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6 Factors to Create a Great Professional Brand at Work · Enhance.training

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: With huge competition in the workplace, creating a great professional brand at work gives you so many advantages.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Five key advantages of having a strong personal brand at work are first, you'll give them work more suited to you and hopefully that you'll enjoy doing more.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, management has a clearer understanding of your strengths and motivations.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Third, you're given the better projects, activities and tasks in terms of building your experience and skills.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: And fourth, you'll have higher visibility within your organization, i.e., more people will feel that they know you and understand what you offer.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: And fifth, you'll get promoted quicker because you'll have more opportunity to add additional value to the business.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Working to create a great professional brand at work will help you at every level, from school lever through to board director.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: Consciously planning out how you're going to strengthen your professional brand will improve your brand quicker and you'll have more control over the reputation you build.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: In our very competitive workplaces, working hard alone is not enough to build a successful career.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm covering these six factors to create a great professional brand at work.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Firstly, define the professional brand you want.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, build a reputation for excellence.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Third, strengthen your communication skills.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, build your network of supporters.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Fifth, seek opportunities to showcase your expertise, and then sixth, commit to continuous learning.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: For each factor, I share practical tips of how to implement what we cover.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Jess Coles.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: I've had a 20-year management career working in amazing companies like Innocent Drinks, EY, Williams Lee, and many others.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: If you're new to this podcast, Enhanced.training shares people management expertise, resources and courses so you can become a better manager quicker and help your team deliver a lot more.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: Do visit us at enhance.training and use the free resources and the free webinars to quicker develop your authentic management approach, build your skills and deliver more from a motivated and happy team.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: If you find this podcast useful, please share it with friends and colleagues.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: The first factor to create a great professional brand at work is to define the professional brand you want.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: Going through the process of defining the professional brand that you want helps ensure that you are providing consistent messaging to your colleagues and management.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: This consistent messaging reduces confusion and increases the strength and clarity of your professional brand.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Start by understanding the values that you hold important in the workplace.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: For example, some of mine are being open, being honest, being fair, and putting team before myself to a point.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: Your values rarely change quickly, so they are a good reference point to guide your behaviours, choices, and actions.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: Then consider your strengths and skills.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: What are you good at and what do you want to be known for and what do you like doing?
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: The more you can focus other people on your stronger areas, the more of this type of work you'll get, thus allowing you to play to your strengths.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Finally, consider your career ambitions.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: What position are you aiming to reach?
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: What route do you plan to take to get there?
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: What are your next one or two roles on that journey and what experience do you need to get those roles?
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Creating a strong career development plan will help you at this stage.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: When you can define your brand in terms of your values, strengths, skills and aspirations, you can then work on communicating your professional brand at work.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: The second factor to create a great professional brand at work is to build a reputation for excellence.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Being known for being good at your job gives you a lot more opportunities at work.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Your managers want less hassle and stress for their projects and activities to go well, to hit their targets and to impress their bosses.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: One of the best ways of achieving all these as a manager is to get the best staff you can working on your activities and projects.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: When you are good at your job, you're in demand from all the managers in the business.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: You have choices and opportunities.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Work at delivering the best output, results, and value you can for those you work for.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: This means going the extra mile, you're working a bit longer than others, working smarter than others, investing yourself more than others do.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Anything that sensibly increases your skills and what you produce to be above the average of your peer group.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Being good at what you do and making sure others know you are good at your job are two different things.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, managers talk and words should get around that you are good.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: When you've worked so hard to become good at your job, leaving the communication of how good you are solely to others, in my view, is not very sensible.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: So work out how you're going to market your worth and what you do professionally to your manager and their peer group as a minimum.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: Taking the extra step of communicating your worth will speed up the building of your reputation and it will help you get the reputation you actually want.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: The third factor to create a great professional brand at work is to strengthen your communication skills.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: How well you communicate is at the core of building a strong professional brand.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: If colleagues, managers and leaders don't know or don't understand how you can help them and why they should pick you, a lot more of your skills and experience will be wasted on unexciting work or work that doesn't move your career forward compared to those who do communicate this really clearly.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: Work on improving your verbal, written and non-verbal communication.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Think about your audience and how you're going to help your audience take in and understand your message quickly.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: Get better at asking questions to improve your understanding of situations and your audience.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Practice effective listening, you know, the words being said and the nonverbal communication so that you can adjust your communication style and the content you communicate.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: Learn how to speak clearly, concisely and with structure to improve your audience's understanding.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: Craft professional emails and reports, paying attention to grammar, tone and the key messages.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: Work on building rapport and collaborative relationships with your colleagues.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: Improve your diplomacy skills so that you can be more direct and more honest without offending.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, your online presence should support and align with all of your real world efforts.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Keep your LinkedIn profile up to date and aligned.