By Tyler Mayo, MBA – HR Business Partner, University of Florida
In times like the ones that we are in, it’s important for us to focus on the positive, process through the difficult, and look towards the future. COVID-19 has brought about a lot of fear, anxiety, and stress unlike anything that we have ever seen before. Something that I have always strongly believed is that in every trial there is always the potential for progress.
Something that COVID-19 and the mandatory quarantine has brought to each of us in some way or another is time. Even though it may feel like I’ve lost time in the workday, I know that due to the quarantine I’ve found myself at home a lot more than I usually would. What have I done with this time? What have you done with this time? And most importantly, what can we do with the time we have left?
As we begin to transition back to “normal life,” I’d like to pose a question that may seem broad and strange considering our circumstances, but stay with me. What can this extra time away from normal life do to support your personal brand?
Like I said, this may a little bit strange when we’re facing serious issues daily, but just sit on that for a minute now: what is your personal brand? I know that for me personally, prior to my time in higher ed HR I never really thought about my brand. My idea of professional success centered around a ladder that never seemed climbable until I embraced this concept of a personal brand.
I’m going throw out a few questions for you to ponder that I’ve found helpful while building out my own personal brand.
- What do I do in my job that makes me come alive?
- What do I do outside of my job that makes me feel like I have a purpose?
- Where (if any) do these two intersect?
- Who can I find to invest in my goals?
- Who around me to I respect and want to emulate?
- Why does what I do inside and outside of work matter in the bigger picture of my personal world view?
While these questions are not an exhaustive list, they’re definitely something to get the juices flowing on how you can start to draft a personal brand that others will want to see more of. The best thing that you can do once you start this quest is to put yourself out there. Do things that once upon a time would have made you feel uncomfortable. Once you know what your person brand is and put it on display, I can guarantee you others will be interested in it too.
Check out my podcast “Time Out with Tammi and Tyler” for additional HR content.
