5 Personal Branding Strategies to Take Charge of Your Life

Branding has come a very long way since the early days when cattle ranchers literally branded their cattle with a hot iron bearing a distinguishing mark as the animals were herded to market. Today, branding is an inescapable part of daily life, from the logos we wear to the commercial jingles we hear. That’s why it’s essential to understand personal branding strategies—so you can confidently take control of your life and shape how the world perceives you.

A big offshoot of our brand-obsessed consumer culture is the personal brand. Technically, a personal brand involves “the act of promoting yourself as a brand by crafting a distinct identity, reputation, and online presence to showcase your skills, expertise, and personality.”

We usually associate a personal brand with highly public figures. Think, for example, of Taylor Swift and her authentic storytelling that creates intimacy with fans, or Warren Buffet, the humble “sage of Omaha.”

But there’s a critical role for personal branding even if you are not a famed celebrity or a billionaire. Consciously managing and developing your own brand can significantly influence how you are perceived, the extent to which you are able to wield soft power, and empower you to set goals for future success, both personally and professionally.

As the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs once said,

“We’re not going to get a chance to get people to remember much about us, so we have to be really clear on what we want them to know about us.”

Your personal brand is indeed a projection of your best self—the self you want people to know and, importantly, to respect and admire. Think of this as a “fill up the bank account” approach, where your brand-building engenders goodwill and opportunities that you can draw upon as needed, much the way a consumer brand, like Coke, associates its product with happy, joyful social gatherings. As opposed to the “deficit withdrawal” approach, where a brand founded on, say, fear and intimidation is likely to backfire at some point and reduce your roster of allies, which in turn may curtail future opportunities.

Here are personal branding strategies to consider as you develop or refine a personal brand that aligns with your values and your goals—and fills up your goodwill bank.

5 Personal Branding Strategies to Take Charge of Your Life

1. Become the Eye of the Storm

In our highly divisive culture, arguments are as likely to break out at the dinner table as they are in the boardroom. Rather than joining the many who pile on—by say, trying to get a point across loudly and defensively—consider becoming the voice of calm in the room. You take on the role of nonpartisan negotiator with an eye toward lowering the temperature and ensuring all voices are heard—with civility. This is not easy, but it can be extremely rewarding, as people will come to depend on you as a voice of reason they can trust. You can take that to the bank.

2. Behave like a Learner, not a Knower

The notion that a leader is someone who knows more than others and can wisely point the way is outmoded in the 21st century. Behavior experts Brené Brown and Adam Grant emphasize that great leaders today ask questions; they seek to learn rather than to assume they already know all that’s needed to make decisions. “As human beings, we are neurobiologically hardwired to be seen and heard,” Brown says, which is why it’s important to be willing to listen and to learn. Keeping an open mind—and not rushing to prove you’re the smartest person in the room—is a valuable asset in one’s personal brand canon.

3. Don’t Rush to Offer Advice

When you’re eager to be a problem-solver—an admiral brand-building trait—it’s all too easy to offer advice to peers, subordinates, family members, and so forth, when it is neither solicited nor wanted. Make a habit of not offering advice the moment someone shares a problem or challenge. Listen, acknowledge their difficulty (that is, mirror back to the person what you hear them saying), and then ask, How can I help? At that point, if advice is wanted, you’ll be asked for it. This element of your personal brand will elevate your reputation as a sympathetic listener who can be trusted. That’s enormously valuable for shaping agendas at work and in one’s personal life.

4. Don’t Rush to Judgement

In our eagerness to get things done, ratchet up productivity, and move onto the next thing, we often make snap judgments about people and situations. In our hustle culture, this tendency is understandable. But it’s not doing your personal brand any favors because you may easily misinterpret information or data in your haste; overlook someone’s vital perspective; or swiftly impose your assumptions on a situation before you have all the facts. The notion of “radical empathy” comes into play here (and it has nothing to do with radical politics).

It has to do with an ability to immerse “yourself in another’s story without judgement or fear of being judged.” Withholding judgment—like withholding advice—is a powerful way to create space for others to see you in a positive light, while you to figure out what’s really going on.

5. Imagine Your Reputation Out of Earshot

“Your ears must be burning.” The phrase refers to someone who has been showered with compliments by others when they’re not around to hear them. Imagine how your personal brand in action affects others. What are they likely to say about you behind your back? What do you want them to say?

If your gut suggests your reputation isn’t fully aligned to your personal brand, it’s time for some reverse engineering: What evidence can you point to that shows how, when, and where you practice the tenets of your personal brand? Can you recall situations where you were distinctly off-brand (e.g., arguing in anger instead of bringing the voice of calm)? Watch for opportunities to active your brand where you have not done so before.

Your Brand, Your Self

Whether you aspire to become a thought leader in your field, a mentor to those coming up behind you, or as a loving, giving member of your own family, working on your personal brand is a way to intentionally cultivate the personality traits and values you wish to live by—even when the going gets tough. Your brand isn’t an on-again, off-again convenience; it defines the core of who you are and what you stand for.

The above personal branding strategies will help you develop a personal brand you can be proud of—one that others will support, stand behind, and that will spur you on to personal and professional success.