Build Your Personal Leadership Brand

WomExperts

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You might wonder how certain people always seem to be selected for certain roles of leadership among a group. Do you ever wonder what it is about such people that sets them apart? Why does it always have to be them and not others? You can picture this in relation to how consumers show bias in choosing a certain product on the market and neglect the competing ones. The popularity of the product reflects the brand strength that pulls consumers. Personality also requires effort in creating a certain outlook and image around oneself that naturally evinces the charisma and confidence of a leader. This image and outlook are what make up the personal leadership brand. How then does one define their image that constitutes their personal leadership brand?  

Step 1: Know the traits that define you and your personality 

Often, one’s image is judged by the personality they project. What do people know you for? What values define your interaction or relationship with others? As Miguel A. Quiñones indicates in his article, this step entails gathering enough information about the influence you have with people and how that casts. Based on this, you can weigh your personality attributes against ideal personality leadership traits and identify the match and mismatch. 

Step 2: Identify and acknowledge your areas of strength 

After weighing one’s personality traits and leadership brand image against ideal leadership traits, one has to recognize the aspects about him that make him excel in leadership. Franko Amy in his article about leadership attributes observes that you have to know the elements that you are good at and which have propelled your leadership, define your behaviors and determine the choices you make in directing others. This will also make you then understand how you can become even better by aspiring to fill some gaps in your leadership attributes. 

Step 3: Assess how your leadership impacts on your functions, your responsibilities, and team. 

As you have been practicing your leadership, what outcomes do you feel have come about as a result of your leadership attributes? Are the outcomes positive or negative? This step is about seeing how other people react to you. What people seem to oppose you? Who seems to be your fans? How can you define success in your role in relation to your leadership attributes?  

Step 4: Having understood your leadership style and attributes and understood them in practice compose your personal leadership statement. This is a statement that goes in line with your natural traits but triggers your leadership aspirations. It has to be a statement that can guide you daily. The statement has to identify your traits, strengths, and aspirations as a leader.  

Step 5: Develop a plan of commitment to adhere to your leadership statement.

This is meant to guide your process of internalizing leadership essentials as expressed in the statement. The plan commits you to conscious efforts to follow the actionable elements of the personal leadership statement. This builds your personal leadership brand as you tailor it towards certain outcomes such as participation, open-mindedness, team-inclusivity, etc.  

These steps guide the process of growing your personal leadership brand. It augments the strengths while identifying gaps and weaknesses. The process triggers commitments to stay true to a good and positively impactful personal leadership path.