In the 21st century job marketplace, success depends on your self-marketing skills
"Work hard, get ahead." Our parents circa 1970.Was it ever really that easy?
The job market is tricky territory now. We're looking for new jobs, trying to keep ones we have, vying for promotions, and starting new businesses.
Our success depends on our ability to become free agents, self marketers, and CEOs of our own personal brand.
Me Inc. is becoming part of the DNA of the 21st-Century marketplace.
Business and marketing guru, Tom Peters, author of The Little BIG Things: 163 Ways to Pursue EXCELLENCE, says, "Forget your job title. Ask yourself: What do I do that adds remarkable, measurable, distinctive value? What do I do that I am most proud of? Most of all, forget about the standard rungs of progression you've climbed in your career up to now. Ask yourself: What have I accomplished that I can unabashedly brag about? If you're going to be a brand, you've got to become relentlessly focused on what you do that adds value, that you're proud of, and most important, that you can shamelessly take credit for." Fast Company December 2007
Our personal brand is threefold. It's the image we reflect to the world, the combination of characteristics that make us unique, and our value as viewed by employers, clients, co-workers, team members, colleagues, and those who report to us.
The Elements of a Personal Brand
- Appearance. This is how we come across without saying a word-dressing, grooming, and body language included.
- Qualifications. What we're good at, our key talents.
- Competencies. Cognitive, business, communication and technical skills that enable us to perform our jobs.
- Achievements. How have we made an impact?
- Passions. What we love and how it infuses our work.
- Value. What we offer an employer, client, etc.
- Reputation. How we're viewed by others.
- Personality. Our values, goals, identity and behavior.
- Differentiator. The talents that make us unique.
We're already branded by marketers, politicians, employers, co-workers, and everyone who meets us. If we don't take control of our brand, we're at the mercy of how the world judges us, and it could cost us money, jobs, and clients.
