Brand You – a smartengineer view

by | Feb 18, 2016

If there is nothing very special about your work, no matter how hard you apply yourself you won’t get noticed, and increasingly that means you won’t get paid that much either. Cold hard truth – be special or be spurned – Tom Peters
‘You have something they don’t’ – Libby Wagner

Tom Peters and Libby Wagner offer two sides of the same coin. On the one hand Tom states that you need to be special, yet Libby counters that you are already special (unique). However, with both the obvious point is that other people need to be able to see/ identify this specialty. (In addition they need to value it also which leads to another question of are you in the right place?)

Back to reputation or Brand you. What you are known for, your reputation, your brand is key in the world of business where competition is real and people make decisions on your future. Rest assured you will be spoken about throughout the year so helping shape these conversations is a good thing. Many of you now will be familiar with Dorie Clark’s and her helpful advice on what themes can help guide your DAP (see NCE article). She offers another useful tips (see her book Reinventing You)  on your brand and her process is simple:

Dorie Clark’s steps to reinventing your brand (taken from Reinventing you):

 

  • Discover your brand
  • Decide what you want to be known for
  • Work towards creating/ manifesting your brand – not what you say but what you live

Extract from Brand You by Tom Peters:

 

  • I am known for (2/3 items) – next year I will be known for?
  • My public recognition programme consists of?
Whichever approach you take it is worth ending on some more wise words from Dorie …’It’s no longer whether you fit in – now the importance is about what is your difference, what can you bring to the table that no one else can’. Good luck and remember you are already ahead of the pack because you’ve read this article!