How to become a brand not an employee?

How to Stop Being an Employee and Start Being a Brand

It’s easy to lose your sense of identity when you work as someone else’s employee. Your efforts and accomplishments directly lead to someone else’s success; depending on the size of the company, you might not even see the immediate consequences of your own decisions.

Luckily, being an employee doesn’t actually mean that you need to get lost in the cogs of the corporate system. After all, many of the world’s most successful professionals spend their entire careers working for businesses that are not their own. In most cases, the secret to their success is strong personal branding. By establishing your own professional identity, you can increase your value as an employee and finally take control of the direction of your career.

Understanding Your Identity

A brand is a unique professional identity that can be easily recognised by other members of your industry. Although most people think of brands as something that belongs to a company or a freelancer, the truth is that any person who provides a service already has their own personal branding.

Your name is a foundational part of your identity. When people think of your name, they imagine your face, your personality, your actions, and your accomplishments. Every person has their own individual opinion of you, and the combined opinions of the people in your industry collectively make up your personal branding.

Take a few moments to think about your current role and experience as an employee. How are you seen by other employees? How are you seen by management? How are you seen by the other companies that you work with? Once you understand your current image, you can start to sculpt the way you’d like to be seen in the future.

Solidifying Your Branding

Companies have budgets and marketing teams that can help them sculpt their corporate branding. Although you might not have access to all of these resources, you can use the same kind of branding process to solidify your professional identity.

First, you’ll need to highlight your values. Take a moment to list out the things that make you unique as a professional. Write down the accomplishments that you’re proud of, the goals that you want to achieve, and the value that you provide to your industry. Identify your personal “mission statement;” then, use this statement as a foundation for your branding.

The next step is to gather your assets. Personal branding assets typically include photos, a resume, a professional wardrobe, and portfolio pieces that relate to your career. Spend time polishing and refining each of these items to create a cohesive professional image. Don’t be afraid to ask for expert help; after all, you’re trying to act like a brand.

Most companies create branding guides to help keep their identities consistent across multiple teams and projects. Because you’re still an individual, you don’t have to worry about forgetting your own identity; however, creating this kind of guide might help you create cohesion in your actions. You can also use a branding guide to help track the way your identity develops as your career progresses.

Expressing Your Brand

The digital world has made it incredibly easy to establish and maintain a professional identity. From websites to social media profiles, there are plenty of ways to get yourself “out there,” especially if you’re committed to personal success. Using the personal branding assets you’ve already gathered, work to flesh out your online identity; that way, other members of your industry can easily find you and see what you’re all about.

Next, start applying your mission statement to your career. Take classes to increase your skillset, participate in events that improve your resume, and look for in-company opportunities that highlight your individual talents. Network as you go, and remember that every action you take will have either a positive or negative impact on your branding.

Branding yourself sets you apart from other employees who hold your same position. When you combine a polished image with high-quality work, the result is an identity that businesses actually find valuable. As long as you work to maintain this identity, you should have no problem maintaining the forward motion of your professional career.