I just finished putting together a
presentation for the College of Healthcare Executives national conference
in Chicago. It is about personal branding and will be presented to
students. That got me thinking. Healthcare workers have a hard time
grasping that individuals have a brand identity. After all they will tell
me we are healthcare workers. We care about others. We put others first.
That is true. But here is great quote from Jim Rohn – “If you work hard at
a job you can make a living. If you work hard on yourself you can make a
fortune.” So from a career standpoint, whether in a position or searching,
realizing and portraying yourself as a brand puts you miles ahead of
others. It also helps build confidence and that carries over to how you go
about your job and how it is perceived by those you care for daily. And as
a new year begins who better to concentrate on then yourself. So comfort
yourself in knowing that by cultivating your brand you will ultimately be
a better caregiver for it and that will mean satisfied patients/residents,
which reflects on your organization and on your career development. Think
personal brand doesn’t matter? According to two professors at the
University of California, the stocks of companies who sponsor Tiger Woods
dropped anywhere from $5 to $12 billion following those “transgressions.”
Take a Stance and Have a Position
The first thing in developing your
personal brand is to develop your position. Strong brands convey a certain
promise or trust, a commitment to performance and quality. They have a
perceived value and you have expectations of them. When they meet those
expectations and keep their promise you have a satisfied customer. When
they do it time and again that creates brand loyalty. Like Apple.
What do you stand for? To help you
figure it out:
·
Perform a SWOT analysis on
yourself.
·
Form perceptual links
between what you are doing and what you want to do when no clear link
exists.
·
Know future trends and
anticipate what might be coming.
Be the first at something as Julie
Child was and Michael Dell. Invent a new process. What do people want that
they don’t have now? What do they complain about? What problems out there
have not been solved and needs not met? These are opportunities to
position you.
Likewise, you can take a more
provocative approach by taking the anti-position. Michael Moore does it in
his documentaries. I to an extent do it in my blogging when I write about
patient and resident experience or about how hospitals market.
A great example of how to position
yourself is Jay Parkinson, M.D. He is not just a family practitioner but a
guy who essentially invented a blue collar concierge medicine approach
that then attracted venture capital and resulted in
Hello Health. He surveyed the marketplace, saw the future, anticipated
trends and now is helping others and making a fine living.
To further stimulate:
·
Look outside your industry
for best practices.
·
Know your industry beyond
your current niche.
Package Yourself
Before you say a single word, people
size you up. And negative initial information that they perceive is hard
to overcome. So how you dress, talk, and present are all important. Look
at how Martha Stewart took a poncho that a fellow inmate made and made a
statement about herself in the process. She was saying. I’m back on top. I
bonded with my fellow prisoners. I can pluck style out of anywhere. So
even if you have a certain “uniform” that you wear, it doesn’t mean you
can’t own it. Bono has his sunglasses; Larry King his suspenders.
·
What is your look?
·
When you open your mouth
and speak, what does that convey about your brand?
·
Are you a good listener?
·
Do you have your own
“elevator speech” to present yourself to others?
Even your work environment can say a
lot about you. In fact according to the University of Texas, people are
remarkably accurate at guessing one another’s personality by looking at
their desks.
·
What does your desk
communicate about you the brand, your interests, passions, talents,
values?
·
What business tools do you
use?
·
What do you bring to a
meeting?
·
How do you communicate?
Now Market You
A position and a package are nothing
if you do not market it and that boils down to relationships.
Relationships you have and relationships you want to develop.
·
Form or join a
mastermind group.
·
Craft your online
presence. I will share more of this and what I have done in future
issues. Bottom line, your online identity needs to be CONSISTENT!
Take some time for you this year. When
you do, it will benefit everyone around you. Happy New Year.
