The more you grow as a leader, the more important it is that you craft and manage your own personal brand story. A personal brand story is much more than the facts found on a resume or CV: what you’ve done, and where and when you’ve done it. Rather, it’s about who you’ve become through your experiences, what you’ve learned from them, and what you have come to think, believe in and value. In other words, your personal brand story is not just reporting information about yourself. It’s about positioning yourself and enlightening others as to what they can expect from you as a colleague, a partner, and a leader.
In past blog posts and in our business storytelling training workshops, I teach the importance of managing your own personal brand story. Central to what I share is the realization that if you don’t take control of your own brand story, others may do that for you, and it might not be the story you want being told. An effective approach to managing your personal brand story is to…
First, define the core elements and threads of your personal brand story. Take some time to consider things like who you are; where you are in life and your career; what you’ve come to think, believe and value; what new opportunities or growing edges do you want to lean into; what do you want your legacy to be; etc. These are loftier, more philosophical questions, so don’t expect to answer them in one sitting. They require some careful thought, deep introspection, discussions with others who know you…and the time for to really think through these things.
Second, search for exemplary stories that bring the threads of your personal brand story to life. These could be stories of when you formed these beliefs, perspective or values, stories of when you’ve been able to apply them, or stories of when you’ve benefited from others doing so. They could be stories from your childhood, schooling, young adult years, early career, etc. They could be stories of great success and accomplishment and/or stories of great struggle and set-back.
Third, share your personal brand stories with key audiences to give them a better sense of who you are. In doing so, always think strategically about the stories that you’re sharing. Don’t just consider the story, but also the desired impact you want that story to have on an audience and the message or idea you want them to take-away from it. This is the strategic approach to storytelling we teach in our business storytelling training workshops, and it’s central to making sure you are always telling the right story for the audience and situation versus just telling any story.
In the spirit of the third and final stage referenced above, there are several instances when you can and should share your personal brand stories with others.
Sharing Personal Brand Stories when Interviewing
A key driver for any interview is the desire to genuinely get to know the person sitting across from you. And one of the best ways you can enlighten that other party is through the stories you tell: stories about key experiences that taught you something and helped turn you into the person and professional you are today. This is especially true for more open-ended interview questions — e.g., “Tell me about a time when…” or “What do you think are…?” Sharing personal brand stories is not only something the interviewee should be considering, but also the interviewer, providing the candidate with a better idea of who you are as a potential manager or colleague.
When Mentoring, Coaching, or Course-Correcting
The lessons you’ve learned throughout your working (or personal) life and the stories you tell about those wisdom-generating experiences are great material for mentoring or coaching others. This is especially true if you see someone struggling with something that you struggled with in the past. You could tell a relevant, reflective story of how you overcame that setback and what you learned or realized through that experience. Sharing these personal brand stories can also be effective if you’re trying to course-correct someone who is under-performing, because storytelling can provide a less threatening way to bring a shortcoming or challenge to life for that team member, lowering their defences, helping them more clearly see what you see, and be more open to a change in behaviour or attitude.
When Starting a New Leadership Position
When you’re the new manager or supervisor, people reporting up to you will naturally want to know more about you: who you are, what you believe in or envision, and what drives and motivates you. More specifically, your new team, colleagues, and partners will want to better understand not only the expectations you set for yourself, but also, by association, what you expect from them. In these early, getting-to-know-you situations (e.g., town halls, initial team meetings or one-on-one’s, offsites, etc.), sharing one or two of your personal brand stories is a great way to connect with others in a more human and meaningful way. It also helps them understand how you show up at work and what they can expect from you. To be clear, telling one or two of these stories won’t give them the whole picture, but it will give an early preview of the picture they can except to see over time.
Crafting, managing, and sharing your personal brand story is not a light endeavour, but it is an important one. It is also an undertaking that comes with some understandable risks, but even more enduring rewards. Because when you define who you are and what you stand for, like any strong brand does, that definition and positioning will act like a magnet, attracting those who belong with you and, frankly, repelling those who do not.
To be clear, there will always be people, companies, organizational cultures that aren’t a good fit for you. And that’s ok. On the other hand, there will be even more who are the right fit for you, and you will find each other, complement, fulfill, and inspire each other, and do amazing things together.
Bill Baker is the founder and principal of BB&Co Strategic Storytelling. For over 15 years, BB&Co has been providing Effective Presentation Skills and Business Storytelling training to organizations such as Coca-Cola, Cisco, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, GE, Dell, Prudential, and others.
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