Chapter 5

Building your personal brand

When I first heard the term ‘personal branding’ during my time at Deloitte, I thought it was complete rubbish, gar-bahj. To me, it sounded like: ‘You have to fit into a certain box to be accepted into a specific environment, so contort and mould yourself until you fit nice and tight into that box.’ I am a very authentic person – what you see is what you get – so I physically and emotionally could not bring myself to be something that I am not. I decided to bow out of the whole conversation. I thought I needed to find an environment where I could just be me and let my work do the talking. To me, the idea of branding myself sounded arrogant, phony and contrived: not only would I have to do great work but I would also have to talk about it all the time, pound my chest and constantly ask people to notice me. It was all Team Too Much and I wasn’t willing to do any of it.

It was not until I met Donna Rachelson, a South African expert in personal, team and entrepreneur branding, that the importance of personal branding started making sense to me. I was fortunate enough to attend one of her workshops early on in my tenure at McKinsey, and I had three important epiphanies during the session. First, a brand is the words or emotions that come to people’s minds when someone mentions your name. It’s the space that you occupy in the mind of your client, customer or anyone else. Second, you have a brand whether you want one or not, so you might as well manage it. And third, you can intentionally and authentically craft your brand in a way that resonates with who you are and what you want to be known for.

The branding struggle

In general, we, as Black people, struggle to brand ourselves. I think much of the reason has to do with the messages we’ve received about focusing solely on obtaining degrees, being more concerned with the team than ourselves and believing that our work will speak for us. Conversations around our dinner tables did not touch on the topic of personal branding. We lack awareness of and/or comfort with this topic, so how can other people know what value we bring if we are never comfortable talking about that value? How can people know what we can do to help them if we never talk about it? Part of our challenge is that it seems arrogant to talk about ourselves, but there is a big difference between being confident and arrogant: confidence draws people in, arrogance repels people.

People who are confident are certain about what they bring to the table, and they are not shy or selfish to talk about that value. Conversely, confident people know that they are not good at everything. So while they are sure about what they bring to the table, they also create space for others to bring what they know they don’t have. Arrogant people don’t create that space, and that is what drives other people away. Arrogance comes across as if it’s all about that one person. It’s as if that person brings all the solutions to the table, or the most important and only skill. Confidence is about ‘you and me’. Arrogance is about ‘me’. If you ever wonder whether you’re being confident or arrogant, look at how people react to you. You can also reference the Self-Confidence vs Arrogance Comparison chart to see the different behaviours associated with each.

A brand that fits you

Branding is not a one-size-fits-all exercise. You don’t have to be someone you are not. For example, if you are an introvert, there are ways to cultivate your brand that resonate with your preferences. The same is true for extroverts. You don’t have to build your brand in the same way as others do, and they don’t have to follow your lead either. Branding differs from person to person. It’s not about copying someone else, but rather about finding a way that is authentic and sustainable for you. The first steps that you can take to market yourself are to determine what you want your brand to be, assess your current brand and then create an action plan to close the gap between the two. And, as with anything, you will have to assess the effectiveness of your branding and make adjustments as you go along.

Donna helped me to understand that my overarching mission in life is to empower other people, which is precisely why I wrote this book. I might empower others through a variety of platforms and topics, but empowerment is the umbrella term under which all my ideas fit. The word ‘empowerment’ summarises my brand and needs to be woven through everything I do, say, deliver, wear and post online. Ultimately, a brand is a verbal commitment that is not just about you. You are sharing with the world what you stand for, what you will deliver and, most importantly, the value that you can add to their lives through your unique set of skills, gifts, talents and perspectives. Then it is up to you to live up to that promise in every way, every day.

As I began to think about the brands that I love most, I realised that the most authentic brands are the ones with the most impact and longevity. I realised that the same could be said for my own personal brand. The brand identity and approach that would be perfect for me would be one that is authentic, effective and sustainable. Remember that having a great brand encourages people to invest in and support you, which in turn increases your skill set, your profile and your access to high-impact opportunities. All of this increases your ability to work with people on projects that have more impact in your organisation.

