Are you blind to your personal brand?

There’s a line from the film Chariots of Fire that my father likes to quote when he works with people who, shall we say, are ‘missing’ certain character attributes that one would think necessary in business:

“I can’t get out what God didn’t put in.”

I’m often reminded of this when I come across people who are ignorant to the fact they have a personal brand and, more importantly, the impact it’s having ie a negative one.  Because the character attribute they’re missing is the cornerstone of understanding your brand: self-awareness.

I’ve come across numerous people who seem to be blindfolded to others’ reactions, or have cotton wool in their ears so don’t hear people’s jaws hitting the floor when they say or do something wholly in appropriate.

The best place to see a lack of self-awareness in action is often in interviews – which is ironic because that’s the #1 place where you’d think someone would be marketing their personal brand to get a positive reaction and the buy-in they need to further their careers.

So why was it that the lady I interviewed for a receptionist’s position many moons ago decided to chew gum throughout our discussion?

Or that the young woman going for a job at a publishers who was asked, “Tell us about a book you’ve read and enjoyed in the last six months,” replied, “I don’t read books – I think they’re a waste of time.”

Or that the guy who was meeting his friend after the interview decided to text him while the interview was in full swing to arrange the time and place.

Or that the woman whose phone rang during the interview decided to answer it – and then had the audacity to ask the interviewer to leave the room as it was a personal call.

Each and every one of those is true and in every case, the incredulous look on the face of the interviewer and the terse tone of their voice should have been enough to bring the person’s attention to the impact of their actions.  But as the self-awareness was obviously never put in, there was never any chance it would come out.

But here’s what you need to be asking yourself:
- What’s your level of self-awareness?
- How much attention do you pay to people’s reactions to your actions?
- And how are you using your personal brand to make those reactions as positive as possible?

I’ve worked with clients whose self-perception was worlds apart from the feedback I received from others when I carried out my 360˚ report.  And from their reaction when I told them what had been said, at least a few of them had also been passed over when the self-awareness was being dished out.

The great thing is, once you have a benchmark for how you’re perceived and can measure your level of self-awareness you can do something about it. But if you’ve not sought the feedback yet, the least you can do when you meet people is remind yourself to ensure the blindfold stays off and the cotton wool is out of your ears!

And one last thing…there’s some fancy buttons below this blog that make it really easy for you to share this with other people via Twitter, Facebook and lots of other fancy online things I don’t understand. So please take a second to do so and help spread the word – thank you!