Brand You, Brand New (eBook)

A Step-by-Step Guide to Take Your Career to the Next Level

Joanne Toth Flynn, Elyse Flynn Meyer (Autoren)

eBook Download: EPUB

2022 | 1. Auflage
110 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-6678-2520-5 (ISBN)

Do you feel like you are in career limbo, not moving forward as quickly or in the direction you would like? Today, you are not alone. This concern has become a constant theme with people when they talk about their careers. So why is this happening, and what can you do to fix it?Today's world is in a constant state of change. Knowledge and skills are deteriorating faster than ever before. Responsibility for employability, which is your ability to be employable, has shifted from the employer to the employee. That organizational shift has put you on a collision course with your career and your employer. Therefore, it's time for you to consider the following questions:1. Do you want to manage your career and take it to the next levelon your own terms?2. Do you feel like someone else is in control of your career?3. Do you need effective tools to help you manage your careerdevelopment?Individuals in the workforce, both new and seasoned professionals, are realizing the critical importance of managing their own careers to achieve their vision of success. In the past, personal career management was often handled by your company. But the question you must ask is, can you still rely on that old paradigm when it comes to your career and your life? Today, the answer to that question is that you cannot rely on the old paradigm. Why should you give the power and control of your career to someone else? It's time to take your career journey into your own hands. In today's dynamic world of work, the current reality is: we switch jobs more frequently; bosses change more frequently; jobs shift and change more frequently, and knowledge and skills change more frequently. For these reasons, it's time for us to challenge and change the old constructs of career management. Today, the role and responsibility for career management needs to shift to you, the ultimate creator and manager of your own career and personal development. In this book, we will take you through the necessary steps to proactively manage your career, your brand, and your personal development to help put you in the ultimate control seat. Starting with Brand YOU, we will help you establish where you are in your current career journey and what differentiates you in the marketplace. Then, we will take you through a Career Gap Analysis focusing on the following four questions:1. Do you have a career strategy, and is it as robust as it should be?2. How can you leverage your strengths and weaknesses to take yourcareer to the next level?3. How do you compare and stand out from your competitioninternally?4. How can you compare yourself relative to the competitive jobsmarketplace?This Career Gap Analysis will help you define your journey to personal success. Then, the empowerment tools discussed in the book will help you plan your personal path to successful career management. Your career management plan will unfold through narratives, checklists, tools, leadership assessments, personality and decision-making profiling, and communication styles that will help you understand how you can best manage your career and best interests. We are excited to have you join us on this personal journey to your own career transformation.

CHAPTER 1

Brand YOU, Brand Who?

Have you ever thought about why people may not always see you the same way you see yourself? Have you ever felt taken for granted in your organization? Have you ever considered what was wrong with your career trajectory? You are not alone, and this is not specific to any gender or race. Many people are asking the same questions. These questions are most often identified in the workplace environment, but these issues apply to all the other situations and organizations, from family to volunteer groups, and many others. While this book mainly focuses on the work environment, be assured you can also apply this information to many other organizations or situations in which you are involved.

Why Do These Perception Gaps Occur?

If you lived and worked in isolation, there would be no issues. However, the minute you step into any kind of organization, you are interacting with, competing with, and are seen relative to other people. You are now operating in a comparable, competitive environment. Understanding how your persona is viewed through the lens of other people is now critical to your personal success. Managing your persona is your responsibility. The persona you display becomes your brand that people perceive and react to relative to how they view your brand. Therefore, whether you have focused on your personal brand or not, your brand exists and is out there for the world to see. To manage your Brand Value, you need to step outside yourself and see Brand YOU through the lens of other people. But first you need to fully understand the business and personal concept of a brand.

What Is A Brand?

A brand can be anything: a symbol, design, name, sound, reputation, emotion, or tone that separates one thing from another. Branding, from a business perspective, is commonly discussed. However, branding on a personal level is becoming equally important, especially for Brand YOU. The term, Brand Management, has always been synonymous with companies. Companies have brands that have been cultivated over time. People associate different attributes, thoughts, and feelings with a company because of its brand. Cultivating and nurturing your brand is your brand management responsibility. Just as a person identifies with a company because of its brand, the same applies to how people engage with individuals.

Yes, You Do Have A Brand

A brand is not something you decide if you want to have. However, you can decide if you want to maintain your brand on your terms, or let it be defined for you. Remember, your personal brand is how you appear to the world, and it’s up to you to define and manage your brand just like you would manage your company’s brand. Let’s review the basics of what a brand is and why you need a personal brand to be successful in today’s business environment.

