Developing a personal brand is a "must" these days as you navigate your future.
A strong personal brand can be good for business, your career and your life. A poor personal brand can result in a reputation that makes you and your company taboo. To develop a personal brand, you need to identify how you want to be perceived and then work day and night to build that identity. However, far too many people tend to believe that a personal brand only exists in business meetings.
In today's digital world, your brand is not just a reflection of how you perform when people are around. If you actively engage in social media, your personal brand is engaging with you. Your brand is on display for the entire world to see anytime you're on Facebook, Linkedin or Twitter. Before I post anything online I always ask myself if there is anyone who might see the post that would cause me or someone else embarrassment. If the answer is "yes", then it won't go up.
Your brand is always on display offline as well. If you run into a business colleague at the supermarket on a Sunday afternoon, your brand is standing right beside you. Do you care if your colleague sees you unshaven in a ripped tee shirt and flip flops? Some people may, others may not. Only you can define the parameters of your personal brand.
However, your personal brand doesn't have an "off" switch that you can just flip when you leave the office. We're all constantly being judged and we're all constantly judging others, whether we'll openly admit or not.
Recently, I was invited to visit the home of a colleague who lives there with his wife and son. The wife uses the basement as an office for her business. My colleague apparently failed to communicate with his wife that I would be stopping by so she was very surprised when I was escorted into her office to say "hello". She graciously welcomed me, but was clearly a bit bothered by the unexpected visit. I felt bad as either she forgot I was coming or her husband forgot to tell her. They actually spoke about the misunderstanding in front of me which made me a little uncomfortable.
I'm sure one of the reasons the wife was troubled when she saw me was because her office was a mess! It was in complete disarray. I would never want to have a client or colleague in my office if it looked the way hers did. Boxes were everywhere, piles of paper on the floor, food on the desk, drawers and cabinets hanging open, clothes piled up in the corner. She was a bit disheveled since she probably had no meetings scheduled that day. She simply didn't have the polished look I was used to seeing. While I'm sure she had no intention of creating that scenario, I couldn't help but wonder if she ran her business that way. If she couldn't even keep her own office organized, how did she keep her client's needs and projects organized? I'm sure she was quite embarrassed.
While I understand that this was her home, which most of us rightly view as our personal sanctuary, it was also her place of business. And in business, you never know when something unexpected is going to occur, so you always have to plan for those occasions.
Though we aren't close, I have known this woman for several years so my impression of her wasn't dramatically altered. But what if it wasn't someone who knew her as long as I have that walked into the room that day? What if it was a prospective client? I'm sure that being incredibly sloppy and unorganized is not the impression she would have wanted to make.
My point is that one's personal brand is a reflection of who you are and how you are perceived whether you like it or not and whether you are prepared for it or not. You have to be "on" all the time. Now that doesn't mean you have to wear a business suit whenever you go out to the supermarket or that you can't show a little passion when watching your favorite sporting event. But it does mean that you need to recognize that others are passing judgment on you 24/7, not just between 9 and 5. Your personal brand is always under the microscope.Is there a bit of paranoia attached to maintaining a personal brand? Perhaps "paranoia" is too strong a word. But in a world where first impressions AND second impressions count, you have to remain vigilant in building and protecting your reputation. You never know when an opportunity may pass you by because you let your guard down for just a moment.
What's the old saying? "You can fool all of the people some of the time, and you can fool some of the people all of the time. But you can't fool all of the people all of the time."