I really had to wrap my head around the idea that I had a brand, whether I wanted one or not, and that I had to manage it. People who met you five minutes ago have an impression of you, so the people who have worked with you for days, weeks or months certainly have an impression of you, too. As part of my role as the manager of the leadership programme at McKinsey, I had to secure high-profile speakers to talk through their leadership stories with the programme participants. I always invited the broader office to these events as well. My predecessor had always managed to find well-known speakers, so when I took over the programme I knew I had to maintain – if not raise – those standards. I was constantly hustling for speakers: I attended talks by experts at local universities, I reached out to McKinsey alumni who had extensive connections, and I even asked speakers who turned me down to reconsider my invitation. I was able to book inspirational speakers, including a South African cabinet minister (equivalent to a US cabinet secretary), the CEO of a media/magazine empire and the CEO of a healthcare company. One day, someone asked me if I knew a particular high-profile person because I was known to have this amazing network. I was taken aback. I never saw myself as that person. I just saw myself as someone hustling to do her job well. Nevertheless, this had become part of my brand at the office, whether I wanted it or not.

Let’s talk about three myths and truths about personal branding:

Myth 1: Personal branding is all about bragging, self-promotion and being the colleague that works our last nerve.

Truth 1: Personal branding is about sharing the authentic value that you bring through your work. It is about delivering on and communicating a promise and occupying a certain space in your client or customer’s mind.

Myth 2: Personal branding is only done well by extroverts and men (so if you happen to be an introverted female, you’re screwed).

Truth 2: Branding doesn’t have to be done in a loud and boisterous way. It has to be done authentically, and everyone has the capacity to be authentic.

Myth 3: The visibility that you get from personal branding is a finite resource.

Truth 3: The sun is large enough to warm the entire world. No one ever says, ‘If you get sunshine then I can’t.’ There is enough sun for all of us to get some shine. We all bring different things to the table, so we can all be recognised for our individual contributions.

Branding yourself is much like marketing a product. Imagine that you devote your entire career to researching, developing and manufacturing the world’s greatest product, something that could save lives. If you don’t talk about the product – what it’s made of, its benefits and how to access it – no one will ever know about it. In other words, awareness and communication are key. Let’s take the Coca-Cola Company as an example. It has been around since 1886 and Coca-Cola is the most successful and well-known soft drink in the world. Coca-Cola spends billions of dollars each year to create awareness and differentiation of its brand. Every year, the company works hard to occupy a certain space in your mind, making sure you continue to think positively, and feel certain emotions, about the brand.

If Coca-Cola still brands itself after almost 150 years and billions of dollars in revenue, don’t you think you should do so too? The brand that you develop and market is called You Inc. Regardless of what your role is, you have customers or clients that you serve. Who are your customers and clients? Do you have internal and/or external clients/customers? For example, if you are in a support function (human resources, IT, finance), your customers/clients are other employees in the business. Your work serves them and meets their needs. If you are in an external-facing role (sales, marketing), your customers/clients are outside your organisation. What space do you want to occupy in your customers’/clients’ minds? And what is your plan to ensure this?

During my time as the leadership programme manager, I continued having Donna facilitate a personal-branding course for each new cohort in the programme. I discovered that there is often a disconnect between who we think we are and how others experience us. Donna’s workshop included her gathering and aggregating anonymous feedback on strengths and areas of development from the participants’ friends, family and colleagues. I remember how one participant in the programme was very upset that some of the people who gave her feedback said she had an anger issue. As a result, she had trouble being fully present in the class because she was stewing and brewing over the feedback. Fast-forward a year after the course, when I had to deliver some negative feedback to her. During our session, she became angry and ended the discussion abruptly. Clearly, this was someone who was disconnected from the reality of who she is and how others experience her. This example highlights a trait common to us all: we have blind spots when it comes to ourselves. This is why feedback is so critical when we are cultivating our personal brand and trying to grow in our careers. How else will we be able to maximise our personal brand if we don’t know where we’re starting from and what adjustments we need to make?

When I started my career, I knew that I wanted to stand out. I wanted people to know what I was capable of. I wanted to be recognised for my contributions and given opportunities to do more of the work that I loved and that energised me. I realised that if I needed to brand myself to get an opportunity to do those things, I was more than willing to do so. I decided that I needed to change how I looked at the process of branding. If branding could help me stand out without forcing me to compromise my values, then why not? In a busy, time-constrained environment, the average person is too busy worrying about themselves to be thinking about all your accomplishments and talents, so it’s your job to remind them of those, as well as what you’re passionate about.

