com Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.
George Bernhard Shaw
Module Two: Defining Yourself (I)
You are in control of your brand if you choose to be. When establishing your brand, you must define yourself. Remember that perception is reality, so it is essential that you carefully cultivate your image. When you take the time to define yourself and present this definition to the public, your will reap the benefits that come with taking control of your branding.
If You Don’t, They Will
It is easy to underestimate the importance of personal branding and avoid actively participating in your brand. The truth, however, is that branding occurs whether you participate in it or not. If you do not take the time to brand yourself, the market will brand you, and it may not do it favorably. Customers can bring negative attention to a company or individual, and attention can easily escalate to the court of public opinion. For example, the video “United Breaks Guitars” brought negative attention to the United Airlines brand. Without personal branding and active intervention, the damage to the brand name could have been beyond repair. Taking control of personal branding is necessary to manage your public reputation.
Estimated Time 5 minutes
Topic Objective Introduce the importance of participating in personal branding.
Discuss situations where the market has influenced brands. What is the Recommended Activity result of ignoring personal branding? Make a list of the consequences of not creating a personal brand.
Stories to Share Share any personal or relevant stories.
Delivery Tips Encourage everyone to participate.
Review Questions Why would someone not pay attention to personal branding?
Brand Mantra Brand mantras are short, but they are powerful. This short phrase or statement may only be three to five words, but these words define your brand. A mantra must explore the brand’s points of difference or how the brand is unique along with what the company represents. For example, take a look at, Nike’s “Authentic Athletic Performance.” In order to create a brand mantra, you must first identify what sets your brand apart and list your points of difference.
Once the points of difference are identified, you must create a mantra that is simple, communicates, and inspires.
Simple: The mantra should be short and to the point.
Communicate: The mantra should define the purpose of the brand and what is unique about it. Inspire: The mantra should be significant.
When creating a mantra, you should begin with a word bank of points of difference and your purpose and mission.
Complete the worksheet individually. Share your answers with the rest of the Recommended Activity class.
Stories to Share Share any personal relevant stories.
Delivery Tips Encourage everyone to participate.
Review Questions What is a brand mantra?
Be Real People are attracted to genuine people. The key to personal branding is to make it personal. Communicating dry facts will not impress most people. Your brand must have personality. Develop a persona that attracts people. Share ideas, implement humor, and make connections with people. Having an online presence makes sharing your persona much easier.
When you are developing your persona, remember to be real. You are under no obligation to share personal details about yourself, but everything that you do share must be genuine. Never make up facts, statistics, or tell lies. Fact-checking has become easier than ever, and lies will do nothing to improve your brand’s reputation.
Estimated Time 7 minutes
Topic Objective Introduce the concept of being real.
It’s a Moving Target
Topic Summary Discuss the purpose of being real.
Materials Required Flipchart/board and marker
Planning Checklist None
As a group, discuss branding and persona. Make a list of ideas on the
Recommended Activity flipchart/board that help brands become real. Draw from examples in popular culture.
Stories to Share Share any personal, relevant stories.
Review Questions What is the key to personal branding?
SWOT Analysis In defining yourself, it is helpful to perform a SWOT analysis. By identifying your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, you will be able to define your brand and understand what you have to offer. You will also identify areas that need improvement.
Strengths: Strengths are internal characteristics that create a competitive advantage. For example, accounting skills would be a strength.
Weaknesses: Internal weaknesses that need to be improved. Disorganization would be an
example of a weakness.
Opportunities: Opportunities are external. There are always opportunities for you to take advantage of. Education would be an example of an opportunity.
Threats: External threats cannot be controlled, but they may be addressed in your opportunities. Competition with a more relevant skill set is a threat.
A SWOT analysis will be unique to each person or business. Taking a moment to honestly assess your situation will allow you to complete a personal SWOT analysis.
Estimated Time 10 minutes
Topic Objective Introduce the SWOT analysis.
Practice Topic Summary Practice creating a SWOT analysis.
Materials Required Worksheet 2-SWOT
Planning Checklist None
Complete the worksheet individually. Share your answers with the rest of the Recommended Activity class.
Stories to Share Share any personal, relevant stories.
Delivery Tips Encourage everyone to participate.
Review Questions What does a SWOT analysis identify?
Practical Illustration Sean created a new startup business. At first, everything seemed to be going well, and sales were 20% higher than he originally projected. Unfortunately, a dissatisfied customer began making life miserable. The customer had demanded a refund, but Sean refused because there was nothing wrong with the product. Soon, he found comments online that he had poor customer service, warning people away from his product. Sean was sure that the problem would go away on its own, but his sales fell 30% the next month.
Estimated Time 5 minutes
Topic Objective Outline the Defining Yourself (I) Practical Illustration.
Practical Illustration Topic Summary Discuss the importance of taking control of a brand’s reputation.
Materials Required None
Planning Checklist None
Discuss the outcome of the Practical Illustration. What should Sean have Recommended Activity done differently?
Stories to Share Share any personal, relevant stories.
Mantra In the blank space, brainstorm a list of words that describe the differences and purpose of your organization. Next, create three different brand mantras in the space provided.
Icebreaker: A New Leader PURPOSE To help participants get acquainted and start talking to each other.
MATERIALS REQUIRED
1. Index cards
PREPARATION
Write the name of a different famous person on five or six index cards. Some examples: Madonna, Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong, Nelson Mandela, Bill Gates, Angelina Jolie.
Divide participants into groups of four to six. Give each group one of the cards.
ACTIVITY
Tell participants that the president of their company (or the head of their department) has resigned and the position is now being taken over by the person on their index card. Ask each group to think of one characteristic of this person that will help him or her do well in this new role.
After a few minutes, ask the groups to report on what they decided.
Full Download Test Bank For Operations Management: Creating Value Along The Supply Chain, 2nd Canadian Edition, Roberta S. Russell, Bernard W. Taylor Tiffany Bayley Ignacio Castillo PDF
Full Download Test Bank For Operations Management: Creating Value Along The Supply Chain, 2nd Canadian Edition, Roberta S. Russell, Bernard W. Taylor Tiffany Bayley Ignacio Castillo PDF
