INTHEBLACK December - January 2022 - Magazine - Page 52
INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT
Personal branding
AT A GLANCE
52
DEC 2022
JAN 2023
INTHEBLACK CAREER, ELEVATED SPECIAL EDITION
Effective personal branding
is a considered approach to
presenting and communicating
elements of your personality.
While a personal brand is
similar to a reputation,
personal branding is more
future-focused.
Information that is relevant
to an individual’s personal
brand can change over the
course of their career.
STORY JESSICA MUDDITT
BRAND
WISE
A personal brand is not the same as self-promotion or
advertising. Learning how to build yours strategically
and consistently can have long-term career benefits.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has been
credited with saying your personal brand
is what people say about you when you are
not in the room. While some of us may
cringe at the idea of promoting our own
personal “brand”, the reality is that we all
have one – the question is whether the one
we have is the one we want.
“Everyone is a walking, talking brand,”
says Rebecca Taylor, a leadership brand
photography specialist. “It’s about shaping
what others say about you, so that you
create the most authentic and credible
representation of yourself.”
Personal branding elevates others’
understanding of who you are and what
you do. It is important, because, when
done well, it can create significant business
opportunities. On the other hand, simply
ignoring it can have unforeseen downsides.
“Personal branding is optional,” says
personal branding expert Andrew Ford.
“Yet if you’re doing wonderful things but
not telling people, their perception of you
isn’t altered, because they simply don’t
know about it.
“Personal branding is getting all of those
elements that are part of your personality
already and just putting them all out
there in a considered way, so that your
stakeholders get to see it.”
Afraid of inviting attention? You already
have done, argues Ford – simply by having
an occupation or career.
“Some people don’t want to do personal
branding because it involves putting
themselves out there. I would argue that
anyone with customers already has, because
they are in the spotlight for those people.”
WHAT’S IN A BRAND?
A personal brand is made up of all the
things that people think and feel about
you. “If you Google someone, [their brand
