Is Your Personal Brand Working?
"Your brand is what people say about you when you're not in the room." Jeff Bezos - Founder, Amazon
I used to work with a guy, let's call him Sam, who was a caricature of a super-slick, have-an-answer-for-every-objection, "ABC - Always Be Closing" sales guy. Maybe it was his slicked-back hair, his ever present pocket-square, or his overuse of, "But, wait! There's more!" catch phrases, but something about Sam made everyone question his sincerity.
I remember one incident in particular: Sam made a pitch to a room full of people. As Sam returned to his seat, a guy in front of me rolled his eyes and shared a laugh with his buddy about Mr. Slick. I don't know exactly what was said, but clearly they weren't buying anything Sam was selling.
Sam's personal brand was fake. What's worse, Sam had no clue his "schtick" wasn't working. He thought he was the greatest salesperson on earth.
Personal brands are funny that way; what you think of yourself is irrelevant. What matters most is what others think of you. The tired cliché is true: perception is more important than reality.
Think about it this way: if you view yourself as flexible and a "team player," but others think of you as rigid and self-serving, which perspective wins? If you characterize your style as "fun" and "open," but others see you as boisterous and prone to over-sharing, won't that impact whether or not they want to work with you? Sure, you think you're a great speaker, but if others find you tedious or dull, will you be given the microphone again?
Where there's a disconnect between how you view yourself and how others view you, the other person's perspective prevails (sorry about the alliteration!).
So what can you do about it? The first, most essential, and difficult task is to develop a strong sense of self-awareness.
You have to know what your brand IS. Then you have to ask, is the message of your brand helping you reach your goals?
Asking these questions means being comfortable with direct feedback. It means letting go of the illusion of perfectionism in an effort to discover the brutal truth. You have to find the courage to make yourself aware of your blindspots and then relentlessly deal with them.
Almost any change you'll make will be a result of slow, plodding growth.
So whether it's asking for informal feedback or structuring a formal 360 degree review, ask the questions that stretch you past the point of being comfortable. That's the only way to grow a great brand!