21 Ways Your Personal Brand Drives Your Executive Career

You’ve done your personal brand work.

That means you’ve clearly defined what makes you “you”.

You’ve incorporated the following personal marketing imperatives into your job search and career toolkit:

Your vision and purpose
Your values and passions
The top personal attributes you rely on
Your top motivated skills (the ones you love doing and excel at doing)
Your SWOT Analysis (Strengths – Weaknesses – Opportunities – Threats)
How you’re uniquely qualified to meet the needs of your target employers (if job hunting) or current employer
What differentiates your promise of value to your target employers over your peers

You know who you are, what you’re capable of, and the value you offer in the marketplace.

As a result, you’re ready for job search when it comes.

Additionally, you rely on your brand once you’re in that next gig.

11 Ways Your Personal Brand Helps You Land That Executive Job

1. Reconnects you with your values and passions so that you can move toward the kind of work you love doing.

2. Empowers you to gain clarity about your authentic self. You understand the combination of personal qualities and qualifications that differentiate you over your competition in the job market.

3. Forces you to be introspective and reflective, and to examine the weaknesses that may be holding you back.

4. Helps you identify your competition and target audience. Consequently, you can create differentiating personal marketing communications designed to resonate with them.

5. Encourages you to solicit feedback from those who know your value best (peers, management, staff, employees, clients, mentors, etc.). This helps you understand the true measure of your brand — how you’re perceived by the external world.

Knowing your personal brand helps you write your resume, LinkedIn profile, bio, etc.

6. Makes your personal marketing documents (resume, bio, LinkedIn profile, etc) a more interesting and powerful read. Conversely, traditional executive resumes and LinkedIn profiles are typically anemic and rather dull. Communicating your brand on paper or web page casts a richer and deeper impression of who you are. In other words, understanding your personal brand compels people to want to meet you.

7. Helps you take control of your real-life and online identity, and the way you’re perceived by others.

8. Generates chemistry for you when you’re networking. It helps hiring decision makers assessing you more readily determine whether you are the good-fit candidate they’re looking for.

9. Empowers your interviewing finesse. You’re pumped by what differentiates you from the others being interviewed. You understand the unique value you bring, and how you’ll best add value at that company.

10. Your strategic brand communications plan helps you position your value proposition directly in front of the right people. Express your personal brand clearly, consistently and constantly across all channels. Stay top-of-mind with people who can help you reach your career goals.

11. Helps you establish yourself as an industry subject matter expert and thought leader within your area(s) of expertise.

10 Ways Your Personal Brand Helps You Throughout Your Executive Career

Once you land that good-fit job, your executive brand is like career management insurance. You draw on your brand and what you know about yourself.

12. Helps you ease into the new job more seamlessly because you were hired based on the authentic “you”. It’s understood that you will fit in with management and your team.

13. Helps you know your limitations, so that you lead with your strengths instead, as you progress through your career.

14. Precedes you and reinforces your reputation. Your brand can be the deciding factor in advancing your career to the next level, and matching you with good-fit opportunities.

15. Establishes you as the “go-to” person for your areas of expertise. People know they can always rely on you for certain things.

For the long term, knowing your brand and consistently communicating it:

16. Empowers you daily, as you deal with people and go about your work day, with that same brand “chemistry” that defines the way you operate.

17. Boosts your confidence. Understanding your value and what you’re capable of delivering leads you to embrace business opportunities that will positively impact your company’s profitability, growth and reputation.

18. Compels you to use your strengths to help your teams achieve their own career goals and benefit the company.

19. Guides you to make the right career decisions for you, and the right business decisions for your company.

20. Keeps you top-of-mind with key decision makers when they need to select the best people to lead future projects and initiatives.

21. As your brand reputation gains traction and visibility, more people with good-fit opportunities will naturally be drawn to you. Therefore, you’re more assured of career advancement and fulfillment.

Keep in mind that your brand may need tweaking, as your career progresses and responsibilities shift. However, your core brand attributes will probably remain the same.

photo by cogdogblog