Let’s start with, what is a personal brand? Your personal brand is made up of three key elements: your skills, the values you represent, and the impression you leave on others.

Building a personal brand is less about self-promotion and more about authentically communicating your unique value; creating a compelling narrative that not only differentiates you but also attracts opportunities aligned with your true self.

But why is having a personal brand important?

Any successful company has great branding right? So should you!

And having a compelling, well-developed personal brand is especially important for:

• Applying for jobs

  • Imagine having recruiters reaching out to you to apply for jobs rather than applying to jobs with hundreds of others to just receive the dreaded automated email that you didn’t get the job. A well communicated branding in your resume and linkedin profile will help recruiters find you for the right opportunities!

• Performing interviews

  • Imagine communicating confidently during interviews by providing answers that underpin your skills, values, and impressions. Having a great personal brand will help you SHINE during the interview.

• Changing or expanding your career

  • Imagine you receive invitations to exclusive events or membership with organizations that align with your personal brand which leads to a new job opportunity. Having your personal brand resonate in your linkedin profile will help people find you!

Another way I like to explain a personal brand is what you want others to experience before you walk into the room, while you’re in the room and after you walk out of the room.

But how do you build your personal brand?

First let’s talk about the first key element: Your Skills

These are the skills you are already known for in your circle but also what you WANT to be known for.

For example, here is mine.

• Speaker

  • I had spoken at smaller events within work or the small ServiceNow South Florida community but I wanted to speak more and extend my abilities to a bigger stage.

• Mentor

  • I have been a mentor a few times at work and again through a local IT Women organization but I wanted to mentor more broadly and give back and help others coming into the technology field.

• ITIL, Agile Development & ServiceNow Expert

  • These are Technical Skills that I am known for and want to continue to be known for as these are an expertise in the jobs I wanted to work.

And keep it simple, try to stick to only 3 for each key element. You may have many skills but what are the 3 you truly WANT to be known for?

The next key element: Your values

These are the values you currently represent and what you WANT to be known for.

Here are mine:

• Family

  • We spoke about the importance of this one to me earlier.

• Advocacy

  • This correlates to my desire in speaking and mentoring others, to help the next generation but also advocating for anyone to pursue their dreams and not let anyone or anything hold them back. 

• Integrity

  • This is something I pride myself on and want to express my work and personal life. I demonstrate this in my leadership and mentorship as well by admitting when I’m wrong and apologizing when I make a mistake. Which I feel is super important when leading or coaching a team. 

Again try to stick to 3 main values.

Last but not least key element: Your impressions

Here are my impressions:

• Thought Leader

  • I want to give an impression as a thought leader in driving change and innovation within my organization and community.

• Value Creator

  • I love to think that I create value everywhere I go. I want people to have the impression that I am able to identify ways on how to make lemonade out of lemons and also present a positive attitude. 

• Collaborative

  • Along with this, I love to work within a team and collaborate with team members and other teams to accomplish big goals and deliver innovative solutions.

So all of this is the foundation of my personal brand. 

How do you identify your brand elements?

The best way to identify your skills, values, and the impressions you want to make when you walk into that room, is with self-reflection. 

• Talk a walk

• Sit in a park

• Have dinner alone

Take notes for each key element, simply by writing down words that represent your skills, values, and impressions you want to make. 

When I did this, I went to dinner by myself in a quiet restaurant. I brought along a notebook and pen, and literally wrote down words that came to my mind. I spent over 2 hours thinking about what I stand for and what I want to be known for in my life and career. I started to group them and prioritize them to know what was the most important to me. And it wasn’t just one time I did this self-reflection 3 times on different occasions until I felt I had the right elements.

If you have built your personal brand already I feel it is good to revisit every couple of years as our skills, values, and impressions we want to make evolve as we grow. 

And once you have your personal brand elements, review them with your mentors and get feedback. This will help confirm your brand messaging is on point.

After that, you should update your resume and LinkedIn profile to reflect your personal brand. This will help to get you Noticed by the right people.

Do you want to get noticed by the right people? Yes, of course!

In my next post I'll cover how to incorporate your brand into your LinkedIn profile so that you get noticed by the right people!

Here is a clip from my keynote speech on this topic:

With Love,

Shannon