Brand Yourself: 10 Tips for Creating a Personal Brand That Stands Out

There comes a point when many mid-career or senior professionals realize that their career has reached a plateau and no further growth is in sight. When you were younger, you grew very quickly, but that growth has now slowed down. Your income or status or position is now growing at a rate of 10-20 percent per year, and 100-200 percent jumps don’t look feasible any longer.

You may earn well and are comfortable financially, but you are not able to jump to the next level – seemingly enjoyed by only a few top managers. The leadership roles seem beyond your reach. This is the middle-management trap, in which more than 90 percent of middle managers and professionals are caught.

 

You sense the competition intensifying every day as younger, hungrier professionals come up the ranks. You sometimes wonder what you need to do in order to stay relevant in this fast-evolving world and stay ahead of the curve. 

 

How can you escape the middle management trap?

 

Are you facing the middle management trap, consciously or unconsciously? Age will not always be on your side, and opportunities will shrink as you grow older. Technology is changing, new industries and new companies are rising, and younger people are always doing something new and interesting. If you don’t keep up with the times, you will not be able to contribute to the new economy.

 

What is your current strategy to beat the middle management trap, faced with an ever-changing professional landscape and relentless competition? How can you build a legacy? Be a part of top management? 

 

Answer: build your own brand 

 

Examine the people you follow (not counting family and friends) on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, wherever; and ask yourself a very simple question: ’Why am I following them?’ 

 

You will notice something. Each person has a distinct attribute that interests you. It could be anything – expertise in a subject, sense of humor, reliability, etc. In short, what you are following is a personal brand, because nine times out of 10, you don’t even know these people’s professional identities.  

We are the average of the five people we spend the most time with.

  - Jim Rohn (Motivational speaker)

Basically, you are who you hang out with. So to take your career to the next level, you need to be in a position where you rub shoulders with top management. Where you regularly interact with them. 

 

All of this is only possible when you stand out in a crowd through personal branding.

 

The 10-point guide

 

How do you build your unique personal brand? What are the talents and qualities you should advertise so that people feel you are credible and worth following? 

 

Why should you build a personal brand? Which platforms should you be targeting? 

 

Here are 10 things we ask our learners to do so they can build their personal brand:

1. Network with upcoming startups which are scaling up, and understand the challenges they face. See if you can get an advisory role with one or more promising startups
2. Reach out to universities, deliver guest lectures, become a mentor/ advisor to the startups incubated in their entrepreneurship cell 
3. Network with early-stage investors and VCs to understand the governance challenges that investee companies face, and what they expect
4. Reach out to relevant industry associations and find out how you can contribute to them 
5. Get introductions to listed company promoters and understand the challenges they face, share your track record with them 
6. Start an industry association if you find that there is a gap in the market  
7. Spend some time every week networking with media representatives
8. Build relationships with executive search firms and headhunters
9. Explore book publishing contracts with literary agents/ publishers
10. Explore promotional opportunities such as TEDx talks, media coverage following a new job/ promotion you have received, and other options to increase your online presence