George FreemanThought Leader | Author | Architect| Florida, United States
Should creating a personal brand in your practice be a focus? If so, when should a PM start the branding process - is it truly a focused effort or just a byproduct of doing quality work? What is your brand and what is your opinion? Saving Changes...
Carl ParadzaiMechanical Engineer (Projects)| Lafarge Cement ZimbabweBulawayo, Zimbabwe
I strongly agree with Aaron regarding building a personal brand.
A PM's brand should be a conscious effort as it will be a differentiator in being awarded a tender. Brands like coca cola still exist because of an effort and this effort is conscious and is in the quality.
So simply put it should be a focused effort. Saving Changes...
Karthik RamamurthyAuthor, Say YES to Project Success| Founder KeyResultzChennai, Tamilnadu, Tamilnadu, India
Great question, George, especially in today's times where "Personal Branding" is a hot topic, with several consultants promising to improve your personal brand overnight!
However, as Kiron, Keith, and others have pointed out, your persona should be built over time as result of strong ethical and inspirational leadership which delivers tangible results.
Open communication, integrity, fairness, respect for the team, servant leadership: These are factors which, when put into practice, will help you build a strong personal brand!
Do keep contributing for the benefit of our vibrant community here! Saving Changes...
George FreemanThought Leader | Author | Architect| Florida, United States
Aug 07, 2019 9:36 AM
Replying to Thomas Walenta
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I see your brand as the image how others see you.
First, you should be aware of it, as a matter of emotion intelligence, having not too many blind spots and if there are stitches be able to identify and smooth them out. If you know yourself, you are more self-confident, more authentic and trustworthy.
Second, you might want to consciously build your outer image for a purpose (compete, become a better person, be attractive). Actors are taught how to do this in a role. As you are here on the platform, you build your outer image in your social media profiles. Even by omitting something, you tell something - so you have a smirky photo, typos in your description, do not reply to requests? The best networkers are building their brand.
Professionals have agents who are helping with building their brands. Brands are not to neglect, not something that evolves somehow but integral parts of your identity. Like you care about your body hygiene, you should invest in your brand.
Thomas, that was elegantly stated! I especially liked your statement: “your brand is an integral part of your identity… like you care about your hygiene”. In other words, it should become part of our second nature.
I agree that we shouldn’t put brand ahead of substance (as Kiron stated), but if we take Thomas’s advice, our brand and our personal identity become one, thus reducing the risk of our brand becoming out of balance with our environment. Saving Changes...
Greg GithensAuthor, "How to Think Strategically." Executive & Leadership Coach| Catalyst & Cadre LLCLakewood Ranch, Fl, United States
Personal brand is not a byproduct of quality of your work. A personal brand is distinct from reputation. A reputation is assigned to you by others. Your reputation can be good or bad.
Thus, a personal brand is a product of your focus on the future and and your potential to deliver value in a dynamically changing world. A personal brand is a set of implied promises about the value you deliver to others. A good brand is 1.) a set of promises of performance, 2.) communication of those promises, and 3.) delivery to the promises.
I work with many PMs on personal brands: they see the value but sometimes struggle with the messaging, often because they don't really know what they want to achieve in their career.
I worked recently with someone who wanted to escape technology projects. She needed to think long and deep about her personal brand in order to let other know about her aspirations and her qualifications.
A brand reflects your thought leadership; it is not a matter of fluff. Saving Changes...
Personal branding is important because there's likely a "next job" in your future. It's much easier to get a great opportunity when you have a positive brand in the local market - or even within your organization. It also is something that requires some time investment to develop and maintain. I consider it a risk mitigation strategy to help ensure continued employment.
I completely agree with the many others who point out that your brand needs to be based on the substance and quality of your work. Saving Changes...
I created a "personal brand" when it was the cool new thing in job searches. I can't tell you if it had any impact on my job searches except for one thing. When being introduced, I hand out my business card. About half of the time, the other person comments on my brand and sometimes we discuss why I chose it. Beyond that, I can't determine if a "personal brand" has any real value. Saving Changes...
