Positive personal impact is one of the keys to success that I discuss in Straight Talk for Success. If you want to create positive personal impact, you need to do three things: 1) create and nurture your unique personal brand; 2) be impeccable in your presentation of self, dress for success; and 3) know and follow the basic rules of etiquette.
Your reputation is your personal brand. In his great book, How to Build Your Reputation, Rob Brown presents a Reputation Strategies Toolkit that has 10 tools for building your reputation…
1. Expertise
2. Understanding
3. Impression
4. Action
5. Profile
6. Outcome
7. Networks
8. Traits
9. Relationship
10. Title
I’d like to concentrate on Reputation by Impression in this post. Rob says that Reputation by Impression will lead to recognition and differentiation, two key elements of a great personal brand.
Here are Rob’s suggestions for building you reputation – and personal brand by impression…
1. Use people’s names.
2. Be cooperative.
3. Be likeable.
4. Be engaging.
5. Be around.
6. Be positive.
7. Be passionate.
8. Be deliberate.
Many of these suggestions are closely related to one of the other keys to success that I discuss in Straight Talk – interpersonal competence. This makes sense, as interpersonal competence should be part of your personal brand.
I’d like to delve into Rob’s final point – be deliberate. He says that this means, “Living your life on purpose.” Living on purpose is the key to any successful personal brand. There is real power in living your life in a manner consistent to what you say is important to you.
As Rob says, “When you live on purpose, you create an attraction and a magnetism that makes you irresistible, and creates an awesome reputation.”
My purpose is to help others succeed by applying their common sense. This may seem like a modest purpose, but it is one that I was born to do. I have been fortunate in my life. I’ve been successful in academia, the corporate world, and as an entrepreneur.
I learned many common sense lessons the hard way – through experience. I want to share these
lessons with others, so they can have the value of my experience without having to experience the pain that came with many of those experiences. That’s why I write this blog and my books. That’s why I am a professional speaker. That’s why I am an executive coach.
The common sense point here is simple. Successful people create and nurture their unique personal brand. A good personal brand is built on your reputation – how others think of you. Successful people are deliberate when it comes to creating and building their personal brands. They live their live on purpose in a manner consistent with their personal brand. This results in a magnetism that is the foundation of positive personal impact.
That’s my take on personal branding and reputation. What’s yours? Please leave a comment sharing your thoughts with us. I value and appreciate all of your comments. As always, thanks for reading. If you live in the USA and haven’t already done so, please vote today.
Bud
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