Why You Need A Strong Personal Brand

Why You Need A Strong Personal Brand

Today on the podcast, I want to take a few moments and talk about why you need a strong personal brand. And I’m doing this because I have gotten a few text messages from people asking me if I’m going to be doing a carrier workshop anytime soon. And these are the people who were in my last Korean workshop, which happened in 2017. And haven’t done one for five years. And I distinctly remember back then, I was insisting upon how personal brands are important how the Internet, the social media are going to be more micro influencer centric, and how they need to get started in this very quickly. And when I look back at my own advice, five years later, as I’m recording this podcast, and prior to this episode, just thinking about that. It’s amazing what has happened and the whole personal influencer micro-influencer economy, this is becoming bigger by the day. It’s crazy. It’s crazy.


So and of, one of the resistance points in the workshop. And one of the objections in the workshop at the time was, my work is my PR. And I do not need to talk about this anywhere else. I’m doing my job. And my management sees it, my coworkers, see that my manager sees that. So I want my work to speak. And I made a point then, and I’m also making the point now on this podcast if you don’t tell people what you do. And if you don’t tell people what you have done, then I don’t think you are going to get ahead, at least in the context of opportunities in the context of the job, I don’t think you will get ahead. We are in a very complicated world. We are in an overstimulated world, there are so many messages, and there is so much coming and going. With so much happening around, it’s very difficult for people to spot you and know you, and decide to work with you and pay you. It’s hard, it’s difficult. So you need to tell people what you have done, you need to tell people what you’re going to do. And you need to have dedicated communication, at least mindset, dedicate dedicated communication mindset. So we’re not talking about what to do.


That’s not what I’m going to do here today. Because what to do you already know, there is there are enough platforms where you can go and talk about everything that you are, and everything that you have done. I’ve been listening for a professional LinkedIn is there. If you are a business owner, Facebook is there a tick-tock is there YouTube is there and YouTube is also there. If you’re a professional, I mean, there are a ton of platforms that you can use to convey who you are and what you do. But the key is to have that mindset. And to have that mindset, you need to understand why you have to do it. It’s not about what. So why a personal brand? And listen, I want you to explain this concept, I want you to imagine a triangle in your mind, you’re listening to this, I want you to imagine a triangle, an equilateral triangle. In an equilateral triangle, there are three sides, and they all are equal. So case in point, this concept that I’m trying to convey through this podcast, all three elements of this are equally important. So one cannot sustain without the other. That’s the point. So I want you to imagine the left side of the triangle. The left one is reputation. The right one is recognition. So I’ll stay with those two for now. And I want to come back and talk about the bottom side of the triangle of reputation recognition.


So let’s talk about reputation for a second. You need reputation because you want employment opportunities, you want business opportunities, you want to network, you want to be known as an expert. So for all that reputation is important because reputation conveys who you are and also creates a perception in the minds of people who you want. So, it will help you attract what you want, rather than you going after what you want. So what you do has to be conveyed and written rotation plays a huge role in it. Now, let’s talk about recognition for a second recognition is getting attribution for what you have done. Society, the people around you, are recognizing you for what you have done. And to a large extent, what you are. So you see the difference between these two things. And, when we talk about personal branding, these two things are necessary. So if you’re young, and you have a career trajectory, when I, when say young, I mean nothing called Young or old, it’s not about the timeline, it’s about the mindset. So you have a young mindset in the sense that you are pursuing employment, you are starting businesses, you want networking, you want to be known as an expert, and you want to be known as the best in what you do. So reputation recognition, all these things do play a role. Now, let’s say you don’t subscribe to this mindset. Like you don’t want to do you don’t want to network, you don’t want to, you’re not changing any business opportunities, you’re not in the job market. But, how does a personal brand apply to you? Well, if you have, a different mindset Other than this, where you want to leave a legacy, you want to have the freedom to do what you want to do. In this situation, in this scenario, also, it’s important that your reputation is intact. And your recognition is also is intact. Because without these two things, you can’t build a legacy, you can’t leave a legacy, forget about building one, and you cannot have the freedom to do what you want to do. So doesn’t matter who you are, or what you do, that’s the point you need, you need a personal brand. Now, let’s talk about a third of the base of the triangle, which is representation.


You see, you shouldn’t be building a brand because you want to inflate your ego. And you don’t want to build a brand in Vanity, either. You should build a brand because you truly believe in it. A brand that should convey your real values. And the real values are where the representation aspect comes in. You got to truly represent who you are. And given the world we are in, you cannot fake it for a long time. And if anybody said that, fake it till you make it, they’re completely incorrect. That advice, maybe it may have worked in the 90s or 80s, whatever, but it doesn’t work now, and flawed is given that advice is wrong. See, we can, thanks to the awareness we have today. And thanks to social media, and thanks to all kinds of media, we can, we don’t, we don’t need to be told anything anymore. We don’t need to look for proof anymore, we can sniff it, you know, sniff it, that’s how powerful this is. So a true representation of your skills, your experience your no house. That’s why it is possible only when, when. And then that’s the only way out a true representation of your skills, talents, experiences, you cannot, you can’t I mean, you can’t lie about them for sure. But even if we inflate them, there is an issue with it. So real values have to be conveyed as a part of your representation.


Now, your reputation your recognition will not stand unless you represent them the right way. It starts with you. It’s not it’s not starting with them starts with you. The whole exercise is that you need to be identified in a noisy world. And you cannot be identified unless you have an identity. You want others to identify you in the crowd, you need to have an identity. So what about a shirt on when you know everybody else is dressed in black? Pretty simple, pretty simple. So a strong personal by not just a personal brand. So it’s very important. You know how, again, if you’re going on, people asked me what should I do? What are things I do, you don’t need to do a lot. So what to do is already there you can On LinkedIn, you can go on YouTube. I mean, there’s all kinds of media available for you. But the key is once you are there, okay? Once you are there, everything that you say is a reflection of your core values, everything that you say, is going to build your reputation or destroy your reputation. Everything that you say, is going to build that recognition that you’re seeking. Everything, literally everything. I mean, you can write an incredible post and you punch you punctuate it incorrectly, that also contributes.


So 2023 is coming up, and we are exactly 16 days away. And I’m 2023 is going to be even much bigger in terms of everything because we are still coming out of COVID Still 2022 Still coming out of it. I’m hoping that only three is when we really come back and personal brand, micro-influencer. All these things are going to play a big role. And I want you to prepare for it. I want you to be accused of it. And that is why took some time today and recorded this podcast episode. It’s not that I can cover everything here. It’s very difficult if I sit in a room for two days and just teach personal branding. The way I have learned through my experiences my misfortunes through my failures, today won’t be enough. That’s how much there is to this. Anyway, I’m gonna stop here. And hopefully, this is helpful. If it is do let me know. And before you know it, I’ll be with you as early as tomorrow with another maybe an answer to a question or something that is dominant on my mind. Keep listening. Stay tuned.

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