Build your personal brand

How do you identify yourself at work? Is it as someone who enthusiastically engages in what you do each day? And are your work colleagues perceived as allies to be supported or treated with the wariness deserving of competitors?

“When you have a positive work-related identity, you feel more positively about your sense of self, about your strengths, virtues and capabilities, and your potential for growth and development,” explained Dr Laura Morgan Roberts from Georgetown University. Your work identity is how you define yourself through your engagement with various aspects of your work, such as your occupation, workroles, and organisation. And by intentionally shaping this identity through positive emotions and positive relationships, you can enhance your self-worth and sense of belongingness, and also build your inner resources. Laura has found that there are three components that make up a positive work-related identity:

• Your unique constellation of background, attributes and characteristics are valued and affirmed by yourself and others.

• Your opportunities to make meaningful contributions that serve you and strengthen others around you.

• Your ability to tap into your aspirations to grow and become better, so you can keep offering up the best version of yourself.

Finding opportunities to be authentic about who you are and how you can positively contribute can help you build a strong personal brand that is believable and respected by others. Your actions are more motivated by your virtues, and you’re more likely to be perceived by others as someone who is credible, trustworthy and adding value.

How do you build a positive work-related identity?

Laura shared the G.I.V.E model developed by herself and colleagues to construct more positive work-related identities:

>Growing Self — be aspirational and at the same time humble in your intentions to develop yourself. Be more intentional and deliberate about growing your psychological wellbeing by tapping into positive emotions and building positive relationships.

>Integrated self — find ways to align your authentic self with the responsibilities of your work role. It can be difficult to have a positive sense of self in the context of work if you feel you need to suppress core or valued aspects of your identity. Look for opportunities to engage that helps to enhance yourself and others around you.

>Virtuous self — carve out a space in the universe where you make valuable and significant contributions that are meaningful for you and also strengthen those around you. Engage in noble and virtuous actions that reflect your strengths of character.

>Esteemed self — tap into the need to experience being affirmed as a person of worth. Unfortunately, however many managers can avoid giving praise more than negative feedback.

Laura also points out that bringing your best self to work takes a willingness to be authentic, to speak up, to make mistakes and be imperfect. So, it helps to have a psychologically safe workplace where diverse opinions and experiences are heard.

Creating safe spaces that support others to develop a positive work-related identity starts with developing your own. When you’re able to draw on the best of yourself, and the best from others, and from the diversity represented within your organisation, can allow everyone to bring to your table a broad perspective that can help your organisation develop new solutions to old problems.

Your actions are more motivated by your virtues, and you’re more likely to be perceived as someone who is credible, trustworthy and adding value