by Angela Loëb
In part one and two I talked about the first ingredient of your brand – your skills, talents and traits. In part three, I’m going to tell you about the last two ingredients that go into making your individual brand… Passion and Accomplishments.
So, you have the whole recipe now.
Take your Skills/Talents/Traits, add in your Passion and top it off with your Accomplishments.
Okay, so you do know what you’re passionate about, right? Hey, maybe you’re not. I’ve learned to not make assumptions that folks know this stuff. I mean, it’s hard to find the time to sit around and self-reflect. Life is busy. Life is distracting. I asked someone recently what she enjoys doing in her spare time, and she remarked, “What spare time?”
If you don’t know what you’re passionate about because you simply haven’t taken the time to consider it, then I suggest you make the time. No one is going to figure out this stuff for you… though, wouldn’t that be nice?!
But enough digressing… really, though, if you are struggling to answer the question, “What is my passion?” then I suggest you use a variation of this really good question: “What tasks do I enjoy that energize me or that I enjoy doing so much that I lose track of time?”
On to looking at your accomplishments. Sometimes it’s hard to be objective about what we do well. First of all, we live in the skin we’re in, and it’s hard to look at ourselves from the outside. Secondly, we have been taught that it’s not polite to brag.
(I love these two Southern sayings on the topic: “It ain’t braggin’ if it’s true.” And “It’s a sad dog that can’t wag it’s tail.”)
Again, it comes down to this… if you don’t figure out this stuff, who will? So, go ahead and answer the question, “What is my proudest professional accomplishment?”
Finally, if you’re still having trouble with this part try these other questions to jog it loose:
• How have I stood out among my peers?
• How have I impacted the bottom line?
• How have I impacted productivity?
After you’ve answered these question, go read Tom Peters’ great article “The Brand Called You” online. He’ll give you further insight and tell you about making your brand visible.
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