By Laurie Riedman
Everyone has a personal brand. You don’t have an option. Everything we do –intentionally or not – contributes to the way others perceive us – and thus our “personal brand”.
We all know the benefits of creating a strong brand – heck we are exposed to branding everywhere. However, I would bet that 99.9% of the time you associate branding with a company or an organization.
Effective branding is just as important to us as individuals – whether we are a student, employee, professional, independent consultant or entrepreneur. Paying attention and cultivating our own brand is a healthy, engaging exercise.
As Tom Peters, management guru and inventor of the phrase “personal brand” says – “We are CEO’s of our own companies: Me Inc.”
We leave so many digital and analog “foot prints” that point to our brand every day -- from the post you liked or shared on social media; the “groups” you belong to online and off. Did you support your colleague when they were having a challenge at work? Do you respond to emails in a timely fashion? Did you impatiently – or patiently – wait in line this morning for your Starbucks or DD coffee? Did you simply ignore the plea for volunteers to help at your child’s school?
While there are many elements of your personal brand – attendees of this personal branding session on Nov. 1st will get an overview of what goes into our own personal brand as well as get to work on a personal mission statement. Every branding discussion starts with getting to the core of why the company exists. Our exploration of our own personal brand starts with who we are and why we are here or our personal mission.
Before you think this is too woo-woo for you – consider this:
A mission statement helps a company demonstrate who they are and how they are different from other businesses. A good mission statement gives a hint as to what the aspirations of that company are.
For example – JetBlue’s mission statement is “To inspire humanity – both in the air and on the ground.” IKEAs mission statement is “To create a better everyday life for the many people.”
These mission statements don’t just simply state that they offer top quality on time flights – or unique home goods -- at economical prices. They share what the company’s higher goals are on a larger scale.
What would you want your personal brand to say about you and about your future aspirations?
When was the last time you sat down and gave yourself some space and time to come up with what you want your future to look like and what you want your impact to be -- in your profession, in your community or in our world?
Join me on November 1st at FLX Women Rising for the Personal Branding: Create Your Own Personal Mission Statement session. My goal is for you to begin to take a close look at your own personal brand by writing a personal mission statement.
Hope to see you there!
Laurie Riedman, Owner of Riedman Communications, is a professional communicator consulting and working with companies from Fortune 100, start-ups, nonprofits and individuals. She loves nothing more than “connecting the dots” be it developing and implementing strategic marketing, public relations and branding for companies or personal branding and coaching with individuals.
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