When I was getting ready to leave McKinsey, Donna asked me what my plan was as I left the company. ‘I’ve submitted my resignation letter,’ I said. ‘I’m leaving in a few weeks.’ ‘No,’ she replied. ‘Are you going to summarise all the great things you did while you were here?’ I had to admit that I hadn’t even thought about it. Her advice to me was that I should create a document outlining all my accomplishments during my time as the leadership programme manager and send it to the key leaders in the office. It had never crossed my mind, so I had to think about it. Would it violate my personal values or boundaries in any way? No. Would it leave a lasting impression on the company leaders and help them understand my contribution to the office? Yes. After reflecting on my answers to these important questions, I decided to give it a try. So I created the document and I sent it to the Africa office leader, the Johannesburg location manager and another influential senior partner whom I respected. Surprisingly, they all responded very positively and thanked me for all that I had done. I’m sure no one ever created a document like that upon exiting the firm!

My tenure at McKinsey was the first time in my life that I heard behind-the-scenes feedback on consultants. I sat in performance reviews and listened to real-time feedback on employees. This was when I realised that personal branding, apart from being a reflection of your work, talents and accomplishments, also includes everything you say, do, wear, deliver and put on social media, because it shapes people’s perceptions of you and thus your brand. Perception is reality, so you need to be intentional about creating and maintaining an authentic personal brand that aligns with who you are.

Keeping it real

You can’t do what everyone else is doing and expect to stand out from the crowd. So how do you differentiate yourself? I often hear young people say, ‘I can’t be fake; I am who I am.’ Remember that building your personal brand is not about being someone that you’re not. It’s about being the best version of your authentic self and making sure everything you do – how you dress, speak, write, deliver a message or a presentation, engage with others, your online presence – aligns with what you want to be known for. Rather than viewing yourself from an either/or perspective – ‘I am either this or that’, ‘I am either fake or authentic’ – consider viewing your personal brand on a continuum.

Let’s say that there is a continuum of authenticity and it is structured from levels one to ten, with ten being your most authentic, unfiltered version of yourself. This might be the version you display when you are with your family and closest friends. However, if you’re in an interview, you might tone it down to a five or six because the interviewers might not be able to handle you on ten. Always consider your audience and determine how your message will be received if you present it on level ten. In addition, if your family and friends could see you during an interview or when you’re at work, my hope is that they would still recognise you and how you’re acting. But the reverse is also true. If your co-workers were to come to your house and see you hanging out with your family and friends, I hope they would recognise some version of you, even if it is a more unfiltered version.

Remember that not everyone might be able to handle you at authenticity level ten. Keep this in mind in the workplace, especially if your goal is for your message to be well received. It is not merely for you to just be and say what you feel. Yes, authenticity is important, because, psychologically speaking, it can be tiring to be two complete opposite versions of yourself. However, there is a way to find a good middle ground. Finding that space on the continuum allows you to be yourself while using your energy to solve the problem at hand and reach your intended audience.

Again, the importance of authenticity cannot be overstated when it comes to branding. Bring your full self, which is the totality of who you are: your personality, experiences, sense of humour, strengths, areas for development, quirks, interests and perspective on the world, people and situations. Everything that has happened to you has shaped you into the unique individual that you are today. The way you see the world is your source of distinctiveness. My advice is to determine what authenticity means for you; only you will know how it looks and feels. I cannot tell you what authenticity looks like because it manifests itself differently for everyone. What is common to all of us, though, is how authenticity feels. Authenticity is when you feel at ease. It feels effortless. It is when you don’t feel a need to behave in a certain way to protect yourself or convince others to like you. Authenticity doesn’t come from a place of pain, trauma or brokenness. If you strip away all that is external and physical, it is the core and essence of who you are. During the ‘Building Credibility’ course that I lead for Bain, one particular question always gets to the heart of what I mean by ‘being authentic’: who are you when you’re with the person(s) that you trust the most? And who are you with complete strangers or those who have hurt you in the past? The answers to these questions represent the opposite ends of the continuum of authenticity.

