As part of the Women in Revenue mentorship community, peers gather to discuss common obstacles and questions they have on their career journey. In a huddle led by Sydney Sloan, a few members collaborated and discussed the importance of personal brand as a quick way to kick start their career journey or evaluate how they’re progressing. The content below is based on materials and recommendations from Sydney Sloan’s session. Thank you again, Sydney, for leading this group and providing great advice for the Women in Revenue community!
While you may not notice its importance until you switch jobs or roles, being able to articulate your value goes beyond your current role. It’s a part of your personal brand. Your personal brand allows you to assess what makes you different, know your key audience (and how to assess their perception), and can help you rise above imposter syndrome.
Imposter syndrome is a key hurdle for many when assessing their career path or looking to make a change. Yet, you can tackle this fear by analyzing your accomplishments and gaining confidence in what unique qualities you bring to a job or to your industry.
Take the first step by assessing your current brand elements to gain confidence in what makes you unique and be able to articulate your strengths in your current role or as you look to make a change in your career.
Assessing your brand elements can be done a variety of ways, but we recommend looking at the following.
Categorizing your brand elements:
Have you done a SWOT analysis to understand your current strengths and where you may have room for growth? Conduct a SWOT analysis to understand your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities for growth, and what threatens your personal brand today.
Starting with a SWOT analysis before building your brand promise allows you to balance your known strengths with how your personal brand could lead to more growth or opportunities in the future. You start by understanding what unique qualities you bring to your organization, industry, and network. Where do you find these qualities could grow further and what threatens the growth or communication of your personal brand today? Digging into your threats isn’t about comparing your brand to your peers or mentors. It allows you to understand what factors, both external and internal, are impacting your ability to bring your brand forward, integrate your personal brand with your ambitions, and apply your brand to your current role. This analysis keeps you focused on the most important elements of your brand in all career activities.
Promoting your niche qualities:
Similar to writing a personalized cover letter or working collaboratively with your peers, promoting your niche brand elements is about applying parts of your SWOT analysis based off your brand audience. Standing out is a balance of knowing your strengths and aligning to the ideal audience – whether that’s peers, organizational leaders, industry contacts or as part of introductions as you expand your network.
How do you stand out? We have the ability to promote ourselves in an organization, via social networks, or other interactive activities. Yet pitching your brand requires knowing about the people that are listening – the people that will engage with you and whose perception impacts your ability to drive your brand forward. To promote your niche brand elements, start by aligning your personal brand with where you want to go next (think about the opportunities in your SWOT analysis) – what kind of people could help you get there and how do you present your brand to drive more engagement and foster more connections?
Conquering imposter syndrome with your brand elements:
When you wrote out your threats – what internal factors are impacting your personal brand? More often than not, women at all levels are caught in imposter syndrome – believing that they don’t fit into a role or deserve the recognition for their accomplishments. Conducting this initial brand assessment allows you to look at the different internal factors impacting your personal brand’s growth and start evaluating what is in your control and what accomplishments illustrate your success in different areas.
Brand Evaluation and Developing a Continuous Process:
This process may require additional analysis and is only one step in a longer path to developing your personal brand. As part of the Women in Revenue community, we’ll regularly post resources and content to help you to continue this path and apply it to your career journey.
If you found this intro to personal brand valuable or you want more support overcoming imposter syndrome, the Mentorship Community is a great opportunity to learn from others across sales and marketing and connect to leaders that have been where you are today. Join the mentorship community to kickstart your personal brand assessment and connect with others. You can also check out upcoming events for Women in Revenue community members and the public via our website.
Written by: Tabitha Adams
