How to Develop Your Personal Branding? Developing Your Visibility:

How to Develop Your Personal Branding? Developing Your Visibility:

I had written a blog recently for how Personal Branding can be improved by working upon 7 areas at work. I’d like to focus on how to build your Visibility at work on this blog. Visibility is an incredible pay-off for people who earnestly work on their Branding. However, one must also understand that our Visibility is our own responsibility.

Cultural Dilemma:
I claim emphatically, that “Credibility is no assurance of Visibility”. This statement almost describes the dilemma that working people experience, especially among south east Asian working cultures. Many Asian cultures promote a highly passive approach to working life. In fact, it is not uncommon among working people in our own country to feel, that seeking Visibility is the same as bragging. A frequent feedback received by engineers, during annual appraisals from their superiors is, that they are efficient but lack visibility. I am sure you will agree when I say, that many working people in our country are ‘Visibility Shy’, in different degrees.

Tendency to believe Credibility is good enough:

Let’s consider Credibility first. One needs to work on Credibility as it establishes an extent of trust the organization can have on an employee. However, no amount of effort in establishing Credibility is going to guarantee Visibility. Credibility is established by one’s academic excellence, exhibiting of relevant knowledge & problem- solving skills, and most importantly, tendency to ‘walk the talk’. However, the truth of the matter is,
not all highly trustworthy individuals carry high Visibility.
Bottom line is. Just working hard and being sincere, even though great qualities to possess, will not fetch Visibility.

How to go about Your Visibility?
‘Toot Your Own Horn’ – Develop a Positive Attitude for Visibility:
Nobody is going to do it for you. No culture in the world is known to consider bragging as a virtue, but it doesn’t mean, the only option left is to choose ‘invisibility’. Know you have a ‘Right’ for Visibility. Know there is nothing wrong in talking about your ‘good’, achievements and contributions in the right set up.
Importantly. Don’t blame your bosses or company for your lack of Visibility, it is not their responsibility but yours.
I came across a saying recently on the internet, “What do a Deep Thinker and an Emotional Person lack???? The Visibility of their Importance in today’s world”. Let this not become the impression of your working life.

Speak Up in Meetings
Whether you like it or not, meetings are the place when you become known by your team for your confidence and by others for who you are.
Don’t keep your opinions and views to yourself. Your Branding doesn’t depend on whether your opinions were accepted or not, it depends on whether you expressed them to your best capability nor not.

Volunteer to Represent your Team
What did you do during the last Office Day, Cultural event or Annual Day? Did you participate and exhibit your innate talent to entertain everyone, or did you just stay back with the audience and watched the show?
Highly talented people just need one good opportunity for life-long guaranteed Visibility sometimes. Don’t keep your good to yourself. Exhibit them when opportunity is right.

Participate in Learning Opportunities
This is a great way to boost your Visibility. By just participating earnestly and soundly, a lot of people become aware of who you are.

Project your strengths by leveraging Social Media
Write Blogs, Books if you have time & Articles about your passions or information that can add value to others. Shoot Videos to project your knowledge and not necessarily regarding your work alone.
Share the link to relevant and interested parties and seek their feedback
Be a Good Networker

There’s a saying, ‘doing your good work and not networking is like winking at your potential date in the dark’. Its just not good enough to be good at your work. Strike conversations with strangers and talk to them. Join a networking group who have similar interests or can be potential customers or stakeholder in the future Now…the last one is awesome!!…..My favourite…Just Highlight Other People’s Success with aplomb
I love this. This is the best one I know. Imagine…you have a lot of people doing great around you. Just understand them and talk about their achievements aloud and people love you for that. Hope the ideas and insights in the blog is appreciated and liked.