What Experts Say About Personal Branding for Female Leaders
Personal branding is especially important for women in a world where glass ceilings are being shattered every day. To celebrate International Women’s Day this year, we have compiled a list of the best advice for women to build their personal brands:
“The issue of personal branding remains more topical for female entrepreneurs, as women still have to self-define themselves in the world of gender stereotypes and leadership gap. Traditional gender expectations, confidence gap, and other challenges women overcome today all influence two elements of their brand-building:
Outer: dress code, a manner of speaking, self-presentation.
Inner: self-perception, a vision of the future, self-identification.
A woman can influence and correct both elements if she understands what is so valuable about her brand and how to communicate this message to the world.” (Vos, Lesslie J. "7 Steps to Personal Brand Building ForWomen." Elevate Network)
“For women in particular, a strong personal brand can open the door to new business and career opportunities. Smart female professionals know that closing the gender gap in the workplace begins with supporting your female colleagues, and putting yourself out there is the best way to make important networking connections with other women in business”, said Gabrielle Wood, Ph.D. and adjunct faculty member at Kaplan University. (BusinessNews Daily, 2016)
“Your allies or network are your key source of visibility in your organization, community and sector. You are known by the company you keep. This is why over-focusing on developing expertise or doing a perfect job can actually keep you stuck—you may not have the bandwidth for building a strong ally network.” Marshall Goldsmith. (Forbes,2018)
“Making a strong first impression on various social media platforms is no cakewalk. Engaging content, self-promotion, credibility, and confidence are some of the basic elements of successful personal branding”. (Entrepreneur, 2018)
“Many women may feel uncomfortable talking about their accomplishments and promoting themselves directly. But there are other ways to show your areas of expertise when building a brand. Content creation is a good way to share your ideas and build a positive reputation at scale. The precise mechanics will differ based on company policies (your ability to use social media may be limited in certain regulated industries, for instance), but in almost any organization, there are ways that you can you demonstrate your knowledge and help others.” Dorie Clark. (Harvard Business Review, 2018)
