We all need a calling card and branding yourself is THAT card. “Branding” goes beyond the traditional thought of the concept. It is more important than ever that we, as women, brand ourselves in business and the workplace. To keep things simple, let’s discuss five key personal branding examples, strategies, or postures if you will, you should practice and master to take you to the next level: channel drive, be aware, be strategic, be a servant leader, and set boundaries.

Personal branding examples and why it is important

Why is your personal brand so important to your success and your career, regardless of whether you are an entrepreneur or an employee? What are the first steps you can take to build your personality brand? How do you easily find out which topic your personal brand can stand for? You can get all the answers about building your personal brand here!

They say a company’s brand is what people tell about it behind its back. And the same is true for you. Yes, you are a brand too! Your personal brand is your reputation.  Why is personal branding so important? Regardless of whether you are an entrepreneur, manager or employee – your personal brand is there, whether you want it or not. It belongs to your personal human capital.

Your personal brand is part of your personal net worth, as the Americans would say. The last time I checked, I read that the Oprah Winfrey personal brand is said to be worth $ 2.5 billion. Or take Greta Thunberg: She sharpened her personal brand by sitting in front of the Swedish parliament for a long time with a sign in her hands, with a high media impact. It’s up to you to build and optimize your personal brand – just like you optimize your company’s brand.

Why, as an entrepreneur, you should build your personal brand:

• Partner and customer acquisition, as well as sales, will be easier for you.
• You will attract better employees to your company. Remember: the best talent picks their bosses – not the product or company name.
• This is how your personal brand works for you as a manager.
• You will inspire better employees and colleagues for your team.
• Doing business with partners and customers will be easier for you.

Why, as an employee, you should sharpen your personal brand

• Your market price will rise and you will be able to ask for a higher salary.
• You will find it easier to get the cooler jobs.
• You will regularly receive exciting job offers from other companies and headhunters.
• You will be able to assert yourself better against other candidates on the job market.
• Internally, it will be easier for you to climb the corporate ladder and assert yourself against other colleagues.

So, think about it for a moment. What do you stand for with your name? What is your heart issue? What do you feel safe in? What are the things that you are particularly good at, that make you and your experience special and unique?

Personal Branding Examples and Strategies

Personal branding example 1: Channel drive

Drive is your inner personal work ethic. By nature, women are predisposed to drive and therefore primed for success. It is ours to believe and achieve. We are multi-taskers by nature—quick thinkers, creative, and dedicated. We have been blessed with the capability to juggle, as well as make something out of nothing. We are divergent thinkers. Understand it, own it, value it. Then bottle and sell it with your execution and performance! When your drive is where it needs to be, you will laugh off any challenge.

Personal branding example 2: Be aware

Being aware or observant allows you to anticipate and predict outcomes to better prepare and respond. It is a proactive posture, instead of reactive, like most people and entities. In your observations, think divergently with a 360° view of your experience and knowledge. Mastering the skill of observance will enable foresight and heighten your ability to anticipate challenges for a more holistic and sustainable solution to a problem. It will also set you apart with distinction.

Personal branding example 3: Be strategic

Be strategic in your thinking and doing. Women think strategically everyday and likely do not process what they’re doing. When you multitask, you are thinking strategically from an operational standpoint and planning on the fly, but you are focused on the minutia. Take time to plan. Write it down. Read books on perspective, mindset, and base strategy. When you process reality and understand how things work, you will be able to manage your reality, formulate strategy, and put your strategic plan in motion for success!

Personal branding example 4: Be a servant leader

Don’t let the word “servant” hang you up. The combo simply identifies a disposition and/or quality of service. Quality of service means you’re setting a high bar for yourself above the norm that you will strive for, maintain, and keep yourself accountable to (leader), placing the person(s) being served first (servant). Customers are our lifeblood no matter your industry. You always have customers, even if it’s a colleague or others internal to your business or an organization that you are providing a service to. It’s a mindset. Your product and the service you provide from communication to the deliverable will determine how well you will be received, viewed, and in turn, affect your success.

Personal branding example 5: Set boundaries

Boundaries are healthy. Say it with me—BOUNDARIES ARE HEALTHY. Boundaries are NOT walls. Boundaries help manage your reality. Be mindful of precedents that you set. It is easy for high performers to get themselves into trouble in the proverbial “catch 22”, so setting boundaries is important. Boundaries are not to say that you do not go above and beyond; they are to set expectations and respect in understanding who you are and what you will do. Men do this all the time in negotiating career promotion, so why shouldn’t you? Boundaries also foster healthy work-life relations. People will try your boundaries. Keep to them. Boundaries do not preclude work ethic nor service quality. As long as you maintain those, boundaries will maintain your work morale.

The calling card

These five personal branding examples will make up your calling card, your personal brand of who you will be known as. If convincing in it, employers will respect you for it and remember you; customers will love, refer, and return to you; and people, in general, will appreciate you for it because they can expect consistency. Brand yourself and walk unapologetically in it!