Personal Branding
The corporate ladder for those who choose to climb will not be a simple step forward. Instead, it resembles a journey much equivalent to being a player in the Snake and Laddar Game.
Corporate life throws interesting surprises like the roll of the dice, and it is the Snake or the Laddar, based on the career choices you make along the way.
In this journey, if you want to be successful, make a name for yourself, address things that matter to you deeply, then attending to Personal Branding is of absolute necessity. As the name signifies, the brand is unique to you, and its value is based on how you create, protect, and grow it.
The law of nature is a simple equation of risk and reward, fruits of hard work, result-oriented efforts. But, some keep working hard but never reach the top, while others rise although may slow down in the race. These are outcome of lack of effort or despite efforts your brand failing.
Again, as human we learn from our mistakes, and failures are our best lessons to success.
No one can teach how not to fail, but I intend to share my thoughts on how to mitigate or the least reduce the impact of failures. How to navigate the journey, changing course when necessary, using the right tools that help in ultimately achieving your career goal.
Now, wherever you are in your career, let me ask you this:
Do you have a short and long term goal, an aspiration of what you want to become, and where you want to be in say the next one to three years? If you do not have one then that is your start.
Set a short and long term goal, self-assessing if you are happy in your career path or did you choose the wrong one. It is never too late to change, but your self-realization is necessary and is key. Do not decide simply based on how your work environment is treating you now, because it is not about whether you like your workplace, instead it is about whether you like your line of work. Then Step#1 is established.
Step#1: I like my line of work, and I want to be ....... in the next one to three years, and I ultimately want to become ...................
Then, we get to Step#2 which defines the path to achieve your short and long-term goals. For this, you need to self-assess whether you have the right education, necessary skills and competencies, and if your current job gives opportunity to achieve your short-term goal.
For those enslaved in your current role, entangled in the financial burden for yourself and your loved ones, you are the ones who fear the unknown. Just for one moment, set aside your fear of losing your job and not able to find something else, and instead process Step#2. Self-realization conducted objectively is essential.
Step#2: I have the right education, skills and competencies, and my current job gives me the opportunity to achieve my short-term goal.
A side tip, no one is asking you to quit your job just like that. Instead self-realize and act, use the time to sharpen your skills, your education, keep looking for the change you perceive right. Never be afraid to take bold steps once you have assessed its path to your goals.
By the way, I am assuming here that your short and long-term goals are aligned, if your long-term is about a relaxed retirement in Hawaii, then stop fanaticizing desires which are fruits of success upon achieving goals. You are expected to visualize the goal that can earn you what you desire.
Pull out a pen and paper, call out the gaps in each step mentioned above because this is going to be your work plan to get to success.
Corporate career is not about doing your job role well, because that is basic expectation set by the organization which pays your salaries. One needs to have personal objectives, and smart people intertwine personal and professional objectives well and work towards them to become successful.
Now, let us move on to Step#3, which is all about course corrections along the way. It is time to look for a different role, or evaluate an opportunity that comes if it is right for you based on your self-assessment and action plans from Step#1 and #2. Do not be in a rush but do not be late as well, either course will delay your progress and for those who keep delaying the process to change, beware of stagnating, and to settle for little.
Step#3: Be smart, harness your skills, education, competencies, keep a good mentor who can help and guide you, continue to build your personal brand, and get into right roles that leads you to achieve your goals.
Step#3 is the most challenging. I wish there is a magic portion that I can give to each and every reader of this blog to achieve your goals. Unfortunately, you are not sitting under a wishing tree that can manifest your expected reality.
You will most often land in uncharted territory, because you thought the role you took is the right one, but you doubt yourself or it is challenging or there is no scope to progress until probably the ruthless manager of yours leaves (I have a good one at the moment, let us caveat that).
But, for most people, this is how limiting their mind is, they believe a different manager is the solution to growth problem. The mind manifests this driven by the interaction frequecy and epectations gap. Often your manager is the one you spend most of your interactions directly or indirectly with.
However, this is not true in case your manager is making you grow by simply getting you out of your comfort zone and making you excel. Then just endure the pain and learn. If this is not the case, you know what to do, find another job where you will learn. The only defining factor here is, are you learning something new that is getting you nearer to your goal?
Let us talk about personal branding just after I mention about another important part in your journey of success, a good mentor.
If you are a lucky person, your manager will be your mentor who is your guide, your tutor who can help you get to where you want to be. But, sometimes your mentor can be a different person, your parent, your better-half, a good friend. It is important, to choose the one who is objective and is your well-wisher, but not the one who will impose his/her dream for you onto you.
A mentor is a good judge, an advisor, and your go-to person to comfort you during your lows and the one who boosts you to get back onto your feet.
Choose one wisely.
Now, the most important subtle tool that has to work all along the way to lead you to your success is "Personal Brand". How often have you got a knock to the next opportunity just by someone reaching out to you. Most people land in their next role based on referral and this is often the one that gets you nearer to your goals. This is no miracle, it happens based on the impressions you made in peoples mind about your work, your attitude, and how committed you are. This is your personal brand.
The overarching subtle work you must keep on doing is working on your "Personal Brand", defining it, protecting it, nurturing it. This will involve conscious effort, and the way it is measured is how did you impact people you interacted with. Did you impact in a positive or negative way. If it was positive keep going, if it was negative try and fix it. It is that simple.
Now, to impact it in a positive way is again simple, but many skip this and get it all wrong. Those who think to take shortcut to success by stealing others' credit, think they are speed tracking but often skid and fall. They are the self-consumed ones we see at work, most of the times with ego or selfish behaviors. These are the ones who lack self confidence, fear losing their job which they know that they are not good at, and they feel threatened by your very existence and/or your capability, your performance.
Let me tell you, I have seen so many along the way and I have also seen life teaching them a lesson. They will learn their lessons, so I suggest you stay course in your own path not being distracted by petty beings.
Now, the most important subtle tool that has to work all along the way to lead you to your success is your "Personal Brand". And to build and maintain it,
- be visible,
- stay with integrity and care,
- earn your credits,
- be relentless in efforts; and
- always remember knowledge grows by sharing it with other and learning from others.
Giving a helping hand at work for those who need it makes you a better person that goes a long way in earning gratitude. Moment of truth, You can earn MONEY very easily, but it is GRATITUDE that is hard to earn.
Pave your journey to success continuously practicing the subtle art of personal branding, make your story and make it count for yourself and others.
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