Julie Blunt is a business coach and training consultant, specialising in personal, career and leadership skills for those in internal consultant roles. Here are her top tips for developing your own “personal brand”.

Whether you’re providing a service to others in the organisation or working as an internal consultant, it can be a challenge to show who you are and what you stand for. Re-branding can help you create a positive impact, revitalise your performance and help you to progress in your career. It’s all about sending a clear message about who you are, what you can offer and demonstrating this through everything you do.

The following tips are designed to help you to revitalise your personal brand for maximum results.

1. Renew your brand identity – Ask yourself the questions – What do I want to be? What do I want to stand for? Am I making a difference? What do I offer? Now develop your personal brand statement based on your responses. Try distilling this down to the essence of your brand, such as ‘To actively support the delivery of clear, purposeful communications’.

2. Do a personal stock-take – Review your personal ‘kitbag’. What skills, knowledge experience and personal strengths do you have to offer? How well do they fit your brand statement? Your chosen career? Where are the gaps?

3. Develop your image – Give the world a clear picture of who you are. Start by reflecting on your current image. If possible, gather feedback on how others perceive you. Reflect on how well this reflects ‘your’ reality and the impression you want to make. Identify what you need to do to change in terms of how you look, sound and act.

4. Find a mentor – Someone senior in the organisation can help you to increase your visibility and support you in achieving your brand identity. Use them as a sounding board and to guide you through the organisational politics to ensure you can make the right sort of impact.

5. Get noticed – Actively look for opportunities to increase your visibility within the organisation. If you’re attending a high level presentation, plan to ask at least one question. Offer to take the lead on high profile tasks and activities – and then deliver!

6. Tell your Story – look for opportunities to verbalise your brand. Develop an ‘elevator speech’ for work, and a ‘dinner party’ response for social situations. Practice with your coach or mentor. Don’t worry about making it perfect – as long as it’s passionate and sincere.

7. Improve your external visibility – Boost your profile by attending external networking events, participating in relevant e-mail communities and broadening your network. Even if you’re planning to stay within the Company, this will help you widen your perspective and increase your credibility within the organisation.

8. Work on ‘WOW’ projects – Work on memorable projects that create real impact. And if there are none, make whatever you’re working on have the ‘WOW’ factor. Do this by keeping a focus on the key outcomes, identify how your ‘brand’ can support them and provide the drive to create outstanding results.

9. Invest in yourself – Create a rich portfolio of skills and experiences by investing time and resources in to your own personal development. Develop a thirst for learning to make sure your brand remains sharp and relevant.

10. Plan your career – work with a coach, or your line manager, to actively manage your career. Develop short, medium and long-term goals and establish what you need to do to make the transitions.

Julie Blunt

Julie is a business coach and training consultant, specialising in personal, career and leadership skills for those in internal consultant roles. She can be contacted on 01525 713686 at julie.blunt@interacttraining.co.uk or via www.interacttraining.co.uk.

Further Reading

• Branding Yourself – Mary Spillane, published by Pan 2000
• The Brand You 50 – Tom Peters, published by Random House 1999
• Uncommon Practice: People who deliver a Great Brand Experience – Edited by Andy Milligan and Shaun Smith, published by Pearson 2002