It's important both to consider and be deliberate about how you want to be known in your firm. When you don't leave it to chance, you are able to operate more effectively, communicate more clearly, and develop greater influence. Put simply, it helps you do your best work.
Rather than focusing on where you fall short of others, or how you compare to them, it's more constructive to make a fair assessment of what you bring to the table that is distinctive, and embodies the best of who you are as a professional and leader.
Many things I write are about deeper issues and meaning for leaders, and this one seems at first to be more about the surface. But it's true that knowing how you will make a strong and clear impression of who you are as a professional takes both deeper reflection and effort, and ultimately makes a significant diferrence in your ability to lead. Indeed, your brand and signature can either help--or hinder--your career.
Let's start with a few questions:
- What is it that always you do when you are at your best -- operating with both enthusiasm, confidence, and competence? -- make a list.
- What do you add to an organization, situation, problem, or initiative that leaves you -- and others -- feeling great? -- make another list.
- When you handle stress and pressure well, how do you manage it?
- What outward appearance (dress, grooming, style) shows you at your best?
- When you have won, succeeded, or exceeded your own goals in the past, what has been your distinctive contribution to the success? -- make a list.
- What are your core values, and how do they apply to your professional life? -- make a list.
Now put those lists together, and look for the top 10 themes. Here are some examples:
- "I always leave a situation better than I found it."
- "I am a "get it done" person -- I do whatever it takes to get the job done."
- "I find patterns in problems and translate them into actions that people can take."
- "I present myself in an approachable manner, with personal style and clothing that is both comfortable and professional."
- "I am a coach / mentor to others, getting them to operate more effectively and do their best work."
Either failing to develop a signature, or using an inauthentic one, diminishes a leader’s impact and credibility.
Synchronizing your outward characteristics with your principles makes your message powerful and honest, and that enables you to inspire others to do their best work.