When I'm sitting on a plane and someone asks me what I do for a living, I tell them I'm an Executive Branding Consultant. That usually provokes a puzzled look, silence, then a series of questions. Questions like, "What is Executive Branding?" and 'Why do I need to think of myself as a brand?"?

This article and the three that follow will answer those questions for you. After reading this series you'll understand the value of thinking of yourself as a brand, and you'll have the tools you need to uncover and express your personal brand which can greatly expand your professional success.

Why Executive Branding?

Because the world of work has changed. Forever.

Companies are in a constant state of reorganization in response to the rapidly changing demands of the market; and this requires that you change the way you pursue professional success.

Gone are the days when your value as an executive was linked to your loyalty and longevity. Corporations are doing more with less. Middle-and senior-level management positions are being eliminated in the name of leaner, more profitable organizational structures; and mergers and acquisitions are reducing the availability of executive jobs while putting competent executives out on the street.

Even C-Suite executives are not immune to this dynamic. According to executive search firm Spencer Stuart, the average tenure for Chief Marketing Officers at the top 100 branded companies is just 23 months.

In the new millennium, there are numerous qualified candidates for each open executive position. Kristen Buzun, an executive at Microsoft says, "For every position we advertise, we often receive thousands of resumes. It's impossible to find the right person among such a large group of qualified candidates."?

It's clear that the competition has increased. The bar has been raised. The stakes are higher.

So are the rewards.

In this new world of work, landing your next big gig is not about meeting job requirements; it's about standing out from the myriad others who also meet the job requirements. It's about offering - and delivering on - a differentiated promise. A promise that's not available from anyone else. To do this, you must use your personal brand.

Just as with corporate brands, your personal brand is your unique promise of value. It separates you from your peers and allows you to more efficiently achieve your professional goals.

When you think of Volvo, you probably think about safety and dependability. When people think about you, what words come to their minds?

Branding explicitly does not mean building a false image for the outside world. It's not spin. It's not packaging. Anne Morrow Lindbergh once said "The most exhausting thing you can be is inauthentic."

Executive branding, just like effective corporate branding, is based in authenticity. It means having a thorough understanding of your unique promise of value - knowing what makes you successful, interesting and differentiated; and using it to help you achieve your goals.

Branding supports your professional aspirations whether you want to take your career to the next level, motivate your team, or develop stronger relationships with partners and customers. Branding enables you to connect who you are with what you do and how you do it.

When you've built and nurtured a winning brand, you'll reap the many benefits, including:

• Understanding yourself better
  
• Increasing your visibility and presence
• Differentiating yourself from your peers
• Inspiring and motivating your team
• Increasing your compensation
• Thriving during downturns in the economy
• Being (and feeling) in control of your career
• Achieving professional success and personal fulfillment

The benefits are powerful. The value is incredible. The opportunity is tremendous.

Personal branding has been around for a while. Tom Peters wrote the first article about it, The Brand Called You, over 7 years ago. But many of your colleagues have not even begun to discover and build their brands, which means there's still time to get out in front. If you start thinking of yourself as a brand now, you'll be reaping the benefits in no time.

So what's your brand?

Well, winning brands aren't created: they're uncovered, built, and nurtured. You can put your winning brand to work for you by using a modified version of corporate brand assessment and positioning.

Step 1: Extract -- Unearthing Your Unique Promise of Value

Before you can increase your visibility and benefit from branding, you need to understand your unique promise of value -- what you offer, to whom, and what makes you different from your peers and relevant and compelling to those hiring managers.

This requires that you understand and define:

• Your strengths, goals, values and passions

• The people who need to know about you
• Your peers or competitors
  

Step 2: Express - Building Your Visibility Plan

The second step in the branding process involves developing your brand communications plan. This will enable you to increase both visibility and credibility.

Each of you will have a communications plan that's unique -- taking advantage of your communications style and ensuring your message reaches its target. Implementing your communications plan will enable you to become known to those people who can ensure your success.

Step 3: Exude - Managing Your Brand Environment

You brand environment is made up of everything that surrounds you. Everything from your clothes and briefcase to your personal brand identity system must reinforce your brand message. Branding is all about consistency: aligning the items in your brand environment with your promise of value will bolster your brand building activities.

In this phase of the branding process, you also develop a plan to build and nurture your professional network. When your brand is clear and unmistakable to those around you, they can deliver your brand to even the extended members of their networks.

Stay tuned to the upcoming three articles for more details, tools and techniques for building, communicating, and nurturing your executive brand.

*Thanks, William!*