Elevate Your Leadership Brand & Presence – Insights from Executives
Defining your leadership brand is a powerful tool to elevate your executive presence and excel in your career. Honing in on your goals and your purpose to define that brand will directly help you understand yourself more clearly, communicate better, and create a path that you want for your career. You will be able to share the story of who you are and what you stand for which can help bring about opportunities aligned with your goals.
ModelExpand hosted a panel on this very topic with executives from Salesforce, ILMxLab Lucasfilm, One Medical, and Andersen Corporation to share advice and insights on how they defined their leadership brands and executive presence in an authentic way, which ultimately helped them in their career growth.
Click play to watch the Event Recording below!
Here were some key takeaways shared by our panelists:
We all have a personal brand that defines us, and we can continue to cultivate it.
Your personal brand is what you think about yourself and what others think about you. Ask for feedback from your colleagues and friends of how they perceive you. As your personal brand develops, you can also cultivate it - it’s about intention and being authentic to you.
Take note of adjectives you want to use to help define your leadership brand.
It’s never too early or too late to build and cultivate your leadership brand. Do a reflective exercise by googling a list of adjectives that describe a person, and print it out. Circle the adjectives that resonate with you, and ones that you want others to say about you. Ask yourself - do you demonstrate these qualities at work? In your personal life?
Shift your perspective of your challenges and shortcomings, and lean into what makes you unique.
Stop focusing on what you don’t have or the skills/knowledge you lack. Instead, lean into what makes you unique and leverage these strengths as characteristics you are known for.
Every year or two, lean into self-awareness. Ask yourself: what lights you up and gives you energy? On the flip side to that, what drains you? By reflecting on these questions, saying them out loud, and writing them down, you’ll be more in tune with who you are, and what your personal brand exudes.
Be in an environment where you feel supported and heard.
It’s important to work in an environment where you feel seen, heard, and valued. When thinking about the company you want to work at, ask questions to gauge if it’s an inclusive environment where you can thrive. Some helpful questions to ask are: How are meetings run? Who presents to the CEO? How does leadership make sure processes are inclusive and all voices are heard in the room?
It’s also helpful to build your support crew - folks who you can rely on to give you tangible feedback, and help you navigate through challenges. This can include a sponsor who looks like you, or even people outside of your organization.
Tailor your messages to the right audience.
As a leader, you’ll interact with different audiences and it’s important to think about how you show up in different settings while staying grounded in who you are. For example, your style of communication can pivot when presenting to a CEO or a group of interns. Cater to your audience and the messaging you want to convey, and present information the best way for them to receive it.
Building confidence as a leader includes preparation and having a clear point of view.
Some key strategies to consider when building your confidence before a presentation or meeting is centered around preparation. Be clear about what your point of view is and what you want your key takeaways to be. Jot them down, practice your delivery, and say it out loud repeatedly until you feel more confident and comfortable.
In addition, know who you are, what you stand for - what are you willing to compromise? What are you not willing to compromise? This will give you more clarity and confidence when sharing your thoughts and ideas.
Resources
Reinventing You: Define Your Brand, Imagine Your Future, Book by Dorie Clark
What’s Your Leadership Brand? A Leading Effectively Staff Article
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