Everyone experiences many key pivot points throughout their careers. These can come in the form of opportunities made explicit, missed opportunities never capitalized on, realizations that the status quo is no longer serving you and/or those around you and aspirations to grow, expand and be recognized.
These are really moments of possible transformation. Some common examples of pivot points include promotions, job changes, career changes, new and expanded responsibilities, new business start-ups. You may seek them or they may be presented. They represent a desire to make a big leap or a big leap that you are currently in the process of making or sadly, a big leap you didn’t notice was even possible.
When pivot points are successful they bring greater fulfillment and more growth. When pivot points are missed or mismanaged they lead to regret or doubt. A critical factor that influences whether you find yourself in the former or latter camp is whether you have recognized the importance of personal brand in you
r career journey. Personal brand is not something that you have to create from scratch unless you are starting your first job or beginning your career. If you have been in the workforce, your personal brand is your professional story. If you have been strategic in identifying, honing and leveraging your personal brand it likely had something to do with the pivot point you are now facing!
Hopefully you have done the work of cultivating your personal brand long before a critical pivot point but even if you haven’t - don’t despair! You can take a few steps toward leveraging your personal brand or even defining it during a key moment in your career.
Need an example? Ok, let’s talk about a promotion opportunity. Earning a promotion (or any kind of professional recognition, really) usually takes a combination of functional expertise, dedication, confidence, strong leadership and communication skills, and demonstration of impact to convince leaders or managers that you are ready to take on greater responsibility and authority. At PBX we focus on personal brand as a strategic and tangible gateway to promotion success. Why? Because personal branding is all about being able to deliver a compelling and evidenced-back narrative about how you possess that deep functional expertise, dedication, confidence, strong leadership and communication skills as well as how you have made that positive impact that leads to a promotion: a pivot point success. Just having the right skills, experiences and competencies isn’t enough, you have to make sure those in decision making authority know that you do! (Read more on factors that lead to promotions here)
So, what does this mean for you and your career goals? Well, if you want to get a promotion (or create another pivot point), start with some honest self-reflection and introspection. Specifically you might ask yourself if you have been leveraging your personal brand in your everyday professional life and in your career pursuits.
Can you clearly articulate your brand including your differentiators or the qualities that you bring to the table that set you apart?
What is your level of self-awareness and are you someone that others look to for advice, input, or feedback often enough to have a real sense of how others perceive you?
How confident are you in articulating your value and ability to lead?
Remember your personal brand is always in the room, it is how people see you and what they imagine you are capable of so getting an understanding of what your brand is today can also help you improve any weaknesses before a pivot opportunity. Try this quick exercise to get a snapshot of how your personal brand can hinder or enhance your success at a career pivot point:
Draw a line down the middle of a piece of paper or create a simple two column table. In the first column, list the top skills or factors required for a job/career pivot you want to make happen. In the second column, list the qualities you would include about yourself in a personal brand statement. Remember for this, you should focus on specific attributes that you and others would identify about you that make you unique and/or a clear asset to the organization.
Now, how do these two columns align? Did you find it difficult to list your assets? Do you need help determining your personal brand or want to improve upon it to lead to future success?
Your personal brand is what you carry with you into any pivot point. It can help or hurt you depending on how confident you are and how well developed it is so sharpen those pencils and get to defining and articulating your brand and identifying the pivot point you want to tackle next!
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