A few days ago the quintessential women's magazine: Cosmopolitan , or "cosmo" as we all know it, interviewed me about my professional career (supposedly I'm old enough to inspire young women eager to take on the world :) ). The interview was extensive, but I'm not going to reveal it... what I will reveal is one of the questions that made me reflect the most and that is precisely what gives rise to this post:
Cosmo: "And you, how did you build your personal brand?"
"I sat thinking for a few seconds, trying to find a sentence that would sum up how I had created my personal brand, and in the end I answered: with a lot of time, patience and self-analysis, not self-criticism, self-analysis".
#selfmade. Cosmopolitan
What does a "brand" represent?
The basic definition of "brand" according to wikipedia:
A brand (in English brand) is a primary commercial identification and/or the set of various identifiers by which a product or service is related and offered in the market.
There are brands that have worked on it very well, and their "identifiers" or "attributes" come to mind immediately.
An exercise: what comes to mind when you see this image?
Even if you don't like cars, you'll surely identify immediately:
VOLVO = SAFETY
Can you achieve the same with your personal brand?
Yes, of course you can. 3 starting points to achieve it:
- Analyze your identifiers/attributes. To do this you must analyze "how you are perceived, what you convey", something similar to your IDEAL SELF and your REAL SELF. With this information you'll have a starting point from which to build your logbook to convey what you want, bringing your REAL SELF closer to your IDEAL SELF.
- Analyze the environment you move in, or who you're addressing. It's not the same to be in banking as in an advertising agency; some of your "innate" attributes may be positive in one sector and not in another, so you'll have to modulate them according to your objective.
- Be authentic, and by this I don't mean you shouldn't have a filter, but rather that you be yourself. I'm tired of seeing people on management committees who "blend in" with the environment. Come on, if you're here it's because they want you to contribute your opinion, your vision; if you blend in with the rest just to "be liked", well yes, it's fine, you'll survive, but you'll be a champion of "mediocrity"... so please be BRAVE and create your own image and not the one you think is expected of you.
My advice if you really want to create your personal brand: be brave and don't blend in, BE AUTHENTIC!
Your personal brand can become your greatest professional ally; it's your seal, your brand, your way of leading, of building. It's the "mark" you leave on each of the stakeholders you interact with: your team, your clients, your suppliers, your collaborators, etc.
It's a matter of time; it's not built overnight. To begin with, you may have skills and/or attributes that can be positive in your sector, analyze them objectively and enhance them! They will undoubtedly be your best allies.
How to identify attributes?
A simple exercise: ANALYZE WHAT YOU CONVEY: YOUR REAL SELF
This simple exercise will put you in a good starting position to work on your personal brand; do the following:
1.- Identify 5/6 people from your professional and personal circles who are capable of being critical and analytical with you.
2.- Ask them the following questions; if I were a brand...
- What brand would I be?
- What three adjectives describe this brand?
- What type of audience is this brand aimed at?
- What is the differential value of that brand?
In my case the result was very funny, it surprised me in a good way. I ran the survey with my 2 circles:
- Professional: my team, collaborators and clients.
- The response was quite unanimous; luxury brands: Mercedes, Joyería Suárez, Carolina Herrera, etc. Since I work in a "luxury" environment, beauty, in part, already suits me well, but careful: luxury brands can seem "unattainable", and that's not what I want to convey, so in my case it would mean working on accessibility. If I convey that I'm inaccessible, I'll be missing out on many business, professional and networking opportunities, etc. Let's not forget that we live and work in a V.U.C.A environment; the strongest doesn't win, nor the smartest.... the fastest wins!
- Personal: girlfriends and husband
- The responses were more varied and tremendously funny. My girlfriends identified me with the brand Red Bull, my energy never runs out and whenever they go with me adventure is guaranteed, they pointed out... totally true :), while my husband identified me with lingerie brands... so well, everyone happy (thank goodness it wasn't the other way around) ;P.
Now then, with the result you'll be able to compare your "REAL SELF", how they've perceived you, with your "IDEAL SELF", how you perceive yourself. From here on, get to work!
Mercedes Benz represents classic elegance, although now they're trying to modernize... a logical evolution.
What is clear is that you already represent a "personal brand"; now then, you'll have to see whether that brand already represents what you want.
Can I enhance my personal brand beyond my "business micro-world"?
Of course! The digital world has made it much easier for us to become known beyond our closest professional and personal circle: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.
These social networks allow us to go beyond our day-to-day professional life; it's not only the achievements we put on our CV, but our personal style, our personal brand! What matters is not WHAT YOU DO but HOW YOU DO IT. The HOW defines your style, your brand.
The balance between personal life and professional life defines you.
Even if you're very wary of sharing your personal life, it is precisely the whole that best defines you; your lifestyle, your hobbies, your family, the causes you identify with, etc. is what makes you unique, authentic and, above all, singular: it's your personal brand.
When I became aware of the importance of working on a "personal brand"
I'll never tire of recommending the "CEOE Promociona Program"; it was precisely there that professor Juan Díaz Andreu "shook me up" so that I would become aware of knowing what we convey.
My personal experience: the evolution of my personal brand.
In my case, I started my career in the pharmaceutical industry, within the more conservative side of the pharmaceutical sector. I began by launching a new insulin, fascinating from a business standpoint; I learned a great deal about strategy, EBITDAs, marketing, sales, how to manage relationships with public administrations, etc.
The pure pharmaceutical industry is rather classic and masculine in its upper echelons; you won't see anyone dressed in sneakers (unless it's casual Friday), so for a long time I "blended in" with the environment, I went around rather dull, gray and, above all, without heels. I'm relatively tall, and having my physical appearance draw attention wasn't too good (or so I believed).
In which segment of your sector do you fit best?
Little by little I realized that within the pharmaceutical sector I needed to find a slightly more "informal", more creative specialty, where my proactive profile, not so static and classic, and even my physical traits, my personality in short, would add up in my favor. At a certain point in my career I was able to make a pivot toward the cosmetics industry, in this case dermatological; here my technical knowledge added a lot of value, but so did my style, my more informal way of being, more open-minded, proactive and nonconformist, now I really am myself. This doesn't mean I won't return to the more traditional sector, but now they'll know what my leadership style is...
I've finally created my PERSONAL BRAND.
You must be faithful to your style; if a company hires you it's because they want you to imprint your personal style on the project and on the team. But first you'll have to identify what your strengths are.
How to create a "logbook" to build your personal brand.
In my case, the book "Marca personal para dummies by Andrés Pérez Ortega" helped me a lot; it served as a script for me to know exactly:
- Identify the purpose of my personal brand
- visualize my future
- establish my objectives and positioning
- who I'm addressing
Should the executive leave their own personal brand on the project?
The answer is clearly yes.
If they've hired you, it's so that you leave "your" personal mark on everything you do; by now they already know your style, surely they've signed you up to achieve the objectives but, that's right... with your style, your way of being, leaving a mark and setting a precedent. So please be brave, be authentic, because the only thing that can't be copied is your personal brand.
Working on your personal brand doesn't mean you now become an egomaniac, but rather that you control the perceptions you generate and, with that, achieve your professional and personal objectives.
What are you waiting for? Don't waste time; if you want people to talk about you, you'd better make sure they say what you want!
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