BRANDING YOU: DISCOVER + DEFINE

By on May 15, 2013 in Being Real, LEAD CHANGE, LEARN MORE, Work Smart

Branding-you-2Business and branding consultant Lisa Haggis regularly helps clients identify their strengths, appreciate their gifts, and chart a purposeful course based on a more authentic personal brand.  In today’s post, second in her “Branding You” series,  Lisa offers her expert advice to help you dig deep, discover, and define yours.  Take a few minutes, give her exercise a try, and pause to reflect a bit on “why”. –  Ed. 

Ready to amplify your influence on the world?  Why not start with one of Oprah’s most famous questions:  “What do you know for sure?”

Your brand is not based on fiction, and getting to the bottom of it doesn’t require you to change yourself or get “creative”.  Instead, it requires you to unearth the unchanging parts of who you are.

The things you know for sure.

Look for constant threads throughout the journey of your life: What has always been true about you?

Building your brand from these deep-rooted certainties is how you keep it authentic and real. It’s also why, once you’re living your brand, everything flows. You’re not stuck pretending to be something you are not.

A SHORT EXERCISE IN PERSONAL BRANDING

To get started, think right back to your childhood, before the world did its best to average you out.  Identify the consistent things in your life that have always:

  • Driven you mad (in a good or bad way),
  • Prompted people to comment on, ask of you, or envy; and
  • Made your body sing, time slip away, or your heart feel so full that it just might explode.

Think of specific memories or examples for each, and then pull out the commonalities by asking yourself “why?”.  By doing so, you’re digging up characteristics that will fall into one of three categories: your Talents, Passions, or Attributes.

NINE THINGS YOU KNOW FOR SURE

Talents are those activities or abilities that come naturally to you.  Passions have the power to make you act. They are a huge source of energy for you.  Attributes are the innate personality traits that shape your behavior and effect on people.

After reflecting on the questions above, and drawing on a lifetime of knowledge, choose three meaningful characteristics for each category.   This will provide you with a starting point for your brand definition: nine concepts of “you” by which to live your life.

This exercise only scratches the surface when it comes to discovering the parameters of who you are, but getting clear on that which you know for sure is just the beginning.  In my next post, we’ll build on this and explore how to live your personal brand more fully.

In the meantime, watch attentively for opportunities to pursue, feature, and simplify your life down to these nine concepts. Watch for things that challenge, weaken, or contradict them.  Savour them, and, slowly, if you can, narrow them down to only the ones that resonate most.

Lisa-Haggis1

 

Lisa Haggis helps people create powerful legacies through their businesses and their careers. With a unique and systematic approach to branding, she supports visionaries as they bravely fulfill their calling by living and breathing an authentic brand story. She is a strategist, coach, writer, and orchestrator of memorable experiences. You can find her at lisahaggis.com.

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DIARY / APRIL 2013

By on April 30, 2013 in Around Town, Being Real, Chronicles, LEARN MORE, LIVE WELL

DIARY-APRIL-2013This past month went by in a flash.  So fast in fact, I’ve barely had time to post.  Thank goodness for girlaboutOtown’s growing roster of contributors!

During my busiest times, I sometimes have to let go of everyday tasks like making my bed or properly planned meals.  As much as I hate to admit it,  my home is the first off my list when it comes to prioritizing. I can’t help but think it must be the same for others too.  When forced to juggle competing demands, you can be damn sure the dusting doesn’t get done!  Especially when there are more interesting things going on…

Here are just a few that took precedence over my laundry pile this month:

OTTAWA ANTIQUE SHOW - This well established event took place April 5- 7 at the Carleton University Field House, the same place it’s been held for the last several seasons. What was different however, was a decidedly new look and feel for the Ottawa Antique Show.

Kudos to the folks at Affiliated Showsales for kicking it up a notch this year.  A concerted effort to up their game with an elegantly redesigned website, a fantastically interactive Facebook page and very hip new logo have clearly paid off.  By my account, the show seemed to successfully attract a distinctly younger crowd this time around.  I’m already looking forward to the fall show, if only for the Facebook contests!

PAULA PYNE – UPLIFT CONSULTING - Having left my government job 2010, I’ve been working hard in business ever since.  From web design and marketing to mortgages and real estate law, I’ve been running straight uphill for more than three years.  Rapidly.  Now that the learning curve has begun to level off, I find myself feeling out of breath and wondering what’s next.  Where does it all lead?

Enter Paula Pyne, management consultant, leadership coach, business advisor, and founder of Uplift Consulting.  By reaching out for guidance, advice and support, this month marked a major shift for me.   I’ve just begun working with Paula, and I already feel more at ease with how things are unfolding – now and into the future.

NEIGHBOURHOOD REFRESH - This passion project I’ve been working on for over a year is quickly taking shape.   We’ve come a long way over the winter, and are officially expanding beyond our founding committee this spring.  Our partnership with Ottawa Community Housing (OCH) continues to strengthen, our first project is currently being conceptualized, and we have taken steps to incorporate as a non-profit.

We’re determined not to over promise and under-deliver, so for now we’re keeping the details to a minimum, but let’s just say: “This thing has legs!”.   Visit our website to learn more, or click here to get involved.

GIRL GEEK DINNERS - Girl Geek Dinners Ottawa have been a gathering place for women interested in technology since 2009.  Intended to make it interesting and accessible, these monthly events offer women an opportunity to expand their tech horizons in an informal, supportive setting.  This girlaboutOtown has been meaning to attend a Girl Geek Dinner for a dog’s age, but for some reason, has never been able to swing it.  That is until this last one, which was definitely worth my while.  I’ll definitely go back.

Lucky for me the powers that be at Girl Geek Dinners have slowly been extending their subject matter beyond technology!  April’s dinner featured the fantastically inspiring Shari Graydon, founder and catalyst of Informed Opinions, a non-profit initiative dedicated helping women make their ideas heard through print, broadcast and online information media (ie: PR for women’s expert opinions).  Ms. Graydon gave a provocative presentation that left us Geek Girls with plenty to think about.  Her premise?  “We need more fully-clothed women role models in the media.”  Here, here!

 

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