Old World" values. No one is knuckle bashing the boss in greeting a la Obama. Overly aggressive outspoken youths are being kept firmly under the thumb of disgusted older folk. To advance, the young are finding that they have to work very hard and keep a civil tongue in their heads. The trick is to understand and work around the different egos while remaining true to self.

Dear Gill,

Your suggestion on Personal Branding has motivated me to analyze self and based on a self SWOT, i believe i can take the Strengths and brand myself. However, in the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia, i doubt the extent of the success of Personal Branding.
I have been a regular witness to the promotions of several executives whom i know are hollow professionally but being voracious and blowing out of proportion small things/achievements, they climb ladders.
The concept of Personal Branding shall probably help you to weigh your attributes, but in practicse how much it is viable is a matter of time to prove.

Great article Gill.I am a trainer in communication skills. Just to mention that personal branding needs a good sets of communication skills which teach people how to interact with others and create a professional brand.Also, I believe that we have to be careful and see for what type of people we are making a brand for ourselves.e.g;toward my manager, I have to create a good,creative,responsible employee but in front of my colleagues ,maybe I have to be more supportive,kind and friendly. wht I try to say is that personal branding , is like product branding.you have to know in which market u r going to sell ur product and base on that, you change ur branding strategies.

@a

Age old adage-Honesty is the Best Policy- is all one need to follow to build one's brand. Anything one does more will bring in name, fame, status, responibilities, visibilities, recognitions, career positions..before time, which eventually become more painful. Honest work will always stand the test of time. Do not perpetuate and peddle these 'brand building' ideas. Third rate fellows will only make use of such tactics and run up to occupy very critical posts and wreck havoc on the people and economy. The sub-prime, crude hikes, .. are all fallouts of promoting such brainless guys who sold themselves to similar idiots in large corporations. HBS, please maintain your position in the world of business and business academics.