5 Reasons Personal Branding is Critical in Career Management

We have discussed the importance of personal branding and in the last column, I gave you information on how you can get a 15-day free password to the Reach 360 Personal Brand assessment. In the personal branding process, you will go through three phases to uncover what’s real and authentic about you.

Top Five Benefits of the Personal Branding Process

1. Knowing your personal brand helps you to stand apart from your competition.
2. Since your personal brand is real and authentic to you, you aren’t masquerading to be something you are not. Personal branding instills self-confidence.
3. If you are inside a corporation, personal branding facilitates using your strengths to support the corporate brand.
4. The personal branding process helps you to define your vision, purpose, values, and passions.
5. In turn, uncovering your personal brand attributes and defining your vision, purpose, values, and passions facilitates in you defining your ultimate role and place where you want to work (whether it be a company or for yourself).

Three Phases of the Personal Branding Process

The three phases of Reach Communications personal branding process includes extract, express, and exude. All three play a pivotal role in career management. The extract phase includes taking the Reach 360 Personal Brand assessment. The Reach 360 is a Web-based evaluation that takes your respondents approximately 5-10 minutes to complete.

What is a 360-Degree Personal Brand Evaluation?

You may have heard of 360 evaluations that are utilized in companies. Reach 360 evaluations are different because it protects the confidentiality of people’s responses as it is Web-based. A 360 evaluation allows input from people who are closest to you: friends, family, and colleagues. You will complete a 360 evaluation on yourself and then you can see how the personal brand attributes, team role, leadership role, strengths, etc. compare to what others say about you. How does it compare? Do people see you in the way for which you want to be known? If not, what steps can you take?

Another Resource

Another tool I recommend is the Strengthsfinder assessment. You will have to purchase the book by Marcus Buckingham (well worth the cost, though – excellent information!). After taking this assessment, you will be provided with your top strengths that will help you answer the interview or employer’s question, “What are your strengths?”

Conclusion

Extracting this information will position you to leverage your core competencies in your organization. In the next article, we will look at tools and resources to help you uncover your values and define your long- and short-term goals.

Related articles:

1. 3 Action Steps to Stand Apart from Your Competition

Tags: Career Management, featured, Marcus Buckingham, personal brand, personal branding, Reach Communications, Strengthsfinder

Category: Career Management