Personal branding versus professional identity
Personal branding and professional identity are like two peas in a pod, yet many people think of them as the same thing. They’re NOT.
Today, I'm going to clear up the confusion and explain how these separate concepts play really well together.️
Why does this matter?
When you know your true professional identity and you can communicate it through your personal brand, then your value becomes SUPER clear.
What is your professional identity recipe? Read on.
THE CONFUSION BEGINS
When I began dipping my toes in the proverbial career advice waters, I joined a few online discussion boards focused on career tips. I was curious to pick people's brains and gain ideas from strangers.
I posed a question that went something like this:
"How do you support a person's professional identity in addition to their career development?"
The responses I received jarred me. It wasn't what I expected to hear.
People wrote:
"That's called personal branding."
"Aren't you just talking about a personal brand?"
"I don't see a difference."
Upon reading multiple responses like this, I thought I was crazy.
The career coaches schooled me.
They made me feel mistaken and confused. They practically ridiculed me for conflating professional identity with something that's been around for ages- personal branding.
Suddenly, I believed my thoughts about professional identity weren't novel after all.
"Have I actually been researching an idea that's already established?" I asked myself concernedly.
While my head worried about that, my heart knew differently.
After processing my paranoia with friends and mentors, a new epiphany emerged--the notion of professional identity is such a hardly discussed and little known topic that most career coaches have no idea what I'm truly talking about!
And even today, it's a battle I continue to fight.
THE DIFFERENCE EXPLAINED
I'll cut to the chase.
Here are two definitions you need to know, then I'll put it into context as a recipe analogy.
Professional identity defined:
Professional identity is who you are in your work. It's the label you name yourself for whatever it is you do for a living, even if it's unpaid work.
I believe when you find the right label to name your professional identity (and it's different from your job title), then that label is the truest expression of the positive aspects of who you are in your work, plus it's an expression of your self worth.
Your professional identity is a term that encapsulates your talents, expertise, best skills, and the abilities you're most proud of. It excludes any of your negative aspects in your work. See examples of a three word title for reference.
IMPORTANTLY: Your professional identity is validated and becomes realized by how, and how well, you perform it.
If you call yourself a certain name, your actions and words must demonstrate competency aligned to it. This is what separates fakes from real deals.
Personal branding defined:
Personal branding is the act of intentionally putting your professional identity into the world.
You must know your professional identity before you can create a personal brand!
Personal branding includes how you talk about yourself during networking, the way you write and design your LinkedIn header, what's on your business card, the language in your email signature, your personal website and any other element you publicly use to share about yourself in conjunction with your work.
Now, l'll use an analogy to make this snap into focus.
YOUR PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY IS A RECIPE
Imagine your professional identity is like calling yourself a peach cobbler or even better, Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby.
For my example, I'm using my mom's Maryland crab cakes. My mom makes the best crab cakes [recipe below]. They're one of a kind, and I've never tasted any that are even close to hers.
You might think all crab cakes are the same, but they're not.
No two professional identities are the same either.
[HINT: make sure you don't call yourself something that a lot of other people also use.]
This is why we call my mom's recipe, Betsy's Maryland crab cakes, that's their unique identity label.
The ingredients and the proportion of each ingredient in her crab cakes are a special mixture.
For you, your talents, expertise, years of experience, skills, passion and strengths are the factors that create your professional identity. This is your special ingredients list and you have rare proportions of each. You have to find a name for yourself that fits this combination of ingredients.
Next, the way my mom puts the crab cake mix together with just the right dash of Old Bay, an intuitive splash of worcestershire, and how she cradles the crab mixture in her hands to make each patty before putting it on a heated pan is her special way of making them.
How you perform your professional identity for others is the way you do your work. It's how you show up and demonstrate you know how to put all the ingredients together [ahem, your competence], and make them taste freakin' fantastic.
Finally, the intentional way my mom writes the recipe on a notecard using calligraphic marks, is how she brands it and shares it with others. There is a look and feel in her handwriting that lets you know its hers.
BENEFITS OF KNOWING YOUR PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY & BRAND
When you know who you are in your work, and you have a professional identity label that is individualized and reflective of your authentic truth, it helps:
distinguish you from the crowd
reveal your uniqueness
showcase your worth
make you more valuable to the market
clarify how people should see you and what to call you
Professional identity and personal branding go hand in hand.
Now that you see the link, how would you explain your unique recipe to others?
Betsy's Maryland Crab Cakes
1 cup can of crabmeat
1/2 sleeve Saltine crackers crushed
1 cup shy of panko breadcrumbs
1 egg beaten
1/4 cup mayo
1 tbsp mustard
shake of worcestershire
Old Bay
Salt & Pepper
Butter and olive oil
Stir until ingredients just stick together (If it's too goopy, add more breadcrumbs). Add Old Bay seasoning, salt, and pepper. Sauté in butter and olive oil.