Five tips to build your personal brand in a hybrid working world

When our ways of working changed so did how we create and communicate our personal brand. To kick off 2023, we give you five practical tips for building and amplifying your personal brand in a hybrid working world.

It’s three years since Covid forever changed the way we work. There’s one number that perfectly illustrates the scale of that change – 250 million. That’s how many more are using Microsoft Teams since 2019.

Yet many of us haven’t adapted how we build and maintain our personal brand in this new environment, even though it’s arguably now even more important to career success. 

Career success takes much more than great performance

Research from Harvey Coleman back in the 1990s established that as little as 10% of your professional success comes from fulfilling what’s in your job description. That’s the entry ticket to career success. No less, no more.

The rest is down to your personal brand (image) and how many people know you and what you do (exposure). 

And how can you possibly get more exposure if you’re not clear on what you stand for? Without a strong personal brand, standing out is practically impossible. 

So, to kick start ’23, we offer these practical tips for building and amplifying your personal brand in a hybrid working world.  

Tips for amplifying your personal brand

1. Get the virtual basics right

Even after three years of hybrid working, it’s amazing how many still fail to get the basics right, undermining their message and impact and how they come across. 

Here’s a reminder of the must dos:

• Switch your camera on whenever possible and think about its positioning – there’s no excuse for nose-cam. 

• If your company won’t provide it, invest in a decent microphone and light. What does it say about your brand if people can’t hear or see it?

• Pay attention to your background. Nothing in a movie is left to chance. Everything within shot tells us something about the character or their situation. What’s your background saying about you?

• Make eye contact. Yes, it feels unnatural, but if you want to look engaging and trustworthy then you need to make virtual eye contact. That means looking into the camera - not at your screen. 

2. Network for tomorrow 

You’ve heard the expression ‘dress for the job you want not for the job you’ve got?’ Well, you want to do the same with your network. 

Most of us have a network that reflects our world today. We absolutely want to remain visible to those people, but we also need to build the network that gets us to where and who we want to be tomorrow. Herminia Ibarra has done outstanding research into this, and her work on building effective networks is worth checking out. 

And the virtual world is actually brilliant for networking. Social media helps us discover and connect with people we may never have otherwise had the opportunity to. 
 
3. Be intentional with every interaction

Don’t squander the opportunities you have to shine. 

Before every meeting or interaction, think about what value you want to add, who you want or need to be, and how you’ll ensure your aspirational brand qualities show through. 

That’s probably easier than you might think. Research shows more than half of us multitask during virtual meetings; many more of us remain preoccupied by thoughts from previous ones.

Paying full attention to who or what is in front of you right now will go a long way to helping you stand out. 

4. Get seen

Even with your camera on and the basics right, you can be invisible in a virtual meeting if you don’t engage. 

Find your opportunity to make a meaningful contribution and speak up. The speaker is the dominant image on screen, but don’t forget much less of you is visible, so be more animated than you would were you meeting in person. 

If you shy away from speaking up in larger meetings, take advantage of technology - you can still get seen by contributing via the chat. 

And beyond meetings, social media offers a multitude of places to project your personal brand. LinkedIn is still by far the best platform for professionals and it’s not that difficult to stand out. Of the 830 million LinkedIn members only 16% are active daily and less than 4% create their own content. So, you know what to do!

5. Watch your language

Want others to see you as confident, strategic, authoritative? Then think about your language. 

Ditch words that detract from your message - like ums and ars, minimising words and phrases.

While you don’t want to overdo it, you can instead associate yourself with a word simply by using it. 

For example, ‘let’s look at this strategically. If our project aims to achieve xyz, we also need to consider abc. If we take abc into account, I’m confident we can deliver’.

Personal branding has changed and while possibly more complex, the hybrid world offers plenty of new opportunities. Embracing them is the way to amplify your value, build a standout personal brand, and advance your career. 

January 2023

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