Image From the Inside Out

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Image From theInside Out

• Vickie Austin
• CHOICES Worldwide
• Women in Environmental Management
• Harper College
• August 1, 2005

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First, Who Do You Say You Are?

• How would you describe yourself?
• How would your friends describe you?
• Family?
• Co-workers?
• Colleagues?
• Competitors?

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Its Whats Inside that Counts

• What are your personal values?
• What gets you out of bed in the morning?
• What are you skills, attributes, passions?
• If you had a tagline, what would it be?
• Whats your brand?

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The Brand Called YOU!

• Job security went out with the gold watch!
• We need to think of ourselves as free
  agentseven (especially) if were employed
• Each job/contract/client is an opportunity to
  learn and improve your brand

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What exactly is a brand?

• First of all, what it ISNT
• 1. A word, name, symbol etc. esp. one legally
  registered as a trademark, used by a manufacturer
  or merchant to identify its products
  distinctively from others of the same type and
  usually prominently displayed on its goods, in
  advertising, etc. 2. A product, line of
  products or service bearing a widely known brand
  name. 3. informal. A person notable or famous,
  esp. in a particular field.
• Random House English Dictionary

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Brand Experience

• A brand is a perception or emotion,
  maintained by a buyer or a prospective buyer,
  describing the experience related to doing
  business with an organization or consuming its
  products or services.
• --David McNally and Karl D. Speak
• Be Your Own Brand

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The New Brand World Definition

• Today, a brand is, if it is any thing, the
  result of a synaptic process in the brain.
• Branding is about taking something common and
  improving upon it in ways that make it more
  valuable and meaningful.

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Thats a Promise

• A brand is an experience, a promise, a warranty.
  A brand is shorthand. Think
• Starbucks
• The Ritz-Carlton
• McDonalds
• Nike

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What is your brand?

• Your brand is a perception or emotion, maintained
  by somebody other than you, that describes the
  total experience of having a relationship with
  you.

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Personal Brand Authenticity

• Purpose
• Vision
• Values

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Purpose

• Why are you here?
• Who do you serve?
• Who (and what) are you interested in?
• Hint Its rarely about you.

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Vision

• What do you want to create?
• What do you believe in?
• What do you want to contribute?
• Hint Its rarely about you.

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Values

• What do you hold to be true?
• What (or who) do you connect to?
• What is at the core of your belief system?
• Hint Strong personal brands are built on
  enduring relationships that reflect your values.

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A Strong Brand Is

• Distinctive
• Stands for something and has a point of view
• Relevant
• Connects to what someone else considers to be
  important
• Consistent
• People believe in a relationship based on
  consistency of behaviors experienced or observed

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Distinctive

• Decide what you believe in
• Commit yourself to acting on those beliefs
• THIS IS A COURAGEOUS ACT!
• Your personal brand is based on your values, not
  the other way around.

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Relevant

• What you stand for is relevant to someone else
• Begins when a person believes you understand and
  care about whats important to them
• Relevance is something we earn by the
  importance others place on what we do for them
  and how well we do it.

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Consistency

• Hallmark of all strong brands
• You only get credit for what you do
  consistently
• Established by dependability of behavior
• Based on actions, not intentions
• Inconsistency weakens brands and suspends belief.

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• A brand is a living entity, and it is
  enriched or undermined cumulatively over time,
  the product of a thousand small gestures.
• -- Michael Eisner,CEO
• Disney

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The Good, the Bad the Ugly

• A brand is the sum of the good, the bad,
  the ugly and the off-strategy, defined by your
  best product as well as your worst product.by
  your best employee as well as by the mishaps of
  the worst hire you ever made. by the music your
  customers are subjected to when placed on hold

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• Brands are sponges for content, for images,
  for fleeting feelings. They become psychological
  concepts, held in the minds of the public, where
  they may stay forever. As such you cant
  entirely control a brand. At best you only guide
  and influence it.

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Personal Brand Dimension Model
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Role

• Basic nature of the relationship
• Friend? Neighbor? Client? Vendor?
• What do you need to do to capably meet someones
  basic expectations?

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Your roles?

• Leader
• Teacher
• Sister
• Manager
• Writer
• Mentor
• Spokesperson

• Mother
• Daughter
• Girl Scout Leader
• Soccer coach
• Senator
• Rotarian
• Chief executive officer

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Standards

• How do you deliver your roles?
• Level of performance we are willing to adhere to
  consistently
• Makes your brand image much more specific

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Your standards

• Reliable
• Assertive
• Strong opinions
• Disciplined
• Traditional
• Independent

• Consensus-oriented
• Nonjudgmental
• Focused
• Take-charge
• Committed
• Collaborative

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Style

• The manner in which we communicate and interact
  with others
• How we personalize our roles within the context
  of performance standards
• The emotional image developed as we interact with
  others
• Not just first impressions but through repeated
  contacts!

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Your style

• Energetic
• Enthusiastic
• Professional
• Fun
• Conservative
• Intense

• Aggressive
• Forthright
• Easy-going
• Extroverted
• Commanding
• Flexible

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Speaking of style Are you due for your
3,000-mile check-up?

• Health wellness
• Exercise
• Sleep
• RR
• Well woman check-ups (dentist, OB/GYN, etc.)
• Hair
• Make-up
• Clothing, jewelry, accessories
• And remember EVERYTHINGs an accessory!

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Your Power, Your Presence

• Your 100-watt smile
• Your power hand-shake
• Your posture presence
• See people eye-to-eye (unless culturally
  inappropriate)
• Whats in a name? Everything!
• Practice business card etiquette, Japanese-style

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Aligning With Your Employers Brand

• Medtronic patient success stories shared during
  meetings
• FedEx Focus on the contents
• Alcoa Leadership affecting global markets
• Habitat for Humanity The people, not the process

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Stand By Your Brand

• Recognize and manage Brand Moments
• Strong brands attract allies
• Your commitment will be tested
• Deal with the ordinary as well as the
  extraordinary

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10 Steps for a Strong Brand

• Develop and refine a personal brand manifesto.
• Be brand proud.
• Audit your brand promises.
• Be authentic.
• Make sure the signals you send convey relevance
  to others.

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10 Steps for a Strong Brand, contd

• Consistency, consistency, consistency.
• Ensure your package reflects your contents.
• Great brands are known by the company they keep.
• Synchronize your brand with your employers (or
  sign out).
• Count relationships as part of your asset base.

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Last words onKeeping Your Brand Relevant

• Keep learning
• Take time to read
• Attend seminars and workshops
• Stay current in your field, update skills
• Hang with your posse (Women in Environmental
  Management!)
• Create an Advisory Board
• Ask them to guide you in staying relevant

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Keeping Your Brand Relevant, contd

• Go on retreat/sabbatical
• Exercise
• Prayer and meditation (Give it up to the Higher
  Power)
• Network, network, network
• Count your blessings!

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Thank you!

• If youd like to be part of my Golden Rolodex
• Vickie Austin
• CHOICES Worldwide
• 411 W. Wesley
• Wheaton, IL 60187
• vaustin_at_choicesworldwide.com
• www.choicesworldwide.com
• With offices in Chicago and Phoenix