How to build your
PERS ONAL brand
This
book
belongs to
Published in 2022 Copyright © book design by Ishika Pola Original text by PWC All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any forms by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Printed in India
What’s your brand? Personal branding is the practice of marketing people and their careers as brands. It is an ongoing process of developing and maintaining a reputation and impression of an individual, group, or organization. Each interaction you have with others has the opportunity to create a memorable experience, teaching them what they can expect from you. When you’re consistent in delivering those experiences, you build a strong reputation. Delivering your brand clearly and consistently across a wide audience helps open doors to opportunities. Your brand becomes your personal calling card - a unique promise of value; a distinct and authentic representation of you. In building your personal brand, you will define your individuality, maximize your strengths and manage your choices now to create future opportunities.
Good luck and enjoy the journey!
01
02
Page 1
Page 11
Define your X factor Unleash your skill Conquer your weakeness
Explain your X factor The North Star Build your Brand
03
04
Page 23
Page 30
Defeat your X factor Professional Practise Boost your interview
Ready, Set, Show! Personal Branding Notes
Define your
X
Factor
1
Unleash your
SKILL People with strong brands are clear about who they are. They know and maximize their strengths. Here, we give you the opportunity to uncover and define your skills and strengths. You’ll be using a three-step process :
→ Document → Distil → Validate Page 3
Document To help guide you through this exercise, fill in the given space below to answer the following questions : 01. What are the strengths that others acknowledge in you ? 02. When working on a team, what roles do you seek to fulfil ?
03. What are your ‘go to’ skills to overcome an obstacle ? 04. What was the important role you have ever fulfilled ?
Page 4
Distil To deeper your introspection, answer the questions below :
01. What strengths and skills came up over and over again ? 02. Which are your motivating skills - skills that excite you ?
03. Which are your burnout skills - skills that you don’t use often ? 04. Which strengths are going to help achieve your career goals ?
Page 5
What are the top skills and strenghts that represents
YOU
?? Page 6
Validate The exercises so far has been focused on your own perceptions. It’s time to now validate what you documented about yourself. Do others experience your super skills? Would they agree with your assessment? You have a couple of options for completing this part of the process:
Option 01 : Post the following to your social media feed : As part of the personal brand experience, I completed an exercise to help me unearth my strengths. I came up with ‘Strength 1, Strength 2, etc’. What do you think are my greatest strengths?
Page 7
Option 02 : Ask your friends, professors, and others in your brand community (unprompted) what they think sets you apart from others, then compare their responses to your self-assessment. You could do this in person or via email or social media, whichever you think may give you the most honest responses to help you complete your profile. You can also consider setting up a free anonymous survey using tools like the Survey Monkey.
CONQUER your weakness
Stress can leave you depleted, weaken your immune system, affect your sleep and drain your adrenals while impacting every facet of your life, your relationships and your success. It is the body’s response to a threat or demand causing a negative impact on your personal brand. One way to help manage your stress is to be clear about the who, what, when, where, why and how of your stress. Once you have figured out some of your stress triggers, you can implement stress-management techniques designed to best address your specific stressors and symptoms. Page 8
Document Some stressors are on-going, chronic and may be predictable. Others are unexpected, potentially life-changing, and often out of your control. Even when you’re the person who controls the decision that leads to stress, it may be no less stressful. But with warning, you have some choices about how to react. Reflect and note down the key changes you have experienced in the last 12 months of your life. Changes in your control
Page 9
Changes out of your control
Distil What are your stress triggers that are likely to show up repeatedly in your life? Often these are the things within your control, or at the very least, under your influence. Sometimes these are things that fall short of your expectations for yourself and others and sometimes they are violations of your values. Paying close attention to what causes stress will be the first step down the yellow brick road to finding the cure. Things that cause you stress
Things that calm you down
Page 10
Explain your
Y
Factor
2
Understanding your Y factor is pivotal to designing a career plan that connects with your values, passions and purpose. When living in alignment with your values and integrating your passions into what you do, you are excited, engaged and totally unstoppable.
Let’s start your opportunity engine to allow you to align who you are with what you do and how you do it. The following activities will help you to truly differentiate yourself from others because you’ll be super charged with your unique promise of value. It’s time to focus on your values, passions and clarify your purpose. This will help you develop your own internal road map that points your decision-making in the right direction. Page 13
What’s your
NORTH STAR ? Your values are like your personal compass. They provide direction for your choices and behaviours. In this three-step exercise, you’ll work towards building your values in the following ways :
→ Identifying → Defining → Aligning Page 14
Step 1 Identify your top five values 01. Go through the list of values below on and eliminate words that don’t resonate with you. 02. Go through the list again and place a check mark next to the values that are important to you. 03. Go through the short list of values you checked and from that list, pick your top five values.
