Create Your Brand at Work

I write about careers so much because your career is your greatest asset. With a stellar career, you're not only happier, but you also have a huge financial advantage over those who don't have a great job.

Penelope Trunk, author of Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success, has recently written on how you can build your brand at work. The highlights:

It's true that you'll never be as big a brand as Nike or Apple, but your brand is much more important than theirs, because your brand is what will feed you and clothe you and keep your life stable. And just as specialized brands are always the most successful, specialists have the best careers.

FYI, for those of you interested in what a personal brand actually is, check out this definition.

Trunk goes on to give three steps to creating your own brand including:

1. Know what you're very good at.
2. Know what people think of you.
3. Meet the right people.

A few thoughts on this issue:

1. Much of your career success depends on how you market yourself. Of course you need to deliver results too -- that goes without saying. But the people who really drive their careers (and thus their incomes) are also good at marketing themselves (either on purpose or by accident.) They, in effect, develop a brand of being successful, competent, a go-getter and so on. And as successes pile up, the brand is reinforced. Promotions, pay raises and the like soon follow.

2. Marketing is especially important in your job search as it will help you get a better job at a higher pay than someone who doesn't market themselves correctly. But don't forget your responsibility to your career that you also need to market yourself where you are now. Ignore this at your own peril.

3. Here's a suggestion I've found useful: determine what someone who was really successful at your job would do. What would he accomplish? What would she dress like? How would she handle various issues? What would he do when faced with the issues you're faced with? Think these through, write them down, then blend them with your personality and likes (after all, you have to be you, not someone else) to get a list of to-dos. Now, act these out on a daily basis and your brand will form around you -- the brand of a successful person in your job. As you get promoted or change jobs, do this over and over again and you'll be successful at creating a great brand for yourself.

Comments

[Awesome Hamburger Flipper]

Somehow I doubt the best hamburger flipper in the world has a huge financial advantage over the worst hamburger flipper.

[FMF]

Flipper --

Probably not. But if that's your "career", you may want to read my other thoughts on managing your career. There are probably some ideas there that will get your career jump started.

[BradM]

The best pancake flipper, that I have seen, owned the place!
The best hamburger flipper, that my Grandma babysat for, owned 3 Burger Kings....He started out flipping burgers, early in his life.

[Mrs. Micah]

When it comes to clothes, I take my cue from bosses. Then I try to find my own style within that tier of professionalism.

So at a library I dressed casually (though no t-shirts or jeans or sneakers). At this job I dress somewhere between business professional and business casual. I tend to wear a suit.

And at my next job, it'll probably be knit tops and black slacks. (at least, that's what the ladies I observed were wearing).

[Awesome Hamburger Flipper]

Nah, I've already blown my career, and now I'm too old and unadvanced to be taken seriously by an employer for a good job.

I'm one of those bedsitter people who look back and lament, another day's useless energy spent.

[fathersez]

Yes, this is a very valid post.

We must work towards creating a brand for ourselves.

And I believe that the brand we seek for ourselves should be for "trustworthiness and dependability."

Technical skills, unless you are the Grand Kahuna of finding the 17th root of a 2 million, integer, can always be taught or learnt.

Cheers

[anon]

awesome hamburger flipper ---cry me a river. wah wah wah

[annab]

@hamburger

I dunno about your logic ...I was the best latte jock at my go-nowhere job, and I didn't make a million, but I got great tips! And then more responsibility, so more $$. Again, not a million, but better than where I started. :)

And I would pay good money for an awesome burger, cause you sure can't find them in my end of vegantown, lol.

[Ed]

Awesome Hamburger Flipper sounds like Minimum Wage in disguise!

[J]

Also, the people that tend to market themselves usually do less actual work than their co-workers who don't market themselves. It usually ends up the marketers are promoted and delegate their work to their former peers.