Newsletter - March 2009
Do I Have a Brand and Where Did It Come From?
March 12, 2009 - Karyl Innis
“Hard worker,” “rising star,” “wing man” and “expert” are all personal brands used recently to describe senior associate lawyers by their managing partner. OI Partners - The Innis Company had been hired to implement personal branding strategies for a group of “about to be” partners in a global law firm and these were the labels or brands initially used to describe some in this group.
Personal brands like “hard worker” or “wing man” may be accurate and even personally validating for the aspiring professional but do little to differentiate or position an experienced professional for advancement. In fact, some brands are limiting and hard to overcome. The hard worker and wing man didn’t make the cut for partner this year. The rising star and expert did.
I think of Aristotle as my personal brand thought leader. This is certainly a moniker he would be amazed to learn of, but it’s true. It is Aristotle who first said “we are what we repeatedly do,” and this is a great way to begin thinking about how one acquires their personal brand.
A personal brand develops when multiple people see us in a particular way. When we are clearly known for something or known in a specific way, people begin to use descriptive language to convey that vision of us to others. The “hard worker” brand is an example. The lawyer described above is a hard worker; yet, the “hard worker” brand isn’t a brand that differentiated her from other lawyers at her firm or from lawyers at other firms for that matter. All lawyers are expected to be hard working. If they aren’t, they are not likely candidates for a partner position anyway. The brand of hard worker was accurate but not differentiating and not robust enough to carry her toward her goal. She had a brand but it failed her and she failed to recognize that it was not robust enough to propel her toward her goal.
Here’s a way to start thinking about your own brand and its relevance to your career aspirations. Ask yourself:
- What is my brand?
- What is the collective opinion of those in my career network about me?
- What am I known for?
- What labels do people consistently use to describe me?
- What labels do I use to describe myself?
- What is the phrase that shows up repeatedly in my performance reviews?
- How am I introduced when people introduce me without a script from me?
- How often does the same wording or phrase show up?
It is the repetition of our own behaviors and the congruence of opinion about those behaviors that make a personal brand. You can shape this by choosing the language, the emphasis and focus of your personal brand statement. Borrowing from my friend Aristotle, I say “you are who people repeatedly think you are.”
Karyl Innis is an expert in helping executives around the world reinvent their brand in ways that accelerate their careers. Karyl owns OI Partners - The Innis Company (Dallas). She is a business leader, author and commentator with an eye for talent and the ability to accelerate growth to your senior leaders. You can reach Karyl at kinnis@inniscompany.com or kinnis@oipartners.net.