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: Keep everything you do online, positive and supportive of your professional brand.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, strong communication skills will enhance your credibility and help you build stronger relationships and a wider range of relationships throughout the workplace.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: The fourth factor to create a great professional brand at work is to build your network of supporters.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: Networking at work plays a vital role in establishing and expanding a great professional brand at work.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Managers and leaders provide the best opportunities to those staff members they know, like and trust.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: Use this aspect of human nature to your advantage.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Get to know the managers in your business.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: Research and find out talking points that they're interested in.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: Ask them about the sports they play or watch, the hobbies that they might do, the projects they're currently working on, or what they are championing at work.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: Make opportunities to speak to these managers and leaders.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: Do research and build insights that would help them.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: Find and solve problems that impact them or their teams, and then pop around to their desks and share what you've done with them.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: And then you can move the conversation into areas that they are keen on talking about.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: Create professional and personal connections.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: Then turn these individuals into keen supporters of you through how you help them.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: These actions will contribute to building a great professional brand at work.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: And when you're confident in networking internally, work to develop relationships in your industry, offer value to others and be open to collaboration.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: A strong network of supporters, internal and external, will provide you with many more opportunities than those that don't network.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: The fifth factor to create a great professional brand at work is to seek opportunities to showcase your expertise.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: Seek out opportunities to share your knowledge, insights, and skills.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: When speaking to colleagues and managers, be interested in what they are working on and ask lots of questions to unearth great opportunities for you to gain the experience that you want while helping them and the business.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: You ask to be included on projects that play to your strengths and explain why you should be included.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: Persuade managers to provide you good career building opportunities by communicating your track record and ask your network of supporters to vouch for your skills and effectiveness at delivering results.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: Help your manager sell your expertise into the wider business by being clear about what you're working on and the results that you are delivering.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: For example, create a scorecard and talk this through in your one-on-one meetings with your manager.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: You could advertise your results and expertise by circulating your scorecard more widely in team newsletters, reports and similar.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: Use your network, colleagues, and manager to identify opportunities to showcase your expertise and ask for the opportunity to do the work.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: During my career, I found the best opportunities to showcase what I could do have come about because I spotted an opportunity and then persuaded managers of the benefits to the business of taking action.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: I remember spotting an opportunity to add over£20 million in cash to my company's bank account.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: I had to do the research, create a business case, present that case to the leadership team to get their permission to do the project and then persuade other departments to help.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: The project involved some risk and I had to overcome some invested interests, so getting permission was not guaranteed.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: I did get permission and the project added about 21 million to the company's bank account, and I got some amazing experience and results to add to my CV.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: This project was also an amazing opportunity to add to my professional brand at work.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: The more you're able to work on activities and projects that play to your strengths and support your professional brand at work, the quicker you'll create your professional brand and the stronger your professional brand will be.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: Go looking for great opportunities to build your professional brand.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: The sixth factor to create a good professional brand at work is to commit to continuous learning.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: In business, nothing stays still for long.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: To remain relevant, to be able to continuously maintain or increase the value that you provide to your employer, you must commit to learning new skills and improving the skills you have.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: As the business requirements change, how are you going to adapt to these changes?
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: How are you going to keep up to date with the trends in your industry?
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: There are so many ways to learn.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: Here are five tried and tested ways to learn that are independent of your boss and company.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: First, create a career development plan and actively build the missing skills you need.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, ask colleagues to explain how they solved a specific problem or delivered a specific project.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: Third, create a reading list or a video watch list and go through your list.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, sign up to courses that will help you build knowledge, solve specific problems, and build skills.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: And fifth, get a mentor to guide and help you build better experience and skills.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: Commit time and energy to keep yourself learning so you keep yourself ahead of your competition.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: The will and the ability to learn is a powerful element in your personal brand at work.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: Commit to continuously learning.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: So in summary, creating a strong professional brand at work is almost essential to do well in any career.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: There is so much competition for the most interesting work, activities, and projects.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: Building a great professional brand will help get you and keep you ahead of your competition.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, it does take time and effort to build your professional brand at work, but I would argue that it does take a lot more work and effort to get similar benefits for you personally when you don't specifically put in the effort to build a positive personal brand at work.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: To recap, these are the six factors to create a great professional brand at work that we've gone through.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: Firstly, define the professional brand that you want.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, build a reputation for excellence.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: Third, strengthen your communication skills.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, build your network of supporters.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: Fifth, seek opportunities to showcase your expertise.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: And sixth, commit to continuous learning.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: This is not an exhaustive list.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: Working on each of these factors will go a long way to creating a great professional brand at work for you.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: And if you have any questions, please drop me an email at support at enhance.training and I'll get back to you.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening, and I look forward to speaking to you again soon.