(3 of 3) Personal Brands: Don't change who you are. Lean into your intrinsic strengths.

Now let’s get to making changes that will make your personal brand more recognizable and help you with a meaningful career journey.

In Part 2, I encouraged you not to try to change who you are on the inside, because it’s not doable in the long term, let alone kind of sad. Instead, celebrate and leverage your uniqueness.

Now let’s get to making changes that will make your personal brand more recognizable and help you with a meaningful career journey. The low-hanging fruit is to lean into your natural strengths. What are yours? If you did the adjectives exercise, that’s a great start. But an adjective by itself, even if a positive one, won’t necessarily help drive your company’s goals. For instance, if people see you as kind, that’s certainly not a bad thing. But kindness alone is unlikely to make you credible to your peers or make your manager want to promote you. A reputation based on your strengths will be more powerful for your career.

What is considered a strength in the workplace ultimately depends on your company’s business and culture. Most companies these days value collaboration and teamwork. A strength could include your ability to understand and explain complex ideas, your ability to influence others, your resilience under pressure, or that you’re good at giving brief status updates to upper management. 

Many professional actors do something similar for their careers. I know an actor, a very kind gentleman, who is frequently cast as a villain. Hollywood tends to cast actors based on how they look, and casting directors think the shape of his face makes him believable as an evil person. Whereas many actors would be frustrated by this typecasting, he’s happy to take the roles because he gets paid to act, which is what he loves to do. He leverages his natural strength to further his career.  The video below identifies 10 famous actors who have also made a career off their typecasting.

Ask various people what your strengths are. If 4 of the 5 people independently cite the same thing, take note. Do you agree that it’s a strength? Why or why not? Also, don’t stop at the surface-level behavior. For example, if the feedback is that you’re punctual, what’s the reason for being that way? Are you punctual because you’re enthusiastic about your work? Is it because you value structure and precision? Could it be that you are a realist and you know how to get things done under extreme constraints?

When you identify and embrace your strengths, you’ll be on your way to establishing a distinct brand for yourself.

TL;DR

• A positive attribute or personality trait is not enough to be a strength at work.

• Your strengths are a key part of your identity and reputation, i.e. your “personal brand.”

Actions

• Try the “adjectives exercise.” Get it here.

• Ask people who work with you what they would consider your strengths to be.

Question

What is one strength you wish you could have? Drop it in the comments!