Locum Focus: 10 Tips For Reinventing Your Personal Brand In The Workplace

If you are ready for new work or you simply want to make sure that you put your best face forward, then it may be time to reinvent your personal branding writes Benjamin Hammond, Pharmacy Expert Editor.

Simon Middleton, the founder of a personal branding consultancy comments: “What people need to do is to assess their personal brand strategy with the same thoroughness that successful companies like Apple, Virgin and others do for their brands. You need to look at what you want your purpose to be. From a solid purpose you can then build strategy and a powerful personal narrative.”

So these are the 10 Top Tips for reinventing your personal brand in the workplace.

1.    Your personal brand isn't about your qualifications or even how smart you are: it's about making yourself of distinctive recognisable value:  if you approach your role with an absolute commitment to excellence then you will be noticed.

2.    The greatest skill of all in a modern business or organisation is to be able to solve problems and to create more effective strategies. So instead of trying on the one hand just to 'fit in' or on the other hand to be innovative for its own sake, strive instead actually to solve real problems. And remember that doesn't mean having to be cleverer than others; sometimes it just means applying a little more attentiveness.

3.    The second greatest skill is to be able to communicate your ideas with regard for others' understanding and position. Nobody likes a show off or stubbornness, least of all managers in organisations. So be clear and make your case with conviction, but never be arrogant or uncompromising.

4.   In a small business, or in a team within a big organisation, your personal 'brand' is best expressed through a compelling narrative about how and what you contribute. It's no good claiming to be valuable. That's like a comedian claiming to be funny. You have to 'be' valuable.

5.   Along the way, and especially when your contribution is being noticed,you will find others who try to stop you, trip you up, or trap you. Pay no heed to those, other than to be aware of them. Engaging in inter-staff warfare can only damage your personal brand and will never enhance your career.

6.   Great brands are founded on authenticity, not on lies. Never, ever, invent a better back story for yourself. You will, ultimately, be found out. Tell your real story: but tell it better by engaging emotions and imagination.

7.   Don't follow promotion or pay just because you think you should. Don't follow the career path as though it was pre-determined. It isn't. Think about your career strategy. What do you really, truly want to be doing in two or five year’s time? A different company? Working for yourself?

8.    Learn to balance hope and fear. Anything worth doing (for example a new position or a big presentation) will induce fear and anxiety. But you need to step around that fear or your personal 'brand' will never progress. But don't fall into the X-Factor trap of assuming that you will succeed just because you want something badly enough. Never try to wing it!  Prepare, prepare, prepare. 

9.    If you dislike your current role  but there appears no prospect of changing it in the near future, do not despair. Change your attitude to it instead: treat everything you do as 'training' for what comes next.

10.  If you've made an error of judgement, or any other kind of mistake, do not try to hide it. Own up to it and take the flak. Learn something from it, explain what you have learned, show why having been through the experience you are now more valuable than ever.

Do you have any more tips or ideas that your colleagues might find useful?