Why Do You Need To Maintain A Personal Brand?

Building a recognizable Brand YOU opens up professional opportunities, both at your current organization and when future opportunities arise. Building a brand also helps you create a vision for your future. Think of where your brand may be now and where you see it going as your career progresses. Doing this now can lead to more job opportunities, better contacts and clients for you and your company, enhanced industry recognition, and more. Now that we’ve reviewed why branding is so important, let’s discuss how to build your personal brand, how to maintain your brand, and, most importantly, how to leverage and elevate your brand throughout your career.

Brand YOU: The Starting Point

Like companies, people also have their own brands, but don’t often think of themselves as a “brand”. It’s time to change that paradigm and start to continuously cultivate your personal brand on your terms. It’s never too late to start. Why? Because your brand will be identified with you throughout your life and your career. Now is the time to put yourself in control of Brand YOU.

How do you get started? Think of yourself the way a company thinks of its brand. Just as a company strategizes and markets its brand into the marketplace, you need to do that, as well. You may not have thought about yourself in that way. Whether you have actively created your brand, or passively allowed others to create your brand for you, who you are in the marketplace is a reflection of your experience, education, qualifications, and personality.

Who Is Brand YOU Today?

Today is your starting point, or your baseline. You will start by taking an objective and very honest look at yourself through the lens of your marketplace, situation, and environment. Here are four guiding questions to consider as you start this process:

1 What does your brand say about you?

2 What doesn’t your brand say about you?

3 If you were an outsider looking at you, how would your brand story come across?

4 How do you compare with others in your peer group (your competitors)?

We will be revisiting these four questions throughout this book since they are the key drivers in your journey to create Brand YOU, Brand NEW. You need to think of your brand as it exists relative to others and how they see and evaluate you. Your brand doesn’t exist in isolation or within your company. Your true brand is evaluated by the way your brand behaves in your competitive marketplace relative to other people. It is critical to start thinking about what people in your organization say about you when they describe you. If you don’t know, begin to seek out this information.

Exercise: Brand YOU Descriptors

Here is a list of common phrases that are often used to describe people in organizations. How might these statements apply to you? Check off the appropriate column next to each word or phrase.

Descriptor

Agree

Disagree

Team Player

Manages Change

Accountable

Consistent

Goes Above & Beyond

Positive Outlook

Displays Leadership

What Is Branding & What Does It Have To Do With You? Everything!

Now it’s time to start with an honest appraisal of your current brand. Don’t worry about making it look good. This is for your eyes only and is the first step in identifying your starting point to Brand YOU, Brand NEW.

Exercise: The Brand YOU Self Assessment

Compile a list of how you would describe yourself in different scenarios. Take nothing for granted and don’t over edit your responses. Consider this process your personal brand brainstorming. Now, let’s take the previous list of descriptors and see how those descriptors and others apply to your different scenarios.

Descriptors in your work environment:

1 _______________________________________________________________

2 _______________________________________________________________

3 _______________________________________________________________

Descriptors in your social environment:

1 _______________________________________________________________

2 _______________________________________________________________

3 _______________________________________________________________

Descriptors in your professional network:

1 _______________________________________________________________

2 _______________________________________________________________

3 _______________________________________________________________

Other’s Assessment

Now give the list you just created to others with whom you interact in these three scenarios and ask for their assessment of Brand YOU from their perspective. Remember to stress honest feedback.

Your Past Brand Attributes

Often, your past brand has taken you to this current point in your career, but it is not uncommon for personal brands to stagnate or freeze in ‘career permafrost’. That’s how we reach plateaus where our careers stagnate, take an unwanted detour, or end up on the exit ramp or career cliff. This often happens through career neglect or by allowing others to choose your path for you. Often, if your past brand doesn’t align with your personal aspirations, your formerly-successful brand won’t take you to the next level. Just like a corporate brand, your personal brand needs to be continually reevaluated, refreshed, and cultivated to stay relevant and robust.

Brand Attributes: Your Brand Resume

The foundation of your personal brand is based on the choices you have made and experiences you have had up until this point. Whether you like your choices or not, they are your baseline and the foundation that you need to build upon. Now is not the time to regret past choices. Instead, now is the time to positively manage your future...

Erscheint lt. Verlag	11.1.2022
Sprache	englisch
Themenwelt	Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Beruf / Finanzen / Recht / Wirtschaft ► Bewerbung / Karriere
ISBN-10	1-6678-2520-8 / 1667825208
ISBN-13	978-1-6678-2520-5 / 9781667825205

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