Personal Branding - 5 Steps for Leaders

 Step 1 - Who Are You?

• Audit where you are now and define your ambition - where do you want to be 2-4 years’ time?
• If you know your life mission or purpose, align your ambition to this. If you don't know, check out our video to discover what it is.
• What does your LinkedIn profile say about you? This is your main personal marketing page.
• Your profile should highlight your core experience and it should support your next step, your ambition.
• Most importantly, it should call out the results you deliver - this is the main chunk, remember, companies are looking for results, not a good story about your life

Step 2 - Become the Expert in that Topic

• Write relevant articles and blogs to share your point of view. You will be judged by these so make sure they are top quality. It’s self-defeating to be associated with poorly written articles. Think quality instead of quantity.
• Give talks and presentations on your subject matter expertise.
• Really important: get training to make sure your presentation and public speaking skills are top notch, otherwise it will reflect poorly on your image.
• Frequently send friends, colleagues and contacts the latest articles, nuggets of wisdom or trends in your area of expertise. After 12 times, they will begin to associate you with that topic and knowledge and you will likely be the first person they will approach for a solution.

Step 3 – Networking Tips

• Go out and get known. Volunteer to host and attend events.
• At networking events, go with the mind-set of making new friends. If you are shy, go with a friend, then set a target to talk to xx numbers together. Afterwards, debrief and learn from what went well and how to do it better next time.
• Create a persona or recall someone you wish to emulate as a great networker - then put yourself in that role and take action.
• Do not judge people by that they do now. You don’t know where their next role will take them, or indeed who they know!
• Confidence + interest+ active listing = great social skills
• Treat everyone as a long lost friend, a genuine smile will easily follow.
• Create strong connection by looking them in the eyes, and ask get curious about who they are and what they do.
• Share your business card later rather than sooner – establish a rapport first.

 Step 4 - Consistency is Key

• We live in a world where the degrees of separations are shrinking, new technology allows us to connect and stay in touch with people from all 4 corners of the world.
• People will talk about you – consider how do you wish to be known? Friendly? Approachable? Smart? Go-getter? Or a snob? Arrogant? A pain…? 
• Match your actions, your words, your interactions with who you wish to ‘be’, how you wish to be remembered.
• Ask for feedback – do a mini 360 feedback on yourself with your friends, your peers, colleagues, boss etc. Do what they say about you match how you wish to be regarded?

Step 5 - Leadership Development Tips

• Create your own leadership personal development plan.
• Instead of watching TV or playing games on the mobile phone, expand your knowledge and experience.
• Look online or try www.coursera.org from free lectures.
• Find mentors and role models. Talk to them to broaden your perspective.

Lastly, do not be limited by what others say you are able to achieve.

You can BE, DO and HAVE anything you set your heart to :)

Drop us a line if you want help with executive or career coachong, and we can help you fast-tack.