Previously, I wrote a post called “Hire Me If”.
The goal was to get us to think about why people should hire us. This could be for a project or a new role. What makes our approach different from all the other people who share our title. I’ve been thinking about how to take this a step further. Creating a personal brand positioning statement.
Positioning Statements
Corporate brands and products have been using positioning statements for years.
This is a brief statement that reminds employees of the customer, benefits, and difference.
The statement can be equally valuable to each of us. Strengthening the clarity of our personal brand. In our mind and our communications.
Creating a Personal Positioning Statement
There are three components to our positioning statement:
- Who We Serve – Who are the people that benefit from our work? Think about customers inside and outside your organization. Be as specific as possible. For example, if you are a strategist, who do you support? The creative team? The executive team? Your customer will drive the response to the next question.
- Result – What is the result you enable that customer to achieve? Think about both rational and emotional achievements. For example, if you responded, “the creative team” above, you might say the result is “creative that aligns to the brief” (rational) or “inspiration to deliver award winning work” (emotional).
- Unique Skills / Approach – What is your unique approach to the work that enables the result? This is where your list of ideas from the “Hire Me If” post can help. What approaches summarized fit this audience and result?
Once you have the elements, the statement comes together with this framework
I help [who you serve] achieve [result] by leveraging [your unique skills/approach].
We may have multiple internal and external clients/customers.
Creating a positioning statement for each enhances our clarity on the work.
We aren’t just one thing.
The positioning statements enable us to articulate the different facets of our strengths.
Your Turn
Do you find it easy or difficult to identify the internal and/or external customers you serve?
What do you unlock for your customers both rationally and emotionally?
How do your strengths approach work in a way that is unique?