Before you can create your personal brand, you have to know what your personal brand is. This post will help you to define your own personal brand through taking a look at your unique personal brand attributes. Once you have your personal brand attributes you can begin sharing your personal brand with the world.
Simply put in a word
Simply put, a personal brand attribute is a word that describes a characteristic or quality that you possess. It can also be defined as how others would describe you if they could only chose a few different words.
Let’s take a look at my personal brand attributes so you can get an idea of how this works. A few months ago I won an award at work for my performance — on the award were five words that best described the winner of the award. When I won the award I thought to myself, “these words are my professional personal brand attributes and exactly how I want to be perceived in the workplace.”
Here they are:
Work Ethic: I have a very strong work ethic and believe in making sacrifices that others won’t.
Accountability: I’m believe in my work and others can rely on me to get the job done.
Professionalism: I put forth a professional demeanor in my actions and words.
Intelligence: I take the time to learn the trends affecting my industry and how my company fits in. I’m knowledgeable.
Confidence: I put forth a quietly confident attitude that rubs off on others and instills credibility.I would also add these:
Light-hearted: I try to not take myself to seriously, I like to laugh and enjoy life.
Motivating: I like to help others and myself reach peak performance — I like passing on what I’ve learned to others.
These seven words describe my personal brand very well and they are the characteristics I promote on a consistent basis through my personal brand. Even more important, these attributes are how others describe and view myself.
What you represent and want to represent
Through this exercise you will gain a real understanding of what you represent or want to represent to the world. Many people put off doing this exercise because they realize there is a disconnect between how others view them and the way they want to be viewed — do not let this stop you. Each small step in the right direction is better than no action at all — make sure you discover your personal brand attributes so you can share them with the world!
What are your personal brand attributes? Please list them in the comments below so we can all get an idea of the different personal brand attributes out there!
Enjoy the weekend!
Author:
Chad Levitt is the author of the New Sales Economy blog, which focuses on how Sales 2.0 & Social Media can help you connect, create more opportunities and increase your business. Chad is also the featured Sales 2.0 blogger at SalesGravy.com, the number one web portal for sales pros, the professional athletes of the business world. Make sure to connect with him on Twitter @chadalevitt.
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Hi Chad,
Couple of yours ago I did a research, with some help, to find my talents. The words that fit me the best and other people agree with are: enthusiastic and feeling for trends.
Hi Chad,
Did you define your personal attributes or others define it for you?
Thanks,
@Mohammed- I defined my personal brand attributes myself. I shared the story of winning the award because the attributes matched so perfectly with my own self-defined attributes. It was a clear validation that my perception matched with those I work with including my superiors.
Hey Chad, great post.
Below are the attributes from my employers annual review:
Quality. Dependable. Effective Communicator. Optimistic. Innovative. Respected. Confident. Professional. Team Player.
Source: http://web.mac.com/ericungs/iWeb/Eric%20D.%20Ungs/Testimonials.html.
Thanks for the post.
Eric
Nice- We should always define our fundamental values and characteristics as our personal brand because others will define it for us if we don’t. Its what we stand for, and it is what we must build our business upon. And knowing what you stand for, and building THAT as your brand is much more meaningful than any award. (But the awards are still cool, too).
@alyandrea
@alyandrea I agree with you that if you do not define it yourself, you risk having others define it for you. It takes the right balance to define a personal brand that is authentic rather than something you would like to be but not aligned with who you truly are.
Creative – this attribute has been assigned to me by others. Having just met my right brain about twelve years ago, I said, “who me?”
Imaginative – I don’t possess any great abilities here, I just combine and associated things with other things to help people think. Ironically enough Chad, if someone were to Google Marketing Imagination, a post of mine comes up #1…it is based upon a person with the same last name as yours
In both cases, it took the opinions of others to wake me up and say “maybe I am.” It has also been a most worthwhile learning experience.
[...] a post I read today from one of the most influential blogs on personal branding a personal brand is described as what you represent or want to represent to [...]
I wanted to begin a professional blog in my area of interest, media. In a search to discover my personal attributes, I surveyed 8 people who are very close to me.
“In the context of media, what attributes come to mind when you think of me?” Maybe I asked the wrong question but here’s what they came up with, and I have no idea what to do with this information:
!
Husband – Operations; business; show hosting
Girlfriend – personality; verbal skills; audience captivation
Mother – personality; warmth; caring; sincere; convincing; organized
Girlfriend – voice; radio personality; unique style; image
Girlfriend – writing; interaction w/people; smile; your laugh
Male friend – communication; packaging
Client – tenacity
Male friend – ability to connect people
To me, this appears to be the qualities of an on-camera personality, which currently I am not. So go figure.
It was an interesting exercise but now what? Should I ask others/or ask a different question in order to get more of a consensus?
Thanks to all of you who shared their personal brand attributes in the comments!
For me, the most important personal brand attribute will be the “Presence” – what kind of influence you will have on your surroundings. when some people are around, the atmosphere is very electric – and when we see some, it is boring.
-Sudhani