Whether you’re looking for your next leadership gig, or you’re already in a leadership role and you are looking to leave a mark, having a well developed personal leadership brand is crucial. It helps you to be really clear on what you stand for, and what reputation you want to have among your peers, team members, and senior executive.

We’ve adapted Forbes’ seven leadership pillars to help leaders - or aspiring leaders - get clear on their personal leadership brand, and how to embed it into your communication.

Know your purpose

What is your ‘why’? When we ask that, we’re really asking what gets you out of bed every day to go to work and to lead people. When you’re purpose driven, you can be clear with your audiences on why it is you do what you do. And when you authentically talk about that purpose and why it’s important to you, you build the trust of the people around you - particularly if your ‘why’ aligns with theirs!

Values

What’s important to you as a leader, in the way you work and the way you live? Your values will speak to your character, and what people can expect from your behaviours and expectations as a leader. We suggested picking three words that best describe your values, and then thinking about how you demonstrate these values in action through your communication. For example, if you really value honesty, then you’ll be open and transparent in your communication, and encourage the same from your team.

Brand and authenticity

Your brand is your reputation - how you want to be perceived by others, authentically! Your reputation is what people think about you before you enter a room, and after you leave it. What do you want people to think about you as a leader? Again, we suggested choosing three adjectives that best describe your authentic traits. These will become your brand pillars, and will drive how you show up consistently in person, on line, and in every interaction you have with someone.

Strengths

What problems do you help others solve, and what do you love doing? Without knowing it, these are probably your strengths! When thinking about your strengths, also consider your expertise (be as specific as possible), and your strengths as a leader. For example, are you resilient, are you good at conflict resolution, or maybe you have a great sense of empathy.

Legacy and energy

Think about the legacy you want to leave when you finish your career and retire into the sunset - how will you have left your team, business, or industry in a better place than when you started? And what are you doing now to build towards that? This should be closely linked to your ‘why’, but also very specific about what you’re achieving. ‘Energy’ refers to how you show up - the energy and mood you bring into every interaction you have with someone. This goes a long way toward building your brand and your reