Three levels of being seen
In the world we live in, we are seen in many ways - we are seen by our families and loved ones, by our friends, by our colleagues, by our connections on social media. In each of these mediums, we have a certain image, a certain voice.
Personal branding and perception management
Perception management can becomes increasingly important as we move through our careers, as we gain increasing amounts of responsibility and are required to display the appropriate levels of ethical and moral standards, professionalism and behaviours that fit in with the culture of the workplaces we live in. Personal branding is something that we come to grow into - an acknowledgement of how we want to be perceived by others and ourselves in order to reach our goals to create a future that is moving us into the direction we wish to have trajectory in.
To begin to think about your personal branding and perception management, some useful things to consider might be:
What’s my general sense of dress style as compared to others in the office? How does the way I present myself with regards to appearance compare with my colleagues at the same level and those who are at different levels?
If someone who didn’t know me very well at work was asked to describe my attitude and where I would be in five years time, what are the sorts of things they might say?
How might others around me in the workplace extrapolate about my personality and potential based on the clothes I wear, the things I say and my general attitude?
How do I want to be seen by my manager, my colleagues and my staff, in an ideal world?
Personal branding is not only about our physical appearance and the clothes we wear or the way we style our hair. It also involves the way we speak up in meetings, the way we manage ourselves around colleagues, the way we treat our coworkers, staff and managers. The root of personal branding is being aware of how others perceive us, an art that can be difficult to grasp, especially in early career. Understanding the culture of our organisation as well as the broader culture of the industry we work in influences this, as does understanding ourselves. Self-reflection and awareness is perhaps the single most critical key to being able to understand how others perceive us, and in turn, gauge what will hinder our future success and what will facilitate it. This is largely intuitive and often defies the rational logic that we may naively think rules the way that the business world works.
But visibility is even bigger than perception management - especially if we are inclined towards embracing leadership, no matter where we are in our career stages or organisational hierarchy. Visibility takes personal branding two steps further - and considers impact, legacy and the bigger picture.
Visibility
Visibility is bigger than yourself, your organisation or your community. Visibility places you in the context of your future self, notched in amongst a network of others that you are or will become intrinsically connected to, and facilitates tangible change.
Visibility goes beyond appearance, perception or communication. It requires a skill set but also willpower, both within a foundation of purpose and vision. Visibility can be likened to having a life purpose that is focused on creating change from what there is now - it is the unspoken foundation of leadership.
While many of us may not think consciously about visibility or what our life purpose is until mid or late career stage, we all consider on a daily basis what brings us fulfilment and happiness, what causes we care about, and what could be different in the world to make it a better place. We are all aware, in some sense, of what our values are, the impact we have on those around us, and have goals of some kind - be they to lose weight, drink more water, learn how to cook or take a course in python programming to help with work.
Unconsciously, we all practice visibility to some extent in our daily lives. Harnessing this and injecting purposefulness and context can help us to level up the way in which we live our lives and interact with the world - no matter how we want to focus that visibility.
Visibility has three key levels:
Visibility to self: consciously being aware of our individual values, setting a purpose and vision, and growing these through self-awareness and self-reflection.
Visibility to others: Utilising strategy, communication and storytelling to be seen by others in the way you want to be seen; Demonstrating your value and purpose to others through trusted relationships, connection and collaborations.
Visibility in context: Using your visible leadership for a greater purpose and through connections with others who are working towards the same cause in similar and different ways as you.
Bear in mind that a key feature of visibility is not to undertake it for self-promotion - this is not what visibility is about. Visibility is, rather, working authentically to build your personal brand and take it to a bigger scale, simultaneously helping to lift others around you.
“Visibility without value is vanity” - Bernard Kelvin Clive
The process of visibility is not always an intuitive one, especially in the beginning - largely because it is an internal process of development, and hence the journey is individual and often looks vastly different for each of us. The key is guided self-reflection - proactively and diligently making time for reflective practice to work out what visibility is for you and how you want it to grow.
Some important things to think about are:
What is your vision? What is your purpose? A good exercise to help you delve into these is to project yourself forward 20 years and try to imagine what you want your daily life to look like. What are the sorts of people you want to have surrounding you? What sort of work do you want to be doing and have done? What do you want to be working on for the future? Be open-minded and ambitious and remember, 20 years is a long time - where were you 20 years ago from today?
Be clear on your audience - Each of us has multiple audiences within our lives, with various circles of family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances and more. When working towards your visibility, there will likely be one or more groups out of these that will be significantly more relevant to what you want to achieve, or you may find that you may need to set some goals about how you grow your network to be able to achieve what you want to. Being clear on your audience will help you direct your efforts more clearly.
What are your goals? What will they look like when they are done, and how will success feel for you? Once you have an idea about your vision and purpose, use them to set some goals. Try to make these smart goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) so you are clear about when you will have achieved them. Take this a step further, and take a moment for each goal to imagine what you will feel like when you have successfully completed them - what emotions will you have running through your body and mind?
Make a plan - Having a goal is good, but without a plan it is just a good intention. Write out some clear steps that you need to take in the short, medium and long term in order to really make the change you want to. Get creative and think big - you may not have everything you need yet, and may need to plan how to get the knowledge, connections or the credibility to be able to have the impact you want to. Don’t worry if it will take some time - chip away at your goals, keep your vision front and centre to help you stay focused, and keep going step by step!
Keep yourself accountable and stay flexible - one of the largest factors in success may be to make this bigger than yourself. Share what you are doing with people you trust. Remember to continually reflect along the way, both with yourself and those you trust, and pivot your plans when you need to in order to keep it relevant.
Visibility is a process, and as we walk this path, we change as people. Don’t be constrained by the person you used to be, and remember to approach the person you are becoming with courage, openness and fun!
Note: I would like to acknowledge Julia May (@juliacmaybe) and Sarah Anderson (@sarahissocial) for the Visibility work they have been doing with the Homeward Bound 5 cohort, from which much of the above has been inspired by.