What do you struggle most with your personal brand?

I recently conducted a poll on LinkedIn to better understand where people struggle with their personal brand. The results, while not surprising, confirmed where people need the most help. It was almost a dead heat between the top three responses, see table below.

How to describe my brand came in at 26%. Respondents weren’t certain how to go about describing their brand. Specifically, what words or phrases they should use.
Take Action Tip: Write down 3 – 5 words or phrases that describe you. If you’re having trouble here, think about someone you admire, what are the qualities in them you value? Are these the qualities you would like your brand to stand for? For more information, read What is Uniquely Different About You? from my blog.

Not sure what others think my brand is came in at 25%. Most people don’t know what others think of their brand. Rarely do we seek feedback. Instead we focus on working hard and don’t think about the impression we make while doing our jobs. Furthermore, we don’t explore whether our impression of ourselves is in line with the impression that others have of us.
Take Action Tip: Get feedback from at least five people on your personal brand. This will give you the valuable insight needed to make corrections, identify and close any gaps and ensure you are being consistent in everything you say and do. For more information, read The Keys to Self Awareness: Part I from my blog.

Communicating my accomplishments came in at 27%. Not surprisingly most people struggle here. Respondents weren’t comfortable promoting their achievements. It feels like bragging and most felt like the work should speak for itself. Unfortunately it’s not enough to do a good job. We need to promote ourselves so others know where we add value.
Take Action Tip: Work on your elevator speech; a short phrase that will help you communicate your value. This is something you can use in phone calls, meetings and even in emails. For more information, read Tell Me About Yourself: Developing Your Elevator Speech from my blog.

Controlling frustration and impatience came in at 8%. While this challenge scored the lowest in the poll, it’s critical to ensure your brand is consistent. Frustration or impatience are behaviors that typically derail people and can impact the perception others have of your brand.
Take Action Tip: Conduct a SWOT, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Strengths analysis on yourself. For more information, read The Key to Self-Awareness: Part II from my blog.

Letting those know you want to be promoted came in at 13%. We think it’s bad form to ask for a promotion. However one of the key areas I’m asked to coach employees on is how to ask for what they want based on what they want to do next. A client of mine was disappointed when she was overlooked for a promotion. With encouragement she approached her boss. He stated “I didn’t know you were interested in the role, I thought you were happy doing what you are doing.” After having this conversation; she and her boss were able to develop a plan detailing her next steps with an approach on how to get there.
Take Action Tip: Put together a career plan and review with your boss, mentor and corporate champion. Consider the following: Where do you see yourself in 18 months, 3 years and 5 years? If you’re not sure, this is precisely the reason why you need to talk with your boss or others you trust in the organization and explore these options. Questions to consider include; what do I ultimately want to do? What skills are needed to get there? What obstacles stand in the way of me being successful? For further information, read It Takes Focus to Get to Where You Want to Go Next from my blog.

Now that we know where you struggle, here are some questions to ask yourself as you work toward defining your personal brand.

Sage Alliance, a Leadership Performance Company, provides coaching, teambuilding and assessments, workshops and speaking on topics including; leadership development, empowering teams, communications, lasting impressions, personal branding and building a coaching culture for executives and high-potentials – for both team and individual leaders.

Contact us today to discover how your organization can get the most through improved productivity, efficiency and direct impact to your bottom line, while leaders gain powerful insight, crystallize opportunities for growth and fine tune their strengths, enabling them to make the greatest impact. You can contact Shelley Hammell directly at shammell@thesagealliance.com.