Knowing how best to showcase your abilities and differentiate yourself can be tricky as you navigate between your wants and needs and other people’s preferences and requirements. However, using a step-by-step approach can help you gain more clarity and focus to cultivate your personal brand effectively.
Your reputation is a result of how others experience you. Knowing how you’re perceived can support you in aligning your narrative and unique value proposition (UVP). Additionally, acknowledging why people seek you out and want to work with you can help you close any gaps between reality and perception.
Build your brand equity and credibility by strengthening your interpersonal relations.
A vital brand element is trust, where you are consistent in your actions, people believe what you say, and are confident that you’ll deliver on any promises made. As you collaborate, it will be important to understand others’ core motivations, worldviews, and values as all of these influence how you come across to them.
Equally significant will be your overall mindset and communication approach, such as handling uncertainty, getting along with your colleagues, and delivering messages with care, i.e., word choice, tone, body language, and energy. For instance, if your manager values reliability, future-focused thinking, and diplomacy for managing high-profile projects, embodying these qualities will be crucial to be considered a viable candidate.
The great thing about skills is that they are learnable and can be improved with practice.
Self-awareness and confidence in your capabilities are paramount for authenticity in your interactions. As you gain insight regarding the “why behind your actions” and how you think and feel, you’ll be better equipped to deal with situations where you experience a “yin and yang” pull between your inner essence and how you show up.
To guide you, here are some essential skills to elevate your visibility and distinguish your personal brand.
#1 Communication.
Successful interactions require each person to feel seen, heard, understood, and where clashes are repaired promptly. A crucial part of communication is actively listening, removing distractions, and providing unlimited attention to what is occurring. Additionally, proactively managing your correspondence, i.e., email, text, and voicemail and incorporating the “8Cs of Good Communication” can be highly beneficial for fostering relationships. Furthermore, being responsive and following through on any commitments—even to “buy yourself” time—are memorable characteristics.
#2 Attentiveness.
Focusing attention on another person means you are present. When listening intently, you attend to what is being said, ask questions for clarity, and are generous with your knowledge. When you’re comfortable in your own skin, you exhibit “leadership presence,” are not easily swayed by outside influences, and respond respectfully when disagreeing. Attentiveness is also about being situationally aware, where you can pick up on verbal and nonverbal cues before choosing how best to answer.
#3 Self-Motivation.
Self-motivation is taking action and completing tasks, even when you’d rather not. You need to rely on your personal power, tapping into your emotional intelligence (EQ) to determine what works best for the situation and bounce back when things don’t go your way. When faced with challenges, you don’t expect someone else to handle the issues. Instead, you accept what-is and shift your mindset and outlook to focus on what’s needed to move forward. Furthermore, you work through various scenarios independently, recognizing where you may need input before making a final decision.
#4 Emotional Maturity.
Understanding and regulating your feelings, handling stress, delaying impulses, and managing the ups and downs of your “emotional waves” are at the heart of emotional maturity. When you’re emotionally mature, you take responsibility for your emotions and express them in a constructive manner that’s appropriate for the situation. You have a “communication filter” and can discern when and when not to raise a point or issue, and if you “blunder,” you take ownership and apologize. Additionally, you notice when there are disparities between your mind and body and pause to temper your instinctual behaviors and create balance within your system.
#5 Judiciousness.
Effective decision-making requires gathering information from various perspectives and applying sound methods of evaluating that information, using your “left and right brain” to critically and creatively think through challenges. Throughout this process, you’re confident in what you know and don’t know and are resourceful. You remain objective and consider potential people impacts before making decisions in a fair and equitable way, and use setbacks as inspiration to problem-solve, offer solutions, adapt, and deploy new strategies.
Share your distinctive magnificence with the world.
Your brand will evolve as you do, so take accountability for who you are and want to be to live congruently. Embracing self-care rituals, sharpening your EQ, and regularly assessing how you’re doing are just some ways you can harness your YOU-ness and invest in your personal growth.
Activate your best with those around you.
Self-leadership is about getting to know yourself better and applying that knowledge to daily life. As a lifelong student, certified professional coach, and consultant, activating the best in others through self-leadership, interpersonal relations, and team dynamics are passions of mine. My approach is personalized and customized, tapping into various assessments, disciplines, modalities, and techniques. Also, check out my “Micro & Mini Service Offerings” and try one session to inspire you. Sign up solo or with another person or group to work on a specific exercise or activity and split the costs! Contact me to get started.