Check out the full transcript at yourfuturerealized.com/28.
Imagine if ignoring your personal brand was costing you more time than it saved. It's a provocative thought, isn't it?
The idea that operations executives don’t have time for personal branding seems reasonable. You keep the business machinery running smoothly. So personal branding falls to the bottom of the list, considered non-essential to day-to-day success.
Yet, what if this is a significant leak in your professional boat?
If you don’t create your personal brand, you’ll be assigned one by everyone else.
It’s not just about recognition. It’s about owning your narrative, optimizing your time, and matching your actions to your goals.
In this episode, I’ll talk about the cost of neglecting your personal brand. And I’ll give you a powerful strategy to use this week to reclaim control of your time. Don’t let your personal brand be an afterthought, make it your secret weapon.
Imagine if ignoring your personal brand was costing you more time than it saved. It's a provocative thought, isn't it?
The idea that ops executives don’t have time for personal branding seems reasonable. You keep the business machinery running smoothly. So personal branding falls to the bottom of the list, considered non-essential to day-to-day success.
Yet, what if this is a significant leak in your professional boat?
If you don’t create your personal brand, you’ll be assigned one by everyone else.
It’s not just about recognition. It’s about owning your narrative, optimizing your time, and matching your actions to your goals.
In this episode, I’ll talk about the cost of neglecting your personal brand. And I’ll give you a powerful strategy to use this week to reclaim control of your time. Don’t let your personal brand be an afterthought, make it your secret weapon.
Check out the full transcript at yourfuturerealized.com/28.
Hey Ops Execs,
The Risks of a Default Personal Brand for Operations Executives
A lack of a personal brand can influence how you see yourself and how others see you in so many ways! It can:
- dim your visibility and influence
- allow others to pigeonhole you
- limit your ability to establish credibility
- impact your team’s morale and trust in you, and
- lead to missed opportunities and connections
One of the more invisible costs, though, is how it impacts your ability to manage your time. You might be asking: “Why?”
If you don’t proactively build your personal brand, you allow others to shape it for you. You surrender control over how they perceive you, how they engage with you and what they throw your way.
Think of your personal brand as your own exclusive restaurant. Would you let random passersby decide the menu? Or would you craft it and curate it meticulously, so it shows what you most want to serve?
Understanding the Impact of Personal Branding on Your Time
With that analogy in mind, it’s time to explore some default personal brands that others might be painting on you. These default brands can set you up to overextend yourself in ways that don’t get you where you want to be.
I wonder if any of these five default brands sound familiar:
1. The People Pleaser: You try to agree to everything even if it means neglecting your own priorities. It might make you seem friendly and cooperative. But it also shows you don’t have clear goals or the courage to make hard choices. People notice this and think it’s easy to ask for things from you.
2. The Firefighter: Your team always sees you dealing with crises. Sure, you’re indispensable. But it can also suggest poor strategic planning and an environment where fires are more likely to start. Others can rely on you too much, calling you for help instead of trying to solve issues on their own.
3. The Overwhelmed Orchestrator: Your calendar is always full but you’re not always effective. People might not believe in your ability to lead because you don't have a clear plan. Also, you're likely to miss out on the juicy opportunities you want because others don’t want to bother you.
4. The Micromanager: You’ve got a hard time trusting team members with real responsibility. This means that all the decisions need to go through you. While your goal is high quality, others can see you as stifling and unable to let go, so they might as well let you do it.
5. Always Number Two: You’re an eternal support to others, but never ready to step into the spotlight yourself. This inherently shapes your perspective on your workload and priorities. You likely handle tasks reactively rather than making time for strategically important ones.
These are just five examples of how you might be showing up to others. Recognizing your default personal brand is the first step in understanding how you unconsciously let it develop.
To take control and steer your personal brand in the direction that you want takes a shift in mindset. You need to move from a passive stance to active creation and management of your brand.
To learn more about this, download episode 19: “Master Your Mind with Personal Branding”. You'll find it at yourfuturerealized.com/19.
Aligning Your Calendar with Your Desired Personal Brand
So now perhaps you’re getting a sense of what the narrative is out there about you. I hope that you’re listening now from a place of self-compassion, too. Look at this not as a problem, but as an opportunity to evolve and enhance your own operational efficiencies.
You’re already great at making systems and processes work, this will be right up your alley.
One powerful step in reclaiming your personal brand for the sake of your time is to get real about what’s going on.
Do an audit of your calendar at the end of each day or week. Notice what your calendar looks like and where your time went. Watch for patterns around habits, meetings, and activities you prioritize. You might even look at where and with whom you spend, and the sentences and phrases you tend to say there.
Ask yourself this question: If someone were to describe your personal brand based solely on what’s in your calendar, what do you think they would say? And how closely does this match with how you want to be perceived?
Building a habit encourages you to look beyond your endless tasks to consider what actually adds value to your brand.
So, take a moment right now to schedule this reflective time to start this habit at the end of the day.
And you don't need to navigate the path of personal branding by yourself. Let's work together to develop a personal brand that showcases your strengths and boosts your effectiveness. Learn more at yourfuturerealized.com/branding.
You can’t stop the chaos, but you can change the game.