You may be thinking, “Jen, I’m not a business and I don’t need a brand.” Okay, I get how you might see it that way.

But whether you realize it or not, you have a leadership brand. The question is, have you created it by design, or was it created by default?

In my experience, I have found that this is something that women struggle with maybe a leeetle bit more than their male counterparts – I know I did for years! 

I’m not a marketing expert, and I don’t play one on TV, so my definition of a personal leadership brand probably won’t jive with what those marketing folks would say. 

But I think of a leadership brand as simply how people perceive you. It’s the promise you make – a lot like the promise of a big brand, like Coca Cola or Harley Davidson.

Jeff Bezos, who brought us Amazon (another infamous brand), says

“Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

The thing you need to remember is that everything you do is either contributing to or taking away from your brand. Your personal brand is the message you send by how you live your life. So, what message are you sending to those around you?

By building your leadership brand – intentionally and on purpose – you can tell your story in a way that highlights the competencies, qualities, and value that you bring to the organization so that you can stand out for all the RIGHT reasons.

When I work with clients to create their leadership brand, we’re not pulling something out of thin air. We’re not fabricating something. I don’t think of it as putting in what may have been left out. Rather, I think of it as drawing out what was left in.

So, ironically, the first step in designing your leadership brand – to influence how others perceive you – is going within. 

It’s identifying what makes you YOU and, as Dolly says, doing MORE of that. And I gotta tell ya, this is something I struggled with for beaucoup years. I went around trying to be who I thought I SHOULD be. You see, being from South Louisiana, SOME people think that I have an accent – which I totally don’t – and I felt like I had to mask that part of me. (I mean, let’s be honest, the media doesn’t exactly paint a pretty picture of Cajun people, and I didn’t particularly want to viewed as some ignorant, backwaters buffoon.)

I totally tried to be a generic leadership speaker and coach. (YAWN.) (BORING) 

The moral of this story is Don’t SHOULD on yourself. That is not a good look for anyone.

When you design your leadership brand on purpose, you’ll want to 

• Identify your unique qualities and highlight and accentuate those.
• Decide how you want to be perceived by others – Again maintain your authenticity, but just being intentional about how you show up so that you can influence their perception of you.
• Become obsessed with assessment. After each meeting or interaction assess how you showed up, how you carried yourself, and what language you used. Did you make strides toward creating the leadership brand that you want or did you take away from your leadership brand? Self-assessment is the most effective tool you can use to help you to continuously improve. 

Ya’ll, it’s totally your choice.

What I have come to learn – the hard way – is that

You can either create your brand or others will create it for you.

You can live a life that you’ve chosen and designed, or you can live a life that shows up by default, where you feel like it’s happening TO you. 

Personally, I want to be intentional and on purpose in all of my work and interactions so that I can use my God-given gifts and talents to positively impact the world. If you’d like to do that too, and you’d like some help in designing your leadership brand, let’s talk!

Schedule a discovery call with me today. Whether it’s my Women’s Leadership Collective, a team retreat or intensive team coaching, or private 1:1 coaching, we’ll figure out the best program to fit your needs. 

I’m posting resources like this each week on YouTube at JenniferLedet/Speaker and on LinkedIn as JenniferHLedet, so be sure to subscribe and connect with me! 

Until next time, ya’ll, be smart, be savvy, and always just a little bit sassy!

You might also like:

Women’s Leadership Collective: Flourish in the Face of Change

The Best-Kept Secret of High Performing Teams

Lead Yourself and Your Team Out of the Land of Stuck

Jennifer Ledet, CSP, is a leadership consultant and professional speaker (with a hint of Cajun flavor) who equips leaders from the boardroom to the mailroom to improve employee engagement, teamwork, and communication.  In her customized programs, leadership retreats, keynote presentations, and breakout sessions, she cuts through the BS and talks through the tough stuff to solve your people problems.