How to create a winning personal brand

Undoubtedly, a strong and positive personal brand is of great essence to everyone looking for success, not only on their various career paths but also in life. How people perceive you as a person will determine how much they are willing to engage and work with you on various fronts, and all this will depend on how good a brand you have built as an individual.
It is for this reason that every person needs to create a winning brand that is easily marketable to those around them. However, a winning a brand is not something you go to sleep and wake up with.
According to Ann Muhangi, a life coach and managing director Wholesome Consult, a great personal brand is something you actually have to work upon. And just like Rome, it is not built in one day. Creating a winning brand is a systematic process.
“The first step is to know who you are. This involves finding out your passion, interests and the general things you like. It also involves defining what you want your purpose to be,” says Muhangi.
Innocent Mwanja, a motivational speaker and founder Change Makers Network, notes that the whole point in defining your purpose is to help guide you on what you stand for as an individual.
“Your purpose is the primary product you have to offer to your market, the people around you. So it is important to begin by defining your sole purpose and letting people in on it. This should come out in your words and actions.”
One should then take time and cultivate a deep character.
As Muhangi tips, search within you and find at least five characteristics that truly define you as a person.

“Perhaps you are a team player, a consistent person, quick at execution of work duties and some other aspects. It is these qualities you should stand for. Represent who you are and over time people will respect you for these characteristics you bear.”
Meanwhile, one should be working on their mental brand and emotional awareness. Work on improving your thought management process and how you respond to different people and situations. This helps fine-tune one’s emotional awareness.
“The mental aspect is to do with one’s mindset, which is basically a set of beliefs and assumptions so established that they create a powerful incentive within someone to continue adopting and accepting certain behavior and choices. The people around you will get a feel of your mindset from both your words and actions. And if your mindset is not in line with your purpose and characteristics then you will not attain a definite brand,” cautions Muhangi.
But even with all this, Muhangi asserts that a personal brand can never be complete and effective without a great physical brand, which is to do with one’s physical outlook, basically your dress-code and hair style.
“There is no way you are going to create a personal brand as a great lawyer if you show up to meet clients in open shoes, sometimes even wearing jeans. It will not matter whether you are actually the best lawyer in the court room. People will always be willing to over-look your quality just basing on how you dress,” Muhangi explains.
As she believes, people should let their brands come out through what they wear because technically, your dressing is your packaging. And poorly packaged products never actually make it big in the market.

Likely mistakes:
In creating a personal brand, people often make a number of mistakes and according to Innocent Mwanja, the commonest mistake is the lack of authenticity.
“Take, for instance, the second step where one has to come up with five characteristics that define them as individuals, the same characteristics you are supposed to exude and be defined by. Many of us are never honest with ourselves. You find one looking to define self as someone great at public speech and mass mobilisation, yet actually they suck at it. That is how you fail to build a brand because there is no way people are going to look at you for something you aren’t,” Mwanja explains, imploring that people be true to themselves throughout the branding process.
But being fake is not the only mistake you are likely to make while building a brand. As Mwanja notes, there are many people who make the terrible error of jumping into the whole personal branding process without a clear strategy. This creates chaos, leaving you without a clear understanding of yourself and your direction.
“And in turn, this will only serve to confuse the people around you on who you really are. It is for this reason that people should take time to read up on the process of personal branding before they embark on it. You need a clear strategy on how to attain your desired brand, and you also need consistency in executing the strategy at hand.”

She said

There is no way you are going to create a personal brand as a great lawyer if you show up to meet clients in open shoes, sometimes even wearing jeans. It will not matter whether you are actually the best lawyer in the court room.

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