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!