Last week I wrote about creating your personal value proposition so you are noticed for the right reasons by your colleagues, friends, and family. Here is the second step on how to create your PVP.
A PVP represents your personal brand. It is what you stand for. Or, as my friend Michael Drew says—it is also about what you don’t stand for.
Here is my personal example of designing my personal brand. My private and corporate clients know that I am a tough-love but compassionate coach and trainer. I speak with a German accent, I drive a German car, my training outlines and workbooks have concise bullet points, and I am results driven and dislike excess. (Okay my birthday party was the one exception…)
Often I joke that I would have loved to be a funny Germany. But since there are no funny Germans, I reverted to being a more believable, solid, German-engineered brand.
I could have chosen to be apologetic about my flaws. Instead, I turned the things that make me unique—my heritage, my accent, and my sometimes awkward Germanisms—into my advantage. There is only one of me.
Start here:
To create your own PVP, let’s start by looking at what you stand for. Gary is in the solar energy business, so he can’t race around in a Ferrari. Yep, a Prius is a better choice for Gary. Nancy and Mike chose to live in the mountains in Colorado far off the grid. Their personal brand leaves a zero footprint. Marni creates Five-Minute Meals and she believes in fast, delicious, and completely organic. Her lifestyle includes daily workouts, unscented soy candles (who knows what is burning in those waxy ones?), and she won’t eat or put anything on her body unless it is free of chemicals and additives.
Imagine your brand as its own entity and persona. What does it look like and what are its interests? How does it dress? You want consistency in everything related to your brand. Think of Marni’s example above. Is spandex or cotton more appropriate for her? You get the picture.
It is no different for businesses. It is perfectly okay to say, “This is what I believe in,” as long as you can state it clearly. Does your system need to work flawlessly, or are you more interested in how people interact with them? Does a balanced spreadsheet and clever financing excite you, or is organizing socials at your workplace what makes you feel good? It is important to understand what you are naturally good at, which is why I have all of my clients take the Myers-Briggs assessment. You want to build on your strengths and be able to clearly communicate them.
With that in mind, your next meeting will notb e spent wondering which tasks will be assigned to you. Instead, you will actively promote your brand. Pick the portion of the project that naturally plays to your strengths and then speak up and clearly state you want to oversee that area.
You may be tempted to select tasks based on a strategy like visibility, responsibility, and size of budget—and that’s ok. But remember it is all about team work. The end result does matter, but so does enjoying the experience. When you follow your strengths, it allows your team members to do the same and helps prevent everyone from burning out.
Next week we will talk about the third step in creating your PVP. Stay tuned. In the meantime, let me know how these ideas are working for you. I live for feedback!