Building Your Brand: The Power of Intentional Strategy

Episode Transcript

Hello and welcome to the Daring to Succeed podcast.

My name is Julianna Yau Yorgan and I’m a workplace strategist who teaches leaders how to show their value and increase their impact through compassionate strategy.

I’ve been talking to a lot of professionals lately who, frustrated by the lack of quality roles that they can apply to, have been re-focusing on building their brand and reputation instead.

What I’ve noticed though is most of them start right in on the WHAT–writing and posting articles, contributing to articles and forums, whatever.

What’s usually missing are two things: a goal and a strategy to reach that goal.

I’ll take myself as an example.

When I was last in corporate, I was known for two things:

One was a leader who could take underappreciated and overlooked talent, get something truly amazing out of them, and help them move ahead in their careers.

I guess I still do that, only it’s even more impactful now because I can’t just give them opportunities and endorsements–I actually need to show them how to get people to notice them, show their value and capitalize on opportunities.

The other thing I was known for was being a great collaborator. I did this without stretching myself too thin (I actually never worked overtime…except when it was actually an exceptional case).

Both of these were INTENTIONAL and for a purpose.

My reputation as a leader allowed me access to the smartest and most capable staff, who were also willing to go the extra mile (in effort, not in overtime), to do a spectacular job because they knew the doors that would open for them.

My reputation as a peer and employee allowed me access to the toughest projects and stakeholders–which only added to my reputation when I was able to handle them with ease.

Both of these were things I wanted to have access to, and my reputation gave me that access.

When I turn back to the professionals who are working on their brand right now, not only do they lack a clear goal (and I know because I ask them directly and they rarely have an answer), but because they also don’t have a strategy, they’re doing A LOT OF THINGS…but without any way to know whether it’s leading to something meaningful.

Whether it’s personal brand reputation or anything else, one of the things I work on with my clients is creating a clear strategy so they can see where all of these activities are leading them.

Having that shifts their activities and their time in two critical ways.

The first is they are more INTENTIONAL about what they’re doing. Whatever it is–articles, speaking engagements, stretch assignments–they all cumulate towards a specific thing they are known for. 

This creates CLARITY and FOCUS in their reputation.

For example, someone who is known for applying AI in customer service interactions.

Or an expert in maximizing the potential of CRM software for B2B retailers.

Whatever it is, the brand is clear–and so is the person or business scenario who needs them.

The second is that they GET TIME BACK IN THEIR DAY.

This is because most of the time they are just doing all the things and saying yes to everything that comes their way.

That may be a great way to network, but eventually they’ll become overwhelmed and usually just walk away from it all.

But when they have a clear goal and strategy, being INTENTIONAL about what they do means they’re also INTENTIONAL about where their time is spent.

They’re spending time with family instead of fitting in a weekend podcast recording that doesn’t serve their brand.

They’re training for a half marathon instead of applying for another speaking engagement that is only marginally related to what they want to be known for.

So if you’re working on your personal brand right now, whether that’s within your current organization or more generally, make sure you’re clear on who you’re targeting and what the intended outcome is.

Because otherwise you may be getting a lot of likes (or not), but the person who needs to see you isn’t finding you.

And if you want to learn more about how I use strategy to turn small actions into big outcomes, I invite you to join my free newsletter.

I send daily tips, insights and resources to strategic leaders and professionals who want to show their value and increase their impact through Compassionate Strategy.

You’ll find the link to sign up in the show notes and on my socials.

Okay, that’s it for now. I’ll see you next time.