So if I were to ask you –  what’s your reputation at work? What would you say?

Actually better yet, what would your colleagues say about you?

Would they say that you are quiet? Would they say that you are opinionated? Reliable? Shy? Are you the data person that everyone can go to if they need help making sense of numbers?

Now the million dollar question!

Would that be an accurate picture of who you are?

If not, and if you sense the perception of you is off, or that you would like to create a better perception, then listen up!

The answer lies in building your personal brand.

Now you might be asking, Mak what in the world is personal branding? And why does this matter to me because I’m not a celebrity!?

Well, I can tell yah, it should matter to you because “personal branding is about establishing and then consistently reinforcing who you are and what you stand for in your career and in life.”  Joseph Liu

So if you want to be labeled correctly then you have to put in the work of building the reputation that you want to have.

It takes intentional effort but it’s worth it as it will open up doors you probably never even thought of!

In today’s episode of MakTV I’ll be sharing with you a little more around what personal branding is and you know me I’m a step by step type of girl. So I’ll be sharing with you 5 steps that you can take starting right now to start building the reputation you want to have at work.

Oh and there’s a personal branding workbook associated with the episode that will help you do this in a very intentional way so don’t miss out!

Would you prefer to read rather than watch? Not to worry! You can read the blog post below.

What is personal branding?

Alright so let’s just start off by clarifying that your personal brand is basically your reputation.

Each interaction that you have with other people is creating an experience and it is telling them a lot about who you are and what they can expect from you.

So it’s basically the perception or idea that people have of you.

As you can imagine this is really important because if people have the wrong perception of you then it might hold you back for growth opportunities or on the flip side – it could land you the wrong opportunity.

Now here’s the thing, personal branding is a lot like culture.

If you don’t think about creating it , it will exist by default rather than intentionally.

So you do have to do some work and think about it and then connect your actions to it.

Here are a few steps to help you build your personal brand.

Step 1 – Consider your key selling points

This is in other words what makes you stand out.

What are the things that make you – you?

I want you to think about what your strengths are. What are the skill sets that come really easily to you?

Maybe you are extremely creative, or maybe you’re able to take complex and distill it down into digestible bite sized chunks or maybe you’re very relational.

I know that sometimes, defining those skills might be hard so you can use personality quizzes to help you.

My team and I took once a standout assessment that I thought was amazing, it’s not free but it is spot on.

If you are looking for a more economical means, then you can always use 16 personalities that’s based off of Myers briggs.

Once you’ve figured out what your super strengths are – it’s time to do some pruning and pick your top 3-5.

Step 2 – Validate

You can do your validation by self reflection but I think it’s always best to get some help and seek out a friend who will be 100 with you on the topic and tell you straight.

The purpose of knowing your strengths is so that you can use your unique skills and talents in order to stand out.

People that have strong personal brands know who they are. And that clarity allows them to maximize their strengths.

Step 3 – Determine your values

Values are important because they serve as kinda like our north star.

Our values directly affect our choices and behaviours so it’s important for us to know what’s actually guiding our behaviours.

Your values allow you to differentiate yourself from others because you’ll be delivering or approaching what you do from a place of values which is different from those around you.

Now again you want to choose about 3-5 but I gotta tell you this is gonna be a little hard. Values are so noteworthy that we are instantly drawn to them.

But if you pay close attention, you’ll notice that there are certain ones that just hit you in a completely different way.

Another way of doing it if you are having some trouble narrowing it down is by considering the opposite.

I want you to do that work of thinking about what really feels like you.

Analyze the decisions you made in the past and why you made them like what were the feelings behind why you did what you did and that will really help you to figure out what those 3-5 values are that guides you on a daily basis.

Step 4 – Consider your current daily actions

The next step is to think about how you currently do what you do.

So for example, how comfortable are you at starting conversations with people you don’t know well?

How consistent are you at following up and delivering on your promises?

Do you give any attention to your professional appearance?

These self reflection questions are important to you figuring out how you are currently being received.

And if you notice that there’s anything that isn’t what you want it to be then make an aim for improvement.

Find an accountability partner that can check you on things.

For example, if you are the type of person that doesn’t make eye contact with people when you speak – then maybe your accountability partner can call you out on it.

Step 5 – Align your actions to your brand

The reason why we spent time defining your values, characteristics is so that you can be aware of what is in alignment and what is out of alignment so that you can make sure that your daily actions align with what you want to be known for.

Your actions speak louder than your words.

So for example, if you want to be known as the person that moves projects forward, then you have to actively seek out ways that you can help out on a project that might be behind in terms of the deadline and help them get to the end.
If you want to be someone that is dependable then your actions have to be that person that always follows through on their commitments.

If you want to be a thought leader then you have to do research, form an opinion and look for ways to voice that opinion.

Just thinking about it isn’t enough – you have to take consistent action.

The keyword here is consistency.

There you have it, five simple ways that you can use to start building your personal brand at work.

To help you out with these steps – I’ve created a workbook for you that you can use. It’s a free workbook that will walk you through the steps in order.

It will help you narrow down your strengths, values and wow factors through a series thought provoking questions and prompts.