In part one and part two of this series, I talked about the first ingredients 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, and Traits, then add in your Passion, and top it off with your Accomplishments.
Okay, let’s talk for a bit about these last two ingredients. You do know what you’re passionate about, right? Hey, maybe you don’t. It’s okay. 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 once asked a client what she enjoys doing in her spare time, and she remarked, “What spare time?”
Anyway, I get it. But you’re taking the time to think about it now – yay! Pat yourself on the back.
Anyway, if you are struggling to answer the outright question, “What is my passion?” then I suggest you answer this really good question instead: “What do I enjoy doing so much that I lose track of time?” or perhaps you prefer this variation: “What tasks do I enjoy that energize me?”
Yes, it’s as simple as that. Answering “What makes me lose track of time?” or put another way, “What can I do all day long that it energizes me, and I still have energy at the end of the day?” will, in effect, answer the question “What is my passion?” But what’s great is that these variations will help you narrow the focus to work-related passion.
Excellent! Now, on to the final ingredient… Let’s look 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. But, hey, like the old saying goes, “It ain’t braggin’ if it’s true.”
And that’s the point. We’re looking for evidence, not so we can brag (though we ARE going to be expected to discuss our accomplishments when it comes time to look for a job or during our performance review), but so that we can clearly point to our personal brand. That’s because when we show up and do that thing we do – when we carry out our “promise of value” – well, then we WILL create value. We WILL get results.
What you want to do is think about when you made got results and made a positive impact on your team, customers, community, the bottom line, etc. in a way that let you use both your career assets and your passion. So, go ahead and answer the question, “What is my proudest professional accomplishment?”
After you’ve inventoried your career assets and answered these question about passion and accomplishments, 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.
On that note, I want to leave you with some of his comments from the article, and I love how he doesn’t pull any punches, getting right into the heart of the matter here!
He says: “…if you’re really smart, you figure out how to distinguish yourself from all the other very smart people walking around with $1,500 suits, high-powered laptops, and well-polished resumes. Along the way, if you’re really smart, you figure out what it takes to create a distinctive role for yourself — you create a message and a strategy to promote the brand called You.”
And he goes on: “Start right now: as of this moment you’re going to think of yourself differently! You’re not an “employee” of General Motors, you’re not a “staffer” at General Mills, you’re not a “worker” at General Electric or a “human resource” at General Dynamics (ooops, it’s gone!). Forget the Generals! You don’t “belong to” any company for life, and your chief affiliation isn’t to any particular “function.” You’re not defined by your job title and you’re not confined by your job description. Starting today you are a brand.”