Timestamps

00:00:00: Introduction

00:02:21: Idea for action 1: stand for, stand with, stand out

00:03:53: Idea for action 2: how you can be useful

00:05:14: Go-to guru

00:05:34: Relevant podcast episode

00:06:01: Final thoughts

Interview Transcription

Helen Tupper: Hi, I'm Helen.

Sarah Ellis: And I'm Sarah.

Helen Tupper: And you're listening to the Squiggly Careers podcast.  And this episode is part of our Squiggly Skills Sprint series, where we've recorded 20 episodes, each of them are less than seven minutes long, to help you build some career development momentum.  In each episode, Sarah and I are going to talk about a Squiggly Skill, what it is and why it matters, we're going to share an idea for action from each of us, give you a go-to guru and a podcast episode so that you can listen and learn a bit more.  And we really, really want you to turn this Squiggly Skills Sprint into your own learning streak. 

And for anyone who lets us know how they're getting on and who completes the 20-day streak, we can't prove that, so we trust you, but if you tag us that you've done the sprint, you've completed the streak, then what we will do is we'll get in touch with you and we will invite you to a free Five Skills to Succeed virtual workshop that Sarah and I are going to be running in September, so we can help you dive even deeper into the world of Squiggly Careers.  All you've got to do is tag @amazingif in any of your social posts, and then we'll be in touch.

Sarah Ellis: In this skills sprint, we're talking about personal brand, and we define this as what you're known for, so what people say about you when you're not in the room, which I think sounds like quite a scary prospect, to be honest.  And I do understand that this idea of personal brand maybe can feel a bit uncomfortable or a bit awkward for lots of people, and often ends up in that category in our Squiggly Careers of something we feel we should do but we can't work out a way to do it in a way that works for us. 

But it is important because I think when you get this right, you create a pull for yourself, a pull for people and possibilities that give you more opportunities to squiggle with success.  And it also helps you to be less dependent on maybe the job you're doing today or the organisation that you're working for at the moment, because you're sort of creating, and I think taking more ownership for your own identity. Though I have mixed views of it, I think, it's often why people on their LinkedIn profiles now don't put their job titles.  We're a big advocate of replacing titles with talents in terms of what we focus on in Squiggly Careers, and I think it is why you see people say, "I'm just passionate about learning and being really curious", but you don't necessarily know what their job is or who they work for.  And I think that is part of people kind of creating their personal brand.

Helen Tupper: And my idea for action is the thing that I have found really useful, because sometimes on stuff on personal brand I find a little bit confusing like, "But what am I supposed to do?"  And so I've found a structure that I've just found quite useful for summarising stuff and being clear, and that is working out what you stand for, so having some statement about something that you believe in or you're passionate about, so you know, "I stand for making Squiggly Careers better for everybody, but I stand for democratising development", because you can have more than one statement, but what do you actually stand for; then thinking about who do you stand with?  So, your brand is better if you're not building it on your own, so that could be another person, so I stand with Sarah, for example, that definitely builds my brand.  It could be communities that you're part of as well, so just have a think about that. Then, what makes you really stand out?  So, what is really distinctive and different about you? 

So I would say for me, it's my energy and my positivity.  I know that that is something that makes me different from other people.  But having that clarity is really, really useful for when you build your brand, and it's quite an authentic thing.  And what I would just say with this is, it's not fixed.  So, you want to be clear about this so you can take control of it, but also you don't have to stick to it forever.  So just kind of do your three stands now, your stand with, your stand for, your stand outs, and then review it and think, "Does that still feel like me?"  It's absolutely fine to change your mind, but perhaps don't do it too frequently because it does take a while to build your brand.  But I think this doesn't have to be a thing that's fixed for life; that's a bit ladderlike, and we're Squiggly, we can change and our brand can change too.

Sarah Ellis: One of the things that's really helped me, as somebody who does find this a bit cringey and uncomfortable being honest, I don't really like the phrase "personal brand", but it gets used quite frequently, so that's often why it's still helpful to call things that, is I really remember a conversation I had with Jack Graham.  And this was actually on our podcast, but I knew Jack anyway.  He said, one of the questions we should all be asking ourselves, and he wrote a great article about this, is, "How can I be useful?"  So not, "How can I follow my passions", or do what I'm best at even, "How can I be useful?" 

And I think the thing that has unlocked me figuring out what I want to stand for, with and out, exactly as Helen's described, is answering that question.  Because then when I think, "Well, how I can be useful?" is designing and creating really practical day-to-day career development that I hope will help people in the here and now, as well as the rest of their careers. Then, I've been able to create a community around my answer to that question at any one point of time.  And it feels less about me or I, it feels more about we, like who else might be interested in doing that and who else can I learn from.  And actually, when I feel like I'm being useful, I'm much more confident about putting myself out there or writing things, or talking out loud to people about how I might be able to help them.  So, I found that a really useful, propelling question for my personal brand.

Helen Tupper: And someone else who's got some really good questions and provocations that will help you with your personal brand is Dorie Clark, who has written a couple of different articles on this topic on Harvard Business Review, so well worth a look at Dorie.  She's very practical, very sort of top-tips-y, and so I think sometimes that stuff just makes it easier to act on something that can feel a little bit ambiguous.

Sarah Ellis: And if you want to listen to a very early episode of the Squiggly Careers podcast, episode 25.

Helen Tupper: Should we recommend this?!

Sarah Ellis: I don't know.  You and me.

Helen Tupper: We need an episode to go to!

Sarah Ellis: Yeah, so episode 25 was on How to Build Your Personal Brand.  I mean, how good that episode will be is anyone's guess, but if you re-listen, let us know how you find it.

Helen Tupper: And you can maybe give us some feedback at helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com, which is all the way back and right at the beginning of the sprint, we did an episode on feedback, so you can put some of those skills into action for us!

Sarah Ellis: Thank you for listening to this Skills Sprint, we hope you found it useful.  We'd love you to share and subscribe so you don't miss a sprint.  And that's everything for this episode, so bye for now.

Helen Tupper: Bye everyone.