Basically, it is our essence, which reflects our way of being, communicating, acting, working and relating to others.
Surely many of you have heard of personal branding and consider that it is limited to experts in a field who speak at events, forums, trade fairs, decision-makers, such as senior managers. But they are not the only ones who have it, but any person or professional.
From the moment we wake up and act in a certain way, to the way we dress, our gestures, our greetings to people, the way we communicate with our colleagues in management, with colleagues in other areas, with partners, partners, customers, and outside the professional sphere: with friends, family and acquaintances.
Every image, just like a product or service, evolves, just as a company brand can change its logo, its website or its services.
On the other hand, we also change over time as a result of our professional and personal experiences. Throughout our lives, we will have to face new challenges, which, if we consider them as challenges and opportunities, we will always do much better than if we take them with fear and insecurity. Any change is a good opportunity to improve, and our personal brand can change for the better, and that depends on ourselves.
How others see us
Have you ever wondered how your colleagues see you, and does it match what you really want to convey? Often if you work in a specific area, e.g. marketing, most people in your company will ‘label’ you as ‘the marketing guy’. The same happens to some actors, who can become ‘pigeon-holed’. In some cases, this can even turn out to be positive, as you will specialise, and you will be considered, over the years, an expert, as you have experience and knowledge in your area.
But also, changing departments can give you new opportunities for professional development and mean developing your knowledge to be able to use your ‘soft skills’ in different areas of the company. Nobody is ‘born an engineer’ or ‘born a communicator’, but although there have clearly been two trends for decades, either you specialise or you diversify, I think the trend is increasingly for engineers and computer scientists to learn and improve in the field of communication. Communication professionals, for example, must learn through training and experience in the technical fields.
Have you ever spoken or exchanged messages, emails, meetings or team conversations with colleagues you don’t know yet, and then you’ve met up with them, how did it go?
I have been part of the LinkedIn community for more than 14 years and in the last five years I have been able to get to know many people in my network, as well as colleagues from other areas of Telefónica, and I think it has been a success, because I have been able to see that what people thought of me virtually, is still true in real life. As a result, I believe that my brand image is consistent, I am in person authentic, direct, sincere and conversational, just as I am on the platform.
Don’t miss the opportunity to meet people with whom to exchange ideas and opinions; because it is a high learning value, and knowing what they think of you, can make you improve and create your expected personal brand image.
