An insight into personal branding

Standard Style
I am certain that personal branding is a subject that I have written about before but as you will see, my approach today takes a different form. It was inspired by a friend of mine who is a leadership guru whom I engaged recently.

I am certain that personal branding is a subject that I have written about before but as you will see, my approach today takes a different form. It was inspired by a friend of mine who is a leadership guru whom I engaged recently.

brand savvy with Stha Magida

Joseph Chisasa
Joseph Chisasa

I found the conversation quite valuable and intriguing. This conversation was also recorded so it could help someone at some point. We spoke about the obvious part of personal branding, that is its definition and we came up with several definitions, but an easy one would be “how a person appears to be to the world” or “what he is known for in the society that particular person lives in”. We established that personal branding is all about presenting oneself in such a way that they become the go-to person in the niche industry. It is my sincere hope that if anyone thinks branding then my name comes up. How does one get to those levels where they become a strong personal brand, one may ask and the answers are quite straight-forward and shall be detailed below.

One needs to understand their individuality and be an authentic person. It is to know what you believe in and what you stand for. It is the ability in knowing one’s strengths and weaknesses. Building a personal brand is developing an understanding of one’s self then sharing it with the world. That identity must be dignified and must make you very proud of what you have achieved. This, however, is not to say that one must then become pompous or proud. Humility enhances a personal brand. I met some of the most amazing people last month at a meeting to discuss the outcomes of the World Economic Forum in Davos. At that meeting I met one amazing Zimbabwean, Joseph Chisasa, who has been profiled by the University of South Africa as one of their go-to person in Agricultural Economics. As I listened to him speak, I could not help but admire his depth of knowledge in the field. He exuded so much confidence and yet he remained totally humble. That is an example of how a good personal brand should come out to the audience or the people who are observing. It should be collected and inspirational.

Another way of developing and growing a personal brand is to develop one’s communication skills and then speak about what you stand for as a personal brand. There has to be originality in the way you speak; it is not wise to copy any other person’s style. Originality remains critical. One also ought to write thought leadership articles and participate in interviews. It is also wise to get connected to media online publishers to increase your brand authority. It is also important to build an online presence. One, however, must be very careful with the content that they post online. This can either make or break a personal brand. My friend Jonah Nyoni always says that one must follow the three Ps of online presence. He says that one must Pen his thoughts and then Ponder what he has written and only after pondering on his content and refining it here and there and where possible can he post his thoughts. In most instances, people just hit the post button without thinking twice. What then ends up in the media becomes totally regrettable. In some instances, it may not be easy to pull done what one has posted online. In order to protect a personal brand therefore, one needs to be very careful what they post. I mean you may have a favourite beer, but is it necessary that you post such likes on social media? Will you not then be accused of being drunk on a day that you are not and want to be taken seriously?

The last critical thing that one must do to build and grow a brand is to remain a student of your industry. One needs to continuously learn the new trends in their industry and to grow their knowledge in their field. Imagine people like Chisasa still remain students in their industry despite the great achievements that are synonymous with his name.

That said, I hope a reader may pick one or two points to develop their personal brand. Till next week, keep reading and remain brand-savvy.

Stha Magida can be contacted on [email protected]