How portable is your personal brand to another job? This question came up talking with a blog reader after a Brainzooming training presentation. We were discussing the possibilities of moving her personal brand to a new job, having worked at a large corporation for a decade and feeling topped-out in her career path. Despite very positive sentiment from internal clients, the company had gone through senior management changes that left her without a strong senior advocate for her contributions and career.
Discussing her career options, I tried to help weigh the potential upsides and challenges of moving to another company. She had a concern about leaving and uprooting her 10-year career and the very strong relationships she'd built up over time.
I reminded her that these relationships hadn't been handed to her; she'd cultivated productive relationships through hard work and delivering results. Her skills would serve her well no matter where she might go.
Then, almost as an afterthought, she mentioned the nearly complete turnover among her internal clients within the past 18 months.
I asked if she realized what she had just said.
If her internal clients had all turned over in the last year and a half, that meant she had developed these incredibly strong relationships with a nearly new set of people. Instead of taking years to create such favorable perceptions, she was creating strong relationships within just a few months.
When viewed from that perspective, the potential relationship-focused downsides of moving on vanish. Suddenly, her personal brand looks incredibly portable to another organization.
And you know what?
She had a goal of securing a new job within a few months, and that's exactly what she did.
How about your personal brand and the prospects of taking it someplace else? Is your personal brand a lot more portable than YOU give it credit for being? Maybe it's time to start exploring your options. – Mike Brown
If you’d like to add an interactive, educationally-stimulating presentation on strategy, innovation, branding, social media or a variety of other topics to your event, Mike Brown is the answer. Email us at brainzooming@gmail.com or call 816-509-5320 to learn how Mike can get your audience members Brainzooming!
