What they say when you’re not in the room

Mention ‘personal brand’ today and often people think the same thing: post more, grow your following, polish your LinkedIn profile. Visibility has its place, and while your LinkedIn and other social accounts certainly play a part, visibility is not the only element of personal brand.

At its core, your personal brand, is how people experience you: what people say about you when you’re not in the room. It’s built on what you stand for and how that comes to life in your actions and interactions every day – during ‘moments of truth’.

The expression ‘moments of truth’ comes from Jan Carlzon who applied the idea to the customer experience at Scandinavia Airlines in the 1980s. It’s built on the understanding that every contact a person has with an organisation, shapes how they feel about it. The same is true of you as an individual. The way you enter a room, chair a meeting, interact in the work kitchen, write an email, or field a hard question – each is a moment of truth, and each leaves an impression. Those impressions form a perception, and that perception becomes your ‘personal brand’.

A strong personal brand is not about louder self-promotion. People are going to form perceptions of you regardless. It’s about knowing how you want to be perceived, and then consciously bringing that to life, consistently and authentically, in every interaction. It means understanding the rational and emotional value you offer, defining the few things you want to be known for, and showing up as that person whether the stakes are high or the kettle is on.

Bringing your brand to life consistently does not mean fitting into some cookie-cutter mould. Oscar Wild famously said “be yourself, everyone else is taken”. Trust is built on authenticity. People connect with real people who are clear about what they stand for – and they connect through your communication, verbal and non-verbal.

How you communicate is central to your personal brand.

The most effective communicators read the room and flex their style to suit the moment. Before any moment of truth, it helps to do a quick audience analysis: who are you speaking with, why are you speaking to them, and what do you want them to think, feel and do?

Done well, this is quietly powerful. You influence outcomes not by talking about your brand, but by living it. At Rowland, we believe communication is the most vital currency in business, and there is no more deliberate act of communication than bringing your brand to life, one moment of truth at a time.

Understanding your personal brand is a powerful foundation for your professional development at any stage of your career. We would argue it’s never too early or too late to harness the power of your personal brand. Once you are clear about how you want to be perceived and have the insights and tools to be more intentional about bringing that to life, the better you can influence your desired outcomes.

That is the heart of Brand You, Rowland’s personal positioning training. We help leaders and teams understand their personal brand through the development of their own Brand Blueprint to unlock the power of their personal positioning and bring it to life at the moments that matter most. To find out more, contact Rowland Training & Development at training@rowland.com.au.