04. Now identitfy and rank your top five values
Brand Value List Page 15
→
Page 16
Step 2 Define your top five values The words you selected are important because they mean something specific to you. It’s important to be clear about exactly what these words mean to you, as sometimes people have different interpretations of the same word. For example, two people may have selected flexibility. To one, flexibility means the ability to be nimble in work style on a day-to-day basis; to another, flexibility means the interest in adding value to different types of organizations or working on different types of projects. Since the words you chose resonate with you, you likely have a strong association with a way of describing them that is both personal and powerful to you.
Rank and Define Page 17
→
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 Page 18
BUILD your
BRAND
Make an Impact !
Giving back is an outward expression of your values and purpose and an opportunity to demonstrate your super skills. Giving back is good for society, it’s empowering and inspiring for you and those you will influence and it’s an important part of successful branding! In this exercise, you’ll identify the philanthropic options that will be most meaningful to you. Page 20
Document Clarifying your unique strengths, values, passions and purpose gives you great direction and criteria for what to say “yes” to and what to say “no” to when faced with the many opportunities you will encounter over a lifetime. Let the work you have done to this point in your branding journey be a guide to choosing how you will use your time. I want to use this giving back opportunity to : … Showcase a strength … Develop a new skill … Align with my values … Employ my passions … Fulfil my purpose
Distil Use the questions on the next page to define and help you find a cause that’s right for you. Page 21
→
Page 22
Defeat your
Z
Factor
3
Be a
Keeper,
Not a Sleeper
Personal branding is about standing out while being yourself your best self. You need to step up to stand out. Let’s investigate the ways to help you be a keeper. Page 25
Professional Presence How will you tell your story? What impact will your presence make before you even say a word? How will you make sure that you’re memorable? How will you remain yourself while putting your best foot forward? How will you prepare to pursue the opportunities that align with your road map? What will you do to create a network that will open those doors to allow you to powerfully introduce yourself and stand out during an interview? Telling your story goes beyond what you say. What you do says a lot about you as well. Remember, first impressions last. Don’t let something as small as body language block all your roads before you’ve even said a word. Page 26
Document Let’s assess where you are right now. Go through the set of cards given in the envelope & choose your response. There is no right or wrong answer.
Page 27
Boost your interview
Successful interviewing is built on effective storytelling. You must clearly express your story so that the interviewer can experience the essence of who you are and remember your exceptional promise of value. When you tell your story, reveal your strengths, values, passions in a way that keeps your interviewer’s interest. Storytelling is one of the most powerful ways to engage others and help them remember what you have told them. Page 28
Distil It is likely that in every interview you will be asked two kinds of questions : fact-based and behaviour-based. It’s important to be articulate and convey to the interviewer that you have been introspective and have adequately prepared for it. 01. Why have you chosen to interview with us ? Explain. 02. What is a typical week for you? What are your hobbies ?
03. What are your ‘go to’ skills to overcome an obstacle ? 04. Describe a time when you you failed your expectations ?
Page 29
Validate Tip 01 : First impression Your interview starts when you walk in the door. Don’t let little things like attire or body language sink your ship before you even open your mouth.
Tip 02 : Storytelling works Don’t regurgitate facts that are on your resume. Use the powerof personal stories to convey the essence of who you are and what’s important to you. It’s easier to be enthusiastic when you’re telling a story versus just restating facts.
Tip 03 : End with impact Make sure you’re authentic and memorable. Try to be yourself. Page 30
Ready, set ,
SHOW !
4
Personal Branding is not a one-time event
Just like you, your personal brand is ever evolving. The process you have used to document, distil and validate your personal brand is one that you can repeat as many times as you would like over a lifetime. It is a proven process to help you make great choices at every juncture in your life. The questions answered in this process are of paramount importance, whether you are attending college, making key career or life decisions. These questions will enable you to fulfil a life filled with engagement and enthusiasm derived from living in alignment with values, passions, strengths and skills that fulfil your purpose. Page 33
Notes
Page 34
Notes
Page 35
How to build a Personal Brand is an interactive workbook for students, designers and professional practitioners who are enthusiastic about building their own identity and finding a way to present themselves in a unique way. The reader is exposed to three different steps filled with brainstorming, questions and activities to understand the process of personal branding. This book further guides user to reflect on themselves in various ways while also guiding them in building a unique identity. Other important factors of the topic have also been touched upon in this booklet so the reader has more clarity
About the Designer Ishika Pola is currently studying at Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology majoring in Visual Communication and Branding. She is a designer and an illustrator who also loves singing.