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Shelter Chieza Change Management
It’s not only companies that need establishment and maintenance of a brand. Even the manager needs to be aware that they must manage their personal brand. Developing a personal brand has similarities with developing a brand for your product.

Personal branding, however, will involve your total commitment towards creating a new you that has a goal and vision. Individuals that have occupied the top floor offices in sky-rise building did not just wake up there. Occupying those positions needs a well thought and orchestrated plan.

Despite my admiration for Facebook and Twitter, I feel that many people have been led astray through using them. One must carefully examine themselves before landing on these social platforms. An individuals’ verbal and non-verbal communication matters a great deal. It’s good to be on Facebook, but is that image portraying the attributes that you want the public to know?

How about the profile pictures you put on your Whatsapp or Linked In, are they portraying the potential Chief Executive Officer in you? Same with your Tweets, are they portraying the image that you wish to be perceived.

If you are in the cars marketing business, how will you convince a potential Porsche customer to buy with you if you are driving some rackety scooter which has spokes falling. Or if you have a clothing line, you can’t just be frivolous with your dressing; you have to look the part.

Avoid creating divergent images about yourself. Even creating a mismatched brand through displaying contending attributes in various social media outlets are an absolute No no. I had a boss who was in the habit of posting his vacation pictures on LinkedIn, Really, of all platforms? I used to wonder why he would do such a thing. If you are so pressured to post your holiday beach photos, why not open an account on Instagram?

Your career has potential to be advanced by these social platforms in the appropriate way. If you are not too sure about how you can do so , I would rather you remain out of it till you have carefully set yourself up to appreciate the consequences of your choice.

As a management opinionist, my mandate is to present diverse positions that can enable you to think broadly about issues. This platform is mainly to probe minds, the audience that read this column each week must have something they can pick- good or bad, to use for their day to day management in different fields. I therefore must come up with pieces and an image that is congruent with this objective.

It’s a lot of pressure to be a manager that is starting to work on personal brand. However as each day progresses, you should get used to present yourself in a very consistent manner. Make a decision that you are going to live and manage your personal brand without failure each day, see your personal brand as a trademark. Trademarks do not change because they have moved to another country or are being exposed to different conditions.

A potential international business opportunity may be lost if you don’t brand yourself appropriately. In fact it goes as far as saying that if you do not personally brand yourself, someone else will do that for you – be rest assured that it will not be what you were expecting.

I rarely struggle to get information about anyone or anything these days, its easier to search on the Internet. A lot of people are unaware of their future career prospects. You need time to thoroughly sort this out so you can come up with a game plan. All those trips and workshops you attend must not just happen to you. Be sure to be calculative about what deserves your attention. Remember that your strategy is to either advance or shift laterally within your company. You may need to do another Masters Degree to reach your goals, yes you have the MBA but you may need to narrow that a little.

For some, putting your foot inside the door you want will involve volunteering to help in a certain area during odd working times, for some its a phone call away. The administration department is one area where you can do more volunteer work and get to meet people and they can also get to know you better.

Maximising your opportunity happens at different people at different times , your may require a little more push than yours.

I have a personal interest in Interior Designing. I once tried to write on it but a good Samaritan was honest enough to tell me that I really sounded flat and I should let the “experts” do it. Initially, I viewed it as one of the hate emails that I often receive but one morning I was awakened to realise that the flow in my writings in Interior Designing was not there. It was just not coherent writing.

As your-self brand manager, your job is to identify the uniqueness in you. Remember that your personal brand focuses on where you want to be in the future. Your current reality must never discourage you.

Till next week, May God richly Bless you.

• Shelter Chieza is a Management Consultant. She can be contacted at [email protected]