If authenticity implies standing up for your values, it also means that you might be called to do so in the face of authority, or when it might be unpopular. Authenticity means that you feel so strongly about your values and beliefs that you are willing to go out on a limb and risk failure, embarrassment, being wrong or upsetting your seniors. Authenticity also means having the courage to take risks and ask for help or additional clarity when you don’t understand something. If you’re ever in a public or professional setting with me, you’ll find out that I ask a lot of questions. If something doesn’t make sense to me, I will keep asking questions until it does – even if it makes me look dumb or as if I wasn’t paying attention. My aim is not to look smart. My aim is to get clarity so that I can do my job well. (I can’t tell you how many times people have walked up to me after a meeting or discussion is over to say, ‘That question you asked . . . I was wondering the same thing but I didn’t want to ask.’) Finally, authenticity is also about admitting when things are not going well. Being true to yourself means being real about your performance at work and taking the necessary steps to help you turn the situation around.

When I say that everything you do contributes to your personal brand, I mean everything: how you speak, dress and deliver. Sometimes people think it is only in certain situations that excellence counts. For example, at McKinsey, consultants would often be asked to help senior leaders with client development proposals. Sometimes consultants would blow this work off or not take it as seriously because they didn’t consider these projects to be ‘real’ client work. This lack of effort on the part of consultants definitely tainted senior leaders’ perceptions of those individuals. After working on a proposal with a senior leader, you may never work with that senior leader again, but she may give feedback on you to someone else in her network who trusts her opinion. When you are early in your career, your attitude and output at work plays a huge role in building your brand. When you turn in an Excel spreadsheet with incorrect numbers or poor logic, it reflects on your brand. When your PowerPoint presentation contains misspelled words or the wrong numbers, that is how you’ve chosen to brand yourself. Is that what you want to be known for? The person whose work can’t be trusted? Now, mistakes will always be made, but you want to try to avoid silly mistakes and repeat offences. Even if your spellchecked and number-checked work leads to nothing in the short term, it still shapes your reputation at work, which affects the feed-back you will eventually receive and the opportunities you will subsequently be offered. At this stage in your career, you don’t understand the organisation well enough to decide when you should or should not be excellent, so always try to do outstanding work. Performing well is not only a great way to build your brand, but it is also the best way to draw mentors and sponsors. This is why it’s important to understand what is important to your company and then develop a way of working that maximises those particular areas. Your personal brand will be that you are someone who works efficiently, effectively and always with your mind and hands directed firmly towards the customer, client and/or end goal.

What Authenticity Feels and Looks Like

Another interesting aspect of your personal brand is how you speak about yourself. Carla Harris, a Harvard Business School alumnus and the Vice Chairperson and Managing Director of Morgan Stanley, once came to speak to one of my classes. During her talk, she told us that she wanted people to see her as someone who could take on the challenges of being in the competitive world of investment banking. In an effort to shape her colleagues’ perception of her, she started referring to herself as ‘tough’ in every conversation. She would say things like, ‘Well, you know I’m tough so I can handle it’ or ‘I’m tough enough to take that on.’ Eventually, people started referring to her as ‘tough’ too.

Carla shaped how people spoke about her through the way she spoke about herself. She was deliberate and intentional in shaping her narrative. How do you speak about yourself? Do you take every opportunity to let people know what you’re involved in, what you stand for and what’s important to you? When a senior person asks you how you’re doing, do you take that opportunity to tell her about your passions and projects? Perhaps suggest meeting up with her to discuss a common interest. If you do this, you not only share your interests and your projects, but you also open the door to strengthening the bond between you and that senior leader. In addition, it creates the impression that you’ve researched that person or, at the very least, remembered what someone told you about her. In that moment you’ve differentiated yourself, and that is the goal.

Dressing for impact

You may think that the only thing that matters is what’s in your head. How you dress, how you wear your hair, how you accessorise are all representations of who you are and what you believe is important. But let’s be honest: first impressions matter. We judge people every day based on what they are wearing, how their hair looks and the accessories they are wearing. You are being judged in this way especially at work. When you walk into a room, no one knows how bright you are, where you went to school or that you graduated top of your class. Even though it’s not ideal or fair, people categorise others based on their outward appearance.

