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Personal Branding 2
Margot Katz is an author, an international business consultant and an expert on personal branding. Margot encourage women to “turn up the volume” and “be bloody good”. For TheNextWomen she provides us in reply to our questions with an extract from her latest book: Tarzan & Jane, how to thrive in the new corporate jungle published by Profile Books. Set forth below is part II.
Does it make sense to write your personal brand down in a personal mission statement or your resume?
Personally, I’m not in favour of anything that smacks of inauthenticity. You must be natural and able to build rapport with people and anything too scripted might get in the way. That being said, it is a good idea to be clear about your key messages and to deliver them with confidence using fresh, punchy language. Be engaged yourself; enthusiasm and passion are infectious and make engaging with you fun, energising, inspiring, and memorable.
When it comes to the written word, including your resume, you need to work even harder to jump off the page. So what you say should absolutely reflect your brand – what you’re looking for, who you are and what you bring to the table.
Any specific tips for women? How can women rise above the male crowd in the internet industry?
The more I talk to people (and I talk to thousands of people across all sectors across the globe) about their success, their hopes, their dreams and concerns, the less I hear about gender. And generally, the women who really want to be on top are. The real issue is much more to do with being yourself and creating your own distinctive brand. But there are differences between the male and female cultures: different values, different languages and different rules of engagement. So, some top tips about mastering ‘male speak’ so you can rise above the crowd:
· Be concise; don’t ramble
· Be bold; stand up and be counted
· Be decisive; give your opinion & don’t weigh up all of the options out loud
· Be positive; don’t talk about all your-self doubt
· Be business-like; don’t mother
· Be proactive; don’t complain without having a solution
Which women do you know with a strong personal brand in the internet industry?
Meg Whitman comes to mind. She is one of only seven women to have been repeatedly ranked among the world’s most influential people by Time magazine. Not many people can claim that.
What’s does the most damage to our personal brand?
Inconsistency, incongruence & inauthenticity. You must do what you say. You must act according to your brand being true to who you are and what’s important to you. Leaders who declare that they are always there for their people should make sure they’re not postponing meetings, or taking calls instead of listening.
Very often our behavior gives out the wrong messages about us, and the impressions
people have are not what we mean at all:
· We may be shy and by holding back others may perceive us as hard or aloof
· We may be razor-sharp analysts but by working at a messy desk others may perceive us as unfocused
See yourself through others’ eyes and make sure everything adds up to how you want to come across
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