How to establish a positive personal brand at work?

This article is a snippet of the monthly Newsletter from The Perspective. Subscribe to not miss all the excitement

A strong personal brand at work is a way for you to differentiate yourself and allow others to “meet” you before they actually meet you. Your personal brand communicates your values, expertise and personality to others. You will not be in every room where your name is discussed so your personal brand shapes how others perceive you. Oftentimes in banking, the way you get staffed on good deals is based on your personal brand and reputation. I am sure there are parallels in other industries. Your brand will become the foundation of your career when people are thinking about promotions or new opportunities. Here are some of the advice that I found helpful in building up my brand:

0. Do your job well (duh!)

This builds the foundation of your reputation at work. You want to be known for producing consistent and high quality work products. That means attention to detail! One trick I found helpful is telling people it would take me longer to do a task/project than I would predict. If something will take me three hours, I will often quote it as four hours so I can go through in detail and double check my work.

1. Get noticed and increase visibility

In addition to doing good work, you want to increase your visibility at work. You want people to know who you are. Being active in company affinity groups and in recruiting processes are great ways to gain visibility. Volunteer to plan the next Women’s event. Plan the next firm Lunar New Year celebration. Recommend great candidates from your school to HR. These community building efforts will not go unnoticed and it adds value to the firm. It shows that you take the initiative to go above and beyond your job description.

2. Be human and take the time to care

This one might seem silly but it is not! Oftentimes in demanding jobs the human element becomes a second thought. If you know your coworker took a sick day, ask how they are doing and offer to take anything off their plate. I went on vacation in Italy this past summer. One of my associates sent me a list of his favorite books to read on flights. These things matter because they create very visceral reactions and it makes you feel cared for. That in turn signals to others that you are a great team player and … just a great person to be around.

3. Own and voice your accomplishments

I hate publicizing my accomplishments or what I did at work because it always felt like I was bragging. My mentor told me to not think of it as bragging but self-promotion and ownership. You are owning the effort you put in and the outcomes of your labor. You are claiming your accomplishments. Most of the times, the senior people are removed from the details of the day-to-day. If no one knows it was you, they can’t reward you. Having tangible accomplishments attached to your name is an important part of building your brand.

4. Seek feedback proactively

I am a huge fan of active feedback. A lot of firms have formal reviews every six months, but to me, that feels like a long time. I like scheduling one-on-ones with the people I am working with and explicitly ask for feedback: what have I been doing well, where can I add more value, what do you wish I did more. It helps me set goals for the month and helps me paint a picture of what I need to work on. From a signaling perspective, actively seeking feedback shows that you are proactive and you care about this job; that can only be a good thing for your brand at work

I am definitely no expert but these are tips that I have been given and action items that I am trying to practice in my job to build up my own personal brand in the workplace. Let me know if you have any additional thoughts!

Why does personal brand matter?

We all know about the massive layoffs that have been happening across industries. Both Google and Goldman laid off 6% of its workforce. There are many more firms to add to the list. With these rounds of layoffs, it made me think of how companies make these cuts. Of course, individual ability matters. But … is that all that matters?

My friend (for anonymity purposes, we will call him Jack) works at a large investment bank. Jack’s team was told to cut one of the two associates in the group. Let’s call Associate A Aaron and Associate B Brett.

Aaron and Brett both hold Ivy league degrees and they both “did everything right” to land them where they are now. Aaron was the associate who raised his hand whenever opportunity presented itself; he was the first to be in the office and often the last to leave, the standard “head down work hard” mentality. Jack said that Aaron was always seen at his desk and the junior members of the team knew 100% that he worked harder than anyone else on the team. Everyone agreed that Aaron was beyond good at his job with complex excel models and all the technicalities that came with banking.

Brett was in no way the smartest person in the room but he could do the job. He was very involved in recruiting for the team and has developed a much closer, personal connection with members of the team. Brett would take time out of his day to grab coffee and chat with his superiors whenever they were in the office. When I asked Jack about each of their personalities, Jack said that Brett was always vocal about what he is working on, really funny and personable. Jack then said he didn’t get to know Aaron as much even though he worked directly with Aaron on the same deal.

When it came down to it, the team decided to let Aaron go.

Being visible and showing your personality matters; human connection matters. I need to caveat that you can’t objectively suck at your job. BUT, keeping your head down and working hard is not enough and given that both candidates pass the basic threshold of ability, teams would rather keep someone they feel bonded to than someone who just grinds away. Even at a job like banking, being human is valued. Take the time to care about your VP’s kids’ Halloween costumes. Take the time to swing by your superiors office and ask about their vacation. Take the time to let your team know your personality and make them realize how irreplaceable you are. Like I always say personality hires for the win!

This article is a snippet of the monthly Newsletter from The Perspective. Subscribe for more and join an incredible community of women and allies. Through every monthly newsletter, we will work through all the challenges we face from navigating office politics to taking care of ourselves physically and mentally while working a demanding job.