What’s Your Secret Sauce?

For some, the idea of defining their personal brand stirs up exciting images of logos to add pizazz to a resume or business cards. For others, the act of digging deep makes them break out in a sweat. Your personal brand is simply just you so come on out from under the covers and let us tackle this subject together.

No need to start sweating just yet. Take a deep breath and think of your personal brand as your secret sauce that sets you apart from your fellow burgers. You know how when you’re enjoying a really good burger you get a bit of that sauce in each and every bite? Your personal brand is exactly the same. It’s a part of everything from the way you present yourself to what you say and how you lead others, so let’s get to work on identifying the ingredients in your secret sauce.

Let’s start with asking, “who are you?” Grab a few sticky notes, or a digital notepad, to jot some ideas on and think about what makes you tick:

• What do you stand for?
  • Think about the values you hold near and dear to your heart deep down. They might be values you were raised with or ones you’ve developed as you progressed into your adult years.
• What motivates you?
  • It could be personally, professionally, or anything else. This is all about your passions and what lights your fire. Think about the type of projects you could work on until you’ve lost track of time because you enjoy it so much.

Don’t think you’re done so fast. Grab a few more sticky notes and look back at those you’ve filled out so far. Think about your key traits in life and your career so far to answer the following:

• What makes you stand out from others in your field?
  • Is it your experiences, leadership style, or perspective?
• What highlights the value you’re putting out into the world?

Lastly, for this part at least, jot down what you want to be known for:

• If all your aspirations come to fruition, what would you hope people would remember you because of?
  • Is it something you plan to accomplish, a way you made others feel, or how you helped others in some capacity?

If you step back and look at all your colorful squares of scribbles you’ll start seeing that you’re not creating a brand out of nothing. You already have the ingredients for your secret sauce written down in front of you. Now you just need to craft it into a formal recipe to recognize where you’re heading and what you want your personal brand to formally be.

Remember, this is all-encompassing and is not just a reflection of who you are today. Your personal brand will become an integral piece of the roadmap for your journey forward into the future. Now, what on earth do you do with all these scraps of paper? Are they just an endless sea of ramblings scribbled out on them?

Well, that’s where the real magic happens as you craft the beginning of your brand using key works from the answers you jotted down earlier. Then you’ll use those little golden nuggets of your inner begin and combined them with how you wish to present yourself to others so that it’s true to your newly developed personal branding.

I’m not going to leave you hanging though. On Wednesday we’ll focus on what others are interpreting from what they see and dive deeper into how fast others make decisions on whether or not they will trust you. Since we know your secret sauce now, I think we’ll consider the next step to be picking the right bun for your burger.