By Steve Beseke, beseke1@earthlink.net
Looking Inside Yourself to Tap Your True Emotions and Personal Brand
All of us in our careers have been branded by others for our work skills, our relationships or how we generally relate to other folks. But does that “brand” truly represent what you believe are your strengths?
For me in my career, I had always been branded as this inspirational guy with a physical disability (Cerebral Palsy) who had overcome personal obstacles to become a very successful communicator. While this brand was great, down deep I did not always want to be tagged as this “inspirational guy.” For years, I fought these emotions and rarely talked about my disability. But now, as I near 50, I realize that my physical being is a resilient positive point, and offers me a chance to say a few words about common-sense ways to overcoming obstacles and staying resilient through any of our unique life challenges. That is one reason I started this blog!
I actually looked deep inside myself to realize my perceived personal brand was a positive for me instead of a negative. Is your perceived personal brand the one that truly fits your emotional resilience about you?
Here are a few tips to help you decide…
- Tap into your vision of yourself, know what gives you satisfaction, and bring those into your current job or life situation.
The inner game. Recognize what makes you happy. Setting aside what you “should” like, think about what you “do” like. Everyone is different in what kind of tasks they like to do, how much structure they prefer, and how much they want to interact with others. Think about the type of company you’d like to work in — its size, culture and mission.
To truly understand and adapt your personal brand, you need to understand how you feel. When I was young, I did not want to discuss my disability and rarely asked for any help – even if needed. As I indicated above, I wanted to be seen as a normal person in a “normal” world. Can you blame me? Unfortunately, any difference a person has is not always understood by others.
Folks always thought I needed doors opened for me or I was in severe pain when I walked. As a person in my 20s and 30s, and wanted to be seen like anybody else. So, my personal brand revolved around proving and acting as normal as I could be. I purposely became skilled at sports, lettered in high school athletics and became nearly a “scratch” golfer. While I was no Arnold Palmer or Tiger Woods, my personal brand was all about this normalcy.
- Assess your current situation in life and how you personal brand fits into it. Review the amount of structure you have, the tasks you do, the people you work with and the organization you work for. How well does it fit with your ideal? Think about what you’d want to change in a new position. Look at your career progression, focusing on aspects that brought you enjoyment along the way. Consider ways in which your job has changed or how your personal brand has grown. Be clear about the parts that fit, too; it’s important to focus on the resilient positives.
- Look at the big picture. Are you satisfied with your life? Don’t leave anything out — consider family, friends, health, spirituality and hobbies. If you aren’t happy in the rest of your life, it’ll be harder to boost your energy at work.
The outer game. Build on the outer positives and your inner-resiliency. Consciously savor the aspects of work and life situations you like. Look for ways to bring back parts of your past jobs that were engaging. For example, you may miss doing hands-on analysis now that you’re in a management role. Without overdoing it, get a little closer to the work your team does.
As far as your career, watch your preferences. If you prefer individual work but spend a lot of time in teams, negotiate ways to have more independent work time. You may have more options than you first perceive, but you’ll need to ask for what you want.
Stretch. Once you’ve mastered your job, it can feel stagnant. Find ways to grow. Take on special projects, or get to know people in other parts of the organization. Steps like these could lead to a new role. Think about your ideal job, and integrate aspects of that into the job you have now.
- Focus on relationships. Research has shown that people who have close friends at work have higher job satisfaction. If you like to be alone, make an effort to find common ground with some co-workers. Build genuine friendships; you’ll have more to look forward to when you walk in the door each day.
Get ready. Prepare for a new career by educating yourself through classes, books or conversations/networking with others in your new field. You’ll be more ready to move if you want a change later.
- The takeaways. Try to stay resilient, look for new things to do, and build deeper relationships. You’ll feel better about the time you spend at work, home and with friends. Let your personal brand shine through at work and in your personal relationships!
I would love to hear your continued great comments either by posting them on my blog or contacting me through e-mail. Look forward to our further discussions next week!