Expat Careers: Personal Branding Can Help both Professionals and Organizations to Higher Levels of Performance

As a personal branding strategist, I often work with international executives to build their personal brand for professional success. It is fantastic to see the impact these executives are having in their organizations once they are clear on their unique value and where they can use their strengths to contribute most effectively.

Many executives, after becoming clear on their personal brand, become aware that many people on their teams or in their business units are not using their strengths to help them in their own careers or to meet business objectives. They begin to see that aligning the staff’s career goals and business objectives is a fantastic way to maximize their most important asset – people.

There are many cultures where people are raised to believe that improved performance comes from working on one’s weaknesses. In others, actively communicating your value to others could be seen as overly aggressive. The idea of focusing on what you do well rather than what you do not, and expressing your unique value in everything that you do, may seem contrary to everything they know to be true.

So sometimes it is challenging for executives to get their team to buy into the idea that clarifying each team members unique value will help in achieving both the team’s individual career goals and business objectives. I believe this is often true because there is no point of reference – they do not see other teams doing it so they have no evidence that this approach is effective.

I try to encourage these executives to find examples and success stories from their peers, colleagues, or people in their networks across the globe.  When they have evidence of how personal branding really works, people are more open to embracing it as something that would benefit them and their team.

There are many people who have had tremendous success in helping organizations to integrate personal branding into their team building and organizational development. One such person is William Arruda, co-author of the book Career Distinction, a thought leader in personal branding and highly sought after public speaker. He has worked with companies from across the globe, including Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase, Disney, IBM Europe and France-Amériques. 

I had the honor of organizing a presentation for William in Rome last year that was simply phenomenal. Participants were energized, inspired, and began to challenge the notions they had about using personal branding in their careers and their organizations. He is a dynamic, engaging speaker and his passion for branding came through loud and clear.

There are many examples out there of how personal branding can help organizations build teams that not only exceed business objectives but inspire and empower their staff to leverage their strengths at the same time.  It's just a matter of doing a little research to find them.

EXPAT CAREER SUCCESS TIP: If you are an international executive interesting in exploring personal branding as a human and organizational development tool, visit William’s website to see a presentation he made to Microsoft about the power of personal branding and how he’s helped many organizations build high performing teams that generate extraordinary results.

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  career by choice can help you...become an expat and experience a global lifestyle ~ explore international career options and find work abroad ~ understand your Brand DNA and how you perform at your best ~ clarify your personal brand so you can stand out and be sought after for top jobs overseas ~ develop marketing tools and strategies to communicate your unique expertise in a compelling way ~ strengthen your online reputation to attract employers and secure international jobs ~ become highly visible, recognized and well compensated for the value you create ~ overcome challenges and grow as a leader on international assignments ~ leverage social media to build your global online network ~ develop a global mindset ~ find an international career coach and experienced guide ~ conduct an international job search ~ optimize your choices and discover success abroad on your terms by being your best self. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Comments

[Dan Schawbel]

I really missed your blog posts. Glad to see your back with a strong one.