How To Develop A Strong Personal Brand!

Facebook, Google and Apple all do it, so what about you? Dr Tanvi Gautam talks about cultivating a strong personal brand.

Sheryl Sandberg, charismatic COO of Facebook, made the news in June for her penchant for wearing stilettos, usually in a fiery shade of red.

The big question then was why she was conforming to stereotypes of female power dressing to make her mark, particularly when her CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been doing fine in T-shirts and jeans.

I saw it differently. Through the way she presents herself (in those heels), Sheryl stands out from the tech world’s sartorial norm of hoodie and jeans.

A personal brand involves how people think and feel about you, and categorise you in their minds. Are you seen as a strategist? A thought-leader in your field?

Several things contribute to your brand. First, it rests on your hard-earned reputation, created through interactions with clients and colleagues, and the results you have delivered. It can also be influenced by how you dress, speak and present yourself.

Well-branded professionals stand out from the crowd and clearly signal what they – and only they – bring to the table, thus attracting more opportunities.

Despite the importance of personal branding, plenty of misconceptions surround it. One of them is the idea that your work “should speak for itself”. If so, big companies would have no marketing departments. Yet, even Apple is careful about where it advertises its products, to create the “right” image.

MYTH #1: PERSONAL BRANDING IS PERSONAL BRAGGING