Defining Your Brand of Success

If you don't know what your brand of success is, others certainly won't! Worst yet if you don't develop a brand for yourself, others certainly will try.

Why is defining your brand of success important as an African American young professional? One writer once wrote, "If you are not appearing you are probably disappearing!" If you build a strong brand for yourself, you will begin to appear on the radar to those that count most to you. People that don't have a strong brand in a millennial marketplace of aggressive marketing, information overload, fast decisions and even faster people, will struggle to gain significance, credibility, and personal success.

In a recent executive conference I attended a prominent Black corporate VP said that his successful climb up the corporate ladder wasn't only about his qualifications, experience and education, but how he packaged it, and projected it with confidence to those he worked with.

I share always with students, alumni, and employers, the power and significance of effective branding. The failure of poor branding can lead to a lack of credibility, perceived incompetence, or social and professional irrelevance to some people and groups.

A few basic questions to consider when designing your personal brand:

• What am I really about?


• What do I want to be about?


• What empowers me and excites me?


• What can I do, that is unique, natural and distinct?


• How well do I flow in the circles I want to connect with?


• Am I technically prepared and competent for the world I want to connect with?


• Who are my four closest friends and colleagues? (This could be an indicator of your values, where you are personally and professionally...and where you may be heading)


• How do I define success?


• How would what I define as success define me?


• Do I dress appropriately for the "world" I aspire to belong to?


• What personal and national figures reflect elements of my desired brand?


• Is my word my bond?


• How do I define failure?


• How will I know when I have succeeded or failed?


• Who and what do I need in my life to get stronger?


• How do I define a job as finished, excellent, and delivered?

Be real with yourself in answering these questions, this will start the groundwork in building your personal brand. Turn off the voices of other people, find your own voice, define your own unique and God given brand of success. Then start the process of building your brand so that others can hear your voice! And this world does need to hear you.

Let us know what you think

kwells@howard.edu

Kim R. Wells