Just what are you all about? Are you fizzy brown water in a red can, or fizzy brown water in a blue can? I spend a lot of time talking with my clients (while drinking Coke Zero, of course) about their career goals and strategies to help them get there. Before we can figure out how to get to the goal, though, we need to know from where we are starting, and you need to know it about yourself. An important part of that is understanding what you are all about. What skills do you have? What are you great at? What do you love to do? What do you stand for? Are you Coke, Pepsi or a generic cola in a plain bottle? Unfortunately, many have trouble with this conversation.
Think about people who are accomplished in their fields. Steve Jobs is a driven genius who leads his company to create amazing technology that people don’t just want to buy and own. They lust after it. They have to have it. They stand in line for it. The Jobs brand is something that people expect to see and are disappointed if they don’t get it at the big Apple events. There is nothing fuzzy or uncertain about the Jobs brand.
John C. Maxwell is another person with a strong brand. If you are in any kind of a leadership position and haven’t read his books, I recommend that you get one, read it and use it. Today. Maxwell is a leadership guru who provides his readers with useful and inspiring tools that leaders can use immediately. Again, he has a strong brand that is compelling and offers value.
What is your brand? What does it say about you? What can you say about it? Are you seen as a tenacious, results-driven executive who builds effective teams that have delivered year-over-year growth for each of the last seven years, or are you a business manager with seven years of experience? Do you see the difference? Are you the former or the latter? Are you a real brand representing value, or a no name with no brand equity: buyer beware? Take some time and clarify that for yourself now. Your future depends on it.
Work: Getting It & Keeping It 