My philosophy has always been that I want people to pay attention to what is coming out of my mouth – my ideas. As such, I have chosen to dress and wear my hair in a way that does not distract from that or undermine my credibility. Remember that your goal is to be impactful in the workplace. How you choose to present yourself should be dependent on the type of environment in which you work, so this is what you have to gauge. It’s all about assessing and understanding your environment and understanding what the professional dress code is. In a professional-services environment, you will have clients who are likely to be older than you. They might question what you, at the tender age of 22 or 23, could tell them that they don’t already know. Even when we are older, our melanin and the old adage ‘Black don’t crack’ can work against us and make us look much younger than we actually are. In those types of situations it is always about establishing credibility, which will give you licence to offer advice and challenge them on established ways of doing things. Credibility helps them take you and your advice more seriously. The way you dress can either add to or detract from your credibility.

Women have many options when it comes to fashion, but an abundance of choice is a double-edged sword. It can be a blessing and a curse. Because there are so many options available to us as women, we also have more opportunities to get it wrong. I remember sitting in an annual performance review where decisionmakers were talking about how inappropriately a specific employee was dressed on multiple occasions. It was then my job as the programme manager to convey the message to her. ‘Carice, you need to talk to her about how she dresses,’ they would tell me. ‘Her clothes are too revealing, she’s showing too much cleavage.’ Often, these individuals were not poor performers – in fact, they were doing well at their jobs – but their dress overshadowed their performance. Once I had spoken to those employees, they would always be mortified to know that their appearance (and not the quality of their work) had been given significant airtime during their performance review. Regardless of the environment, you don’t want decision-makers to spend one second of your performance review talking about how inappropriate your dress or grooming is.

I often ask people: do you want people to pay attention to how you dress, wear your hair and accessorise or to the quality of your work and the depth of your relationships? Figure out what the dress code is at work. If it’s a written policy, abide by it. The old saying ‘Dress for the job you want’ is relevant here.

Even if there is a written dress code at your company, there can also be unspoken, unofficial rules. When I worked at Arthur Andersen, the dress code strictly prohibited women from wearing sleeveless shirts or dresses. Even though this rule was clear to everyone, there were other rules that were not. Once, an executive assistant for a senior leader told me that one of my co-workers needed to get rid of his facial hair. When I inquired as to why, she replied: ‘Look at the partners in this organisation. None of them have facial hair.’ I had been at the company for almost two years when she told me and I had never noticed. When I was early in my career, I never paid attention to how leadership dressed or how they were groomed.

My advice to you is to look at how seniors in your company dress and groom themselves. But also understand that in some environments, senior leaders are given the latitude to express their eccentricity through their dress because they’ve proven themselves in that environment. This might not be the case for more junior folks. If you work in a more creative environment, the style of acceptable dress might be more expressive and personal because of the industry, and because people might encourage you to dress in a more unconventional, fashion-forward way. Look across the board at a wide variety of people, getting an average feel for how people present themselves. This will ensure that you’re not basing your choices on one example or one outlier. And if it’s still not clear, have a conversation with your manager or mentor.

Ultimately, it is down to you to decide what is more important to you: expressing yourself through your appearance or expressing yourself through your ideas. The choice is yours. Here are a few gender-specific tips for dressing professionally in the workplace.

Women: Ladies, you need to make sure that your clothes are appropriate from every angle. I call it the ‘360-degree check’. Get a full-length mirror and see how high that skirt sits in the back. Sometimes a skirt can be an appropriate length in the front but not in the back. Bend down at the waist (not at the knee) and pretend you’re picking something up off the floor. Notice how high your skirt or dress comes up in the back when you do. Also, sit down and examine how far your skirt comes up when you sit down. Skirts or dresses might be the appropriate length when you stand up but reveal too much when you sit down or bend over. When it comes to your neckline, lean on your desk and notice how much of your cleavage is exposed. Can you sit comfortably in that dress or do you have to keep adjusting it every few minutes in order to be comfortable and not expose too much? Be sure to invest in the proper undergarments that give you the right level of support. Visit a department store or women’s speciality shop and invest in properly fitted undergarments. Many women wear the wrong size and/or type of bra or undergarments. Properly fitted undergarments can make a huge difference in how our clothes fit and look.

