The Brand Called'YOU

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The Brand Called.YOU!

• An exercise in personal branding
• Donna Stapleton

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The Brand CalledYOU!

• Session Outline
• What Do Great Brands Do?
• What is Personal Branding?
• Dimensions of Your Personal Brand.
• Steps in Developing Yourself as a Brand.
• How to Advance Your Career By Thinking of
  Yourself as a Brand.

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Examples of Great Brands

• Nike
• BMW
• Sony
• Coca Cola
• Heinz
• Kraft

• Kelloggs
• Harley-Davidson
• RBC Financial Group
• Fairmont Hotels Resorts
• and many others!

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How Did These Brands Become Great Brands?

• Provided consistent high quality product and/or
  service
• Communicated clearly what the brand stood for and
  delivered on expectations.
• Gained a high level of brand awareness and
  recognition.
• Established a solid image and reputation in the
  market over time.
• Maintained a relationship with users.
• Developed respect and trust with customers.
• Added value to the product and servicebecame
  sought after and highly valued.

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Personal Branding

• Its about knowing
• who you are.
• what you stand for.
• Its about
• image and style.
• integrity and values.
• playing to your strengths.
• managing your personality.

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Four Dimensions of Your Personal Brand

• 1. Functional - your practical abilities and
  skills (understand you strengths and weaknesses).
• 2. Social - how you attract and interact with
  others.
• 3. Mental - your intellectual ability to inspire
  others, give insights and be a mentor.
• 4. Spiritual - how you connect to the bigger
  picture, your role in society and the cause(s) in
  which you believe.

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Know Your Practical Skills and Abilities

• Interpersonal Skills
• Developing and Coaching Skills
• Organizing / Co-ordinating
• Cost Sensitivity
• Communication Skills
• Time Management Skills

• Research and Analysis Skills
• Thinking and Planning Skills
• Problem - Solving and Decision Making
• Marketing and Customer Service
• Leading and Managing

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Know Your Personality Type

• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a widely
  used and useful personality test.
• MBTI measures how people prefer to
• focus their attention (extroversion vs.
  introversion)
• collect information (sensing vs. intuition)
• process and evaluate information (thinking vs.
  feeling)
• orient themselves to the outer world (judging vs.
  perceiving)

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Know Your Personality Type

• MBTI does provide good information on a persons
  psychological type and preferences for certain
  types of careers.
• MBTI is useful for career development and
  self-awareness.
• Identifies some of the challenges and gifts of
  people with different profiles.
• Helps you to manage your personality and deal
  with others.

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Steps in Developing Yourself as a Brand

• Step 1 Identify the qualities and
  characteristics that make you different from your
  colleagues.
• Step 2 Ask your colleagues what they believe are
  your greatest strengths and most noteworthy
  personal traits.
• Step 3 Clearly identify the things that you have
  done that add value, that you are proud of and
  that you can take credit for.
• Step 4 Create visibility
• Communicate, communicate, communicate...

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How Do You Market The Brand Called YOU?

• Sign up for extra projects in your department.
• Get involved in things outside your department to
  showcase your skills to a new group.
• Offer to be part of a panel discussion at a
  conference.
• Write an opinion piece for the local newspaper or
  for an organizational newsletter or publication.
• Volunteer to make a speech to a group.
• Other ideas???

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Key to Your Personal Branding Campaign is...
word-of-mouth marketing

• The Trick nurture your network of colleagues
  consciously

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How to Advance Your Career By Thinking of
Yourself as a Brand

• 1. Improve your offerings
• Never rest on your laurels.
• Always look for ways to improve.
• Focus on building new skills and strengths.
• Stay on top of technology and use it to the max!
• 2. Build alliances and form relationships
• Form alliances with others inside your
  organization or department.
• form alliances with those on the outside.
• relationships and alliance building and
  negotiability are critical skills for success.

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How to Advance Your Career By Thinking of
Yourself as a Brand

• 3. Attend conferences and other professional
  development meetings
• Look for areas of mutual interest with those you
  meet.
• Keep networking and building relationships.
• 4. Focus on teamwork
• Be a valuable member on teams.
• Develop teams in your department to tackle work
  and challenges that need attention.

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How to Advance Your Career By Thinking of
Yourself as a Brand

• 5. Get involved in mentoring
• Have a mentor for yourself.
• Mentor others.
• Take care of your staff - be concerned, coach
  them and help them set goals.
• 6. Form your reference base
• Have a group of people who can speak well of you.
• Comes from your teamwork and relationship
  building.

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How to Advance Your Career By Thinking of
Yourself as a Brand

• 7. Market yourself
• Tell your story - you cant assume that people
  will know the work you are doing.
• Measure your skills, your knowledge and your
  accomplishments.
• Be ruthless in identifying the areas that need
  improvement.

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How to Advance Your Career By Thinking of
Yourself as a Brand

• 8. Stay true to your brand
• Be comfortable with yourself - dont try to be
  all things to all people.
• Find out what you are good at.
• Do the best you can in areas that need
  improvement.
• You cant change everything at once - changing
  your personality is hard to do.
• Support causes by giving time (and money) to what
  you believe in.
• Be ethical and socially responsible.

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A Person With a Strong Personal Brand is a Leader
Who

• is concerned about others.
• develops relationships and networks.
• is trustworthy and dependable.
• acts as a role model and mentor in the
  organization.
• is fair and consistent in decisions and
  evaluations.
• has values and attitudes that are contagious.
• A strong personal brand does not mean developing
  a big ego.

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Get Started on Building the Brand Called YOU
Today!!