Should you invest in building your image?

Written by Vidya Kumar

January 30, 2014

Based on the nature of your profession, image building exercise can be extremely helpful. The image consultants can also teach you about cross cultural differences and manners and etiquettes.  So go build your brand, do it with the help of right professionals, learn from others and invest in yourself. 
Now if you like to get an expert to help you build your image, you can hire one. They advise on image building, manners, etiquettes, clothing, cross boarder cultural practices and so on. Most of them give you options to attend their workshop or sign up for a customized service.

If you are an Executive, Sales or Business Professional, Public Personality, Entrepreneur and meeting lot of people, then it may be a good idea to invest in your overall personality. This will help you to get an image makeover, looking smarter and fitter and learning new things about manners, etiquettes and cross cultural integration. Having a good personality certainly makes it easier to start when we come across as a likeable person with a decent image.

Have you ever thought about competent jerks & lovable idiots? There is a theory that suggests that people like to work with likable people even if they are not competent. Now such observations can be debatable but then the point is that we make the first impression about ourselves and it always helps to get things started right, the first time.

The Brand ‘You’. It is not necessary that you build a personal brand only if you are in business where selling depends upon you. Even the professionals need to build a personal brand. There are so many ways one can go about this. Image makeover and grooming is one option. Similarly, you can have a personal website or a blog and express yourself. Use your free time and participate in community givebacks in your professional area, religion or local community. These serve the dual purpose of some philanthropic work as well as help you build your personal brand. It may help to get exposure to media if you are say a public personality and in a Sales or a Business role.
Do it the right way. We must remember that we should project our image the way we are. There is no point in building a perception about ourselves that we can’t carry. How people perceive you must be as close to the reality as possible. You must try to live the way you are projecting yourself. To my mind, this is fundamental. Remember, honesty is the best policy.

Learn from others. One smart way is to learn from the personalities in your area. There must be someone in a leading position in your business or someone very senior in your organization that you admire. So how they reached this position? In addition to their functional experience, skills and human qualities, they may have built an image over the years. See if there are things that you can learn and incorporate. Similarly, you can observe from negative personalities around you & avoid things that you don’t like in them.

Invest in yourself. As a Financial Planner, I believe that Equity, Gold, Real Estate etc. are great investments. But the greatest investment is you. What is it that will take you to a 2 level higher and 3 times the current CTC in 5 years? Think about the skills and certifications that are relevant in your area. Remember a fundamental principle that all businesses follow. You first need to invest. The returns follow, if we invest wisely.

My experience. I was a corporate executive and worked for 14 years, before starting GettingYouRich.com, my personal finance venture. In this business, we grow through referrals. So I started paying attention to my profiles on social media, used one business looking photograph all across and started writing in the media. I have attended Image Building workshop by a leading image specialist and plan to pay more attention in this area. One of my colleague in US actually invested in taking a professional photographer services to capture her headshots and her website really looks cool.

So go build your brand. If possible, take help from experts. Explore YouTube videos, Do it yourself books, check the services of such professionals area and see if the value proposition is attractive for you to invest. Wish you a good luck in your career. 

This article was originally published on Personaredefined.com

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