Strengthen Your Personal Brand With This 4 Question Self-Assessment
Personal branding is largely about differentiating yourself from others.
Having a strong and consistent character helps you stand out from the crowd and gain the trust of those who may be considering you for a job, raise, or promotion.
Use the following four-question self-assessment to evaluate how you can strengthen your personal brand by strengthening your character.
1. “Am I all talk but no action?”
Anyone can talk the talk, but it takes character (and competence) to walk the walk.
If you don’t back up your claims or do what you say you’re going to do, you’ll be no different from an imposter or a wanna-be. The marketplace doesn’t reward people for talking about what they’re going to do; it rewards them when they take action and deliver.
2. “Do I believe what I am saying?”
Many people seem to be “dreaming in technicolor” when they talk about all the amazing things they’ve done and are doing, and seem to have the equivalent of a surround-sound, VR experience playing in their mind as they make bold promises on what they’re able to deliver.
This may work to get the initial sale – and they may even intend to deliver on all of their promises at the time – but their lofty promises often exceed reality and fail to translate into anything more than short-lived warm fuzzy feelings.
In order to avoid over-promising, or over-hyping your past accomplishments, monitor your self-talk and ensure you are being objective and honest with yourself. If you’re going to sell something, you need to know that you can deliver.
3. “What do I need to act on to make a difference?”
Often, there are things we know that we need to be doing, but we choose to avoid them.
If only we could bring ourselves to do them, we could achieve our goals and bring about the success we desire for ourselves and our organization.
Ask yourself which high-impact, high pay-off activities and behaviors you need to pursue and don’t let anything stand in your way from taking action.
If you delude yourself into thinking you’ll ‘do them tomorrow’, stop for a second and ask yourself what’s really going to be different about tomorrow? Chances are, you’ll just end up finding another reason to put it off again.
Tasks aren’t going to become any easier, and you’re not going to feel any better about doing them tomorrow, so why continue to put them off?
4. “Am I listening to those who are trying to speak truth into my life?”
Are you paying attention to the advice of the people who want the best for you?
What we want to hear and what we need to hear aren’t always the same thing. You need to be honest about the things that might have to change in order for you to grow.
Anytime you receive advice from someone you trust, make an effort to drop your defenses and seriously consider the message they’re spending the time and effort to communicate. Others are often able to see what you can’t; their insights might be exactly what you need to reach your goals.
And, if you assess their advice and find it to be true, don’t wait – implement it immediately.
Be Consistent In All Areas Of Life
The above questions are relevant not just for advancing your professional career, but for improving your personal life as well. If you answered the assessment with only your career in mind, go back and apply the questions to your personal life.
As you seek to develop your character, it’s important to be consistent in all areas of life – even when it seems like no one else is looking.