CREATING YOUR PERSONAL BRAND

Diane Keng shares the same passion for brand building as Ashley Wilson, the young realtor portrayed in the opening story of this chapter. Diane is an 18-year-old freshman at Santa Clara University. Like many other young career-focused adults, Diane understands she must establish her professional brand early in her career, and continue to build it throughout her life. She manages two accounts on Facebook, one is personal and the other is professional. Her personal account is strictly for family and friends and her professional account is regularly updated with information about her tech start-up called MyWeboo.com where she regularly posts information about women entrepreneurs and engineers. Diane s goal is to establish a personal brand and create a positive image early in her career. She says that people like to look up others on Facebook before they actually meet them in person, and once first impressions are made, they re really tough to change.

Your personal brand is derived from your core values. Personal brand development begins with self-management practices that help you create and strengthen relationships with other people. Early in his career, Jerry Seinfeld decided he would never use profanity in his comedy routines. This personal decision forced him to use more creativity, and he became a stronger comedian. Jeff Bezos, founderofAmazon.com, recalls an early life experience that changed the way he viewed relationships. He made comment to his grandmother that hurt her feelings. Later, his grandfather met with him privately and said, Youll learn, one day, that it s much harder to be kind than clever. This insight has helped Bezos in his professional life.

Developing a distinctive brand that will help you in your interactions with others may require making some changes in your life. To become distinctive, you must stand for something. What you stand for relates to your values. Thus, a strong personal brand generally built from the inside out. But, to some extent, you can also decide what type of image you want these values to project. This may require changes in your manners, dress, voice quality, facial expression, posture, or behaviors that reflect your integrity.

QUESTIONS

1. Judith Sills, clinical psychologist who writes a column for Psychology Today, says your brand is the professional identity you create in the minds of others. What personal qualities will give you greater visibility, recognition, and acceptance in the labor market? These qualities should send the message, Pick me; Im special.

2. This chapter described several different ways to use social media to build and grow your personal brand identity. What are some of the ways that you would like to develop your online presence? Summarize a brief action plan that describes the activities and steps you will put in place to build and promote your personal brand.