BUILDING A PERSONAL BRAND WITH INTEGRITY
In today’s fiercely competitive and globally linked world, a personal brand is an effective means of differentiating oneself.
Personal branding is how you present yourself to current and potential clients. Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. We can then define personal branding with integrity as presenting oneself as honest and having strong ethical principles to current and potential clients. Personal branding has become imperative as it enables individuals to differentiate themselves and stand out in various personal and professional spheres.
“Your personal brand is about more than simply self-promotion; it’s about exhibiting your own traits and principles.”
Significance of Building a Personal Brand grounded in ethical values: Commitment to specific values allows brands to connect with clients meaningfully, building brand loyalty. Emotional connections can be formed when clients know an individual will be there to support them when something goes wrong.
Personal branding should be consistent as this helps build momentum, develop good habits and stay focused on the set objects. Consistency aligns personal values, actions and public perception. It also builds trust through authenticity and transparency.
Strategies for Building a Personal Brand with Integrity: Building a personal brand informs people’s perception of you and your expertise. To build a great personal brand, you should do the following:
“A personal brand with integrity is noticeable, heightens brand awareness, distinguishes one from competitors and ensures a satisfactory customer experience”
- Clarity of Purpose: Define your mission and what you want to be known for. Your personal brand should reflect your goals and aspirations.
- Effective Storytelling: Craft a compelling narrative that shares your journey, experiences, and values. Stories resonate with people and help them connect with you more deeply.
- Quality Content: Share content that reflects your expertise, interests, and values. Quality content showcases your authenticity, whether it’s writing, videos, or public speaking.
- Community Engagement: Actively engage with your community or target audience. Build meaningful relationships and be responsive to feedback.
- Identify and communicate core values: Boldly share the values you want to be known for, leveraging on the diversity of your audience.
- Demonstrate ethical behaviour in all aspects of life: You must be consistent in living ethically. Your life publicly should not be different from your life privately.
- Foster trust and authenticity: You do this by maximising every opportunity. Trust is a reward for excellent service delivery and investment in relationships.
- Build genuine connections and relationships.
- Maintain consistency in communication and behaviour.
- Emphasise transparency and vulnerability.
While engaging these strategies, seeking guidance from mentors and trusted individuals is essential. One must also be accountable and open to feedback.
There are numerous benefits attached to having a personal brand with integrity. Some of these benefits are:
- It increases visibility.
- It builds a strong reputation and offers opportunities.
- It creates consistency and trust.
- It boosts product’s value.
- It portrays one as an expert in one’s field.
- It enhances credibility.
- It has a positive impact on personal and professional success.
Challenges in Building a Personal Brand with Integrity:
- Temptation to Fake It: In the age of social media, it’s easy to present an idealised version of yourself. Resist the temptation to misrepresent who you are.
- Balancing Personal and Professional Life: Maintaining integrity in personal and professional settings can be challenging, but it’s essential for a consistent personal brand.
Building an authentic personal brand involves more than simply self-promotion; it also entails developing a reputation for sincerity, morality, and honesty. As you embark on this journey to building a personal brand with integrity, remember it is a lifelong commitment. Your personal brand will evolve as you grow and learn. The key is to ensure that it remains a genuine reflection of who you are and what you believe in. By doing so, you’ll not only achieve success but also inspire others to do the same.
Olamiji Onafowokan
Olamiji holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Statistics (First Class Honours) and equally backed it up with another excellent performance at Master’s degree level, both from the University of Ibadan. She served as a class teacher for graders at Valencia Schools in Ibadan prior to joining CMRG, where she quickly rose to the position of Assistant Head of Department, thanks to her abilities, assiduity, commitment, and integrity.
She has received several honours for her outstanding academic achievements thus far, including the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) Award and the Nigerian Women Association of Georgia (NWAG) Award.
Her interest in research increased as a result of her having verifiable experience in large data set gathering, integration, analysis, and interpretation; trend and relationship discovery; process design for data collection; and accurate data deduction for decision making.
She joined Communication and Marketing Research Group LTD in November 2022 as a Research Executive in order to advance her career in Market Research