And another general tip: if you can head right to the club from the office, you’re probably dressed inappropriately for work. If you’re one to wear make-up, consider getting a make-up consultation to make sure you’re wearing foundation and powder that match your skin tone well. Also, however you choose to wear your hair, get it done regularly enough to keep it looking like you take care of it. Although I’m a proud, uncompromising naturalista and have worn my natural hair since 2004 in every professional environment I’ve worked in, I’ve always worn it in conservative styles. As I’ve mentioned, I don’t want my appearance to be a distraction. Whatever style you wear – be it a weave, wig, braids, Afro, etc – be prepared to make the investment to keep it looking good.

Men: Gentlemen, you’re not off the hook. While you might feel that you don’t have as many options as women, it doesn’t give you the permission to be sloppy. I’ve seen men with untucked, wrinkled shirts and trousers that are too tight, too big or too short. Be willing to invest in a bit of tailoring so that your clothes fit your body type (yes, men have body types too). Don’t try to stuff yourself into a shirt or trousers that are now two sizes too small or large. The 360-degree check also applies to you: take a spin in front of your full-length mirror and make sure your outfit looks good from all angles. Check the hems on those trousers; if they’re frayed, get them repaired. At McKinsey, an external image consultant once came to do a presentation on professional dress. What I found most interesting was her tips on how men can elevate their style to look more mature and put together. She recommended having a properly fitted suit and wearing a matching belt and shoes to top off the look. She also mentioned that smaller prints on dress shirts look more sophisticated, professional and expensive than larger prints. Finally, get your hair cut regularly by a professional, and if you’re going to have facial hair, keep it well-groomed consistently.

Men and women: Before the advent of a new season or change in weather, try on your work clothes to see what fits and what doesn’t. Your weight can fluctuate and it’s not safe to assume that your outfits from last season will still fit you this year. Assess what needs to be altered or mended and take those clothes to your nearest seamstress or tailor to be repaired. Determine what needs to be donated or replaced. The same rule applies to your shoes, too. Check how worn out the heels of your shoes are and get your shoes shined to keep them looking good. Keep in mind that dressing professionally is not about breaking the bank or buying expensive designer clothes, shoes or accessories. Instead, it’s about making professional choices that are smart, strategic and cost-effective.

Unique brand elements based on organisational culture

In the previous chapter, I discussed understanding your organisation’s culture and values. You need to make sure that the elements of your personal brand align with and speak to what is important in that environment. You also need to understand the speed of judgement in that environment. How quickly do people form opinions about other people? Is it possible to rebound from a bad impression? How forgiving is that environment? If the environment is quick to judge and slow to forgive, you will have to quickly adjust your working style to deliver and build your brand in the ways that matter to the organisation.

Once you find out those values, you need to map out a plan to deliver on them. For example, at McKinsey, speed of delivery and accuracy are very important and a consultant is judged on both. It’s not enough to be accurate; you must be fast as well. Time is of the essence in that environment. Remember that different organisations work at different speeds, so it’s important that you assess the speed of work accordingly. Engaging others at the right time (after you’ve applied your mind to the problem) and in the right way is a non-negotiable, and your ability to do this well is a key component in being able to deliver in a timely and accurate fashion. Understanding how to think about your work, and how to engage others, requires thought, planning, seeking advice and removing a large part of your ego.

Imagine that a junior consultant is asked to produce a slide in PowerPoint. She will spend hours working on the slide to make it perfect, making sure that all the numbers are right and that the boxes and lines are all straight. The consultant then presents the slide to the manager on the team . . . and hears that the slide isn’t anything close to what the manager was looking for. So let’s start over, from when the consultant first was tasked with creating the slide. She should have spent 30 minutes to an hour applying her mind to the problem, then she should have sketched out with pencil and paper how she would design the slide. Following that, she should have shown her sketch to the manager to see if she was on the right track. She might have gotten feedback, which could have led her to co-create the slide with her manager. They could even have gone back and forth for a couple of iterations on pen and paper, with the manager giving feedback and the junior consultant making changes until finally they landed on a workable draft. Only then should the consultant have spent time creating the slide in PowerPoint.

This example illustrates the point that there are two very different ways of working. One way involves trying to go it alone; the other involves balancing individual effort, speed and accuracy and doing what is best for the team and the problem at hand. At McKinsey, some junior consultants had to learn this the hard way: in trying to be perfect, they would waste valuable time, which is one of the top currencies in that environment. When you reflect on your company’s culture, what are the values that are most important? How can you work in such a way that your brand aligns with what matters most in your organisation’s culture?

