From spotlight politician to silent bureaucrat: Awareness of your personal brand is crucial for your mission.
As a professional in the political field, you stand for something.
Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.
Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers of the United States.
Whenever I host an event, I automatically pay attention to professionals whose personal touch demonstrates their personality. How they interact, what their point of view is, how they come across, what is their tone-of-voice verbally and how do they behave non-verbally. This all adds up to: what is their Personal Brand?
As a Personal Branding entrepreneur, event host and moderator, my passion is to motivate professionals that have difficulties understanding their skill set, to discover why they do what they do and what they stand for. And then learn how to convey this message authentically and consistently. With the result to craft an authentic and consistent Personal Brand.
STATISTICS: investing in your personal brand pays off
A study by the University of Maryland, United States found that politicians who are active on social media have higher approval ratings than those who are not. Another study by Edelman found that 65% of voters say that a candidate’s personal brand is just as important as their political platform. Overall, personal branding is becoming increasingly crucial in the political environment. Politicians, representatives who invest in their personal brand are likely to see positive results in terms of network expansion, career opportunities, (voter) support and fundraising.
A personal brand is also crucial if your are not a politician
Knowing your personality, skill set, beliefs and opinions is not only applicable for politicians. To be honest with you, a Personal Branding strategy is a necessity to every professional.
People do business with people they trust. They buy things – be it a used car, a policy or your opinion – because of who you are in their eyes. Your personality is your trademark. Therefore, a personal leadership brand is essential as it helps people understand and identify you. Based on your brand, people can anticipate your priorities and set expectations in given circumstances. A personal brand is the leadership image you want the world to know. Another advantage is that it boosts your career and more importantly your confidence.
It starts with awareness
My mission is simply to raise awareness and create brain circulation with Personal Branding.
Whether you like it or not, if you have a career… you are a walking Personal Brand.
During my workshops and masterclasses, my intrinsic interest in people always asks the question behind the question. I don’t take the first answer as your answer. Because there’s always a deeper layer to be found.
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF
Let me help you with questions and make a first start with clarifying your personality.
1. What are your motivations for becoming a professional in the political field, such as a representative, a project manager, communication manager, policy- maker or analyst?
2. What is the force that drives you and why?
3. Why do you do what you do?
4. And why is that?
5. A talent is a natural ability to do something outstanding and flow automatically. What are your talents?
6. How do you interact at events?
7. What message do you want to convey during events whilst networking and socializing?
8. You have a network of people around you. How do you build and grow your network?
9. What are your personal goals?
10. And why are these your goals?
Congratulations, this is the start of mastering your personality in order to build your Personal Brand and consistently communicate this to the world.
COMMUNICATION
As I wrote before, people do business with people they trust.
Trust is based on communication. Communication is a necessity for building business relationships.
Without communication and trust, you have nothing.
People are social beings and we visit events for a variety of reasons.
Some of the main ones include:
1. Socializing and networking. Many people attend events to meet new people. Networking events and conferences provide opportunities to connect with like-minded individuals in your industry, make new business contacts, and learn about new trends and developments.
2. Learning and education. People attend these events to gain new knowledge, skills, insights and to stay up-to-date on the latest developments.
There it is! Exactly my point that doing business all comes back to your personality.
Because your personality is your trademark. Make it personal!