Now that we’ve talked about what a personal brand is, let’s discuss the eight steps to build yours.

Step 1. Reframe what personal branding means to you and determine your why: How do you feel about personal branding? If you have a negative view of personal branding (eg if you think it’s about being fake or fitting into a box), the chances are very high that you won’t do it. If you only develop a personal brand because I’m telling you to have one, you also probably won’t do it, or, if you do, it won’t be sustainable because the desire is not coming from an authentic place. What will having a personal brand create for you? What is your why? What is the purpose of your brand? How will you use it to serve others?

Step 2. Embrace your story: Building a brand starts with having a voice, and a big part of your voice is based on articulating and owning your story. What are the elements of your story that influence who you are today and what you are passionate about? Let me give you an example: many years ago, I attended a talk by Howard Schultz, the former CEO of Starbucks, at Wits University. As a child, Howard’s family sank deeper and deeper into poverty after his father was injured on the job. At the time, there was no workers’ compensation and his father did not have health benefits. In his presentation he mentioned that he wanted to create the type of company his father never had the chance to work for. That is part of the reason why Starbucks was one of the first companies in the US to offer full-time benefits to part-time employees. Today, Starbucks also covers the cost of tuition for any of their employees who want to finish their undergraduate studies while continuing to work at the company. Howard Schultz’s approach to supporting his employees and his leadership of Starbucks was therefore directly influenced by his childhood experiences – his life story.

Step 3. Define your overall goals and aspirations: As you define your goals for the future and how these could shape your brand identity, reflect on the following questions:

   What do you really want? What does success look like at this stage in your life?

   What do you want to be known for?

   What value do you want to bring? What impact do you want to have?

   What type of person do you want to be?

   What do you not want to do in the future?

   What skills and experiences do you need to make progress?

Step 4. Research and determine brand attributes: If you think about people who excel at the type of work that you would like to do, what skills and experiences do they have? What are they great at? What are they known for?

Step 5. Understand how others perceive your brand by getting feedback about your strengths and weaknesses:

   What do those around you – your friends, family, colleagues and others – say is your brand? How do they experience you?

   What kind of impression does your online presence create? Do your posts and comments on social media reflect the brand that you want to convey?

Step 6. Evaluate the gaps between your current and desired brand and create an action plan to close the gaps:

Consider the following questions:

   Why do you believe there are gaps between your current brand and your desired brand?

   What can you do differently to move closer to the brand you want?

   Who do you need to build relationships with? What support do you need from each relationship?

I recently saw an article on Forbes.com that outlined the various degrees of support that individuals can provide. Do you need each type of relationship? If not, which degrees of support are most important, and do you have someone (or multiple people) who falls into each category? If not, how can you build your brand and ultimately a relationship with that person so they feel comfortable providing that level of support? What are you trying to achieve? Who are the people who are critical to your success, growth and access to opportunities? What is the status of that relationship? What do you want or need it to be? And how will you close the gap?

One school of thought on relationships that I found interesting comes from Herminia Ibarra, a professor of organisational behaviour at the London Business School. She theorises that there are about five different levels of support: the Mentor, the Strategiser, the Connector, the Opportunity-Giver and the Advocate. As I showed in Chapter 3, the role of the Mentor can be defined as a ‘trusted counsellor or guide’ who will coach you and offer his or her wisdom and experience. The Strategiser provides inside-track information to help you determine how to get ahead and will help you figure out who the right people are for you to get in front of, the right opportunities for you to participate in and the timing for each. The Connector will take it a step further by opening up their network to introduce you to the right people. This person elevates your personal brand by speaking well of you with his or her peers or within his or her network, and takes a more public role in supporting you than do the Mentor and Strategiser.

The Opportunity-Giver, in turn, provides high-visibility opportunities for you to increase your status or be seen in a different light in the organisation, demonstrate competencies that other projects haven’t allowed you to and/or work with key influencers and decision-makers in the organisation. And, finally, the Advocate pounds the table for you to get the promotion, salary increase, bonus or step-up opportunity that you need. This person is in the room when the most important decisions about your career are being made and puts his or her name on the line to vouch for you. The Mentor and Strategiser roles are far more private than the roles of Connector, Opportunity-Giver and Advocate. Make sure you’re cultivating your brand with multiple people in the categories of supporters that you deem most important.

Step 7. Monitor your progress by gathering feedback: After you’ve implemented the necessary changes to your brand and its image, gather feedback once again. We all have blind spots when it comes to ourselves, so feedback is critical and should be ongoing.

Step 8. Live your brand every day and be prepared to evolve your brand as you evolve: Remember that in ten years’ time, you may want to be known for something else or you may have changed occupations. In that case, be sure to assess what you want your brand to be and then make changes to make it a reality. For example, if you were a great individual contributor in your company but were recently promoted to a managerial role, you would want your brand to reflect that. In your previous role, you wanted to be known for your great work, and now, as a manager, you want to be known for achieving great results through others. How can you position your brand differently now that you are in a new role?

Branding tips for your personality and lifestyle

As I’ve shown in this chapter, branding can look different for different people. If you’re an introvert, you might be thinking, ‘I’m shy. I hate networking events and I feel awkward at them.’ Or, if you’re very busy, you might be saying, ‘I am really time-constrained and I don’t have time to be at all these events.’ Here are a few examples of branding tips for introverts and busy people.

Branding tips for introverts:

   Think about what makes you comfortable and makes you feel authentic. Start there. Start somewhere! To continue to do nothing is not an option.

   Use social media. You can use social media to display your knowledge and brand yourself as an expert in your field.

   Use one-on-one opportunities to connect. If you’re uncomfortable at large events and prefer one-on-one meetings or smallgroup sessions, reach out to individuals and schedule coffee chats to share your knowledge and to learn more from those people.

   Use your preference for alone time to hone your craft. Then convey what you’ve learnt when you’re at work or in a meeting with decision-makers, influencers and your manager.

   Use your environment to demonstrate your expertise. If you’re in an environment where education is valued, talk about your university and graduate school experiences. Hang up those degrees and certificates in your working space. It can be a conversation starter, help people learn more about you and see you in a different light.

   Look for opportunities to share what you know. Mentor junior people in your office. Volunteer to show your expertise in a lunch’n learn or at a professional event. Other people will start sharing how knowledgeable you are and how much value you add.

   Step outside your comfort zone. Once you’re more comfortable with branding, consider pushing yourself to attend a networking event. Think about two or three people you want to talk to before the event and start a conversation with those people.

Branding tips for busy people:

   Be strategic. You can’t go to every networking event, so try to figure out which ones are the most important and attend those.

   Be fully present from 8 am to 5 pm. Be engaged when you are at work. Resist the urge to be on social media. Take advantage of lunch-time chats or coffee-break conversations to give people a chance to know you and what you’re working on.

   Be prepared to offer your thoughts. If you’re going to a meeting, understand what is being discussed and come prepared with two to three points you’d like to make during the meeting.

   Get your manager’s help. Tell your manager that you are trying to raise your visibility to build relationships in the organisation. Communicate your goals for your career and be as specific as you can in terms of where you need her help. Try to align your aspirations with your manager’s goals or challenges so he or she is even more incentivised to help you. Ask for your manager’s feedback (what you’re doing well and what you could do differently) as you build visibility to make sure you’re on the right track.

Respect and understand your company’s brand

A mistake I’ve made in the past – and one I’ve often seen young people make – is questioning the brand right after joining an organisation. The way a company operates is the why and the how behind that brand. They have that brand because of how they operate and how they deliver. I realised I couldn’t be a fan of the end result (the brand) without understanding the method behind the brand. We try to change (read: don’t like) the very things that helped create the brand that we love.

Another key point to remember is that, as an employee of a company, you are also actively contributing to how others perceive the corporation that employs you. When clients, customers and/or people in social settings meet you, they form an opinion about your company based on their interactions with you. Be intentional about your behaviour and how you communicate and think about whether it reflects the brand in the most positive, authentic and professional light.

In conclusion, remember that you are a brand. You are the CEO of You Inc and everything you do contributes to how others perceive you and your organisation. You always have to ask yourself: is what I’m about to say, do, deliver and/or wear reflective of the things that I want people to say and think of me and my company? Will these help me have more or less impact? One of the biggest keys to building an enduring personal brand is being a great communicator. In the next chapter, I provide a few tips on how to communicate in a way that builds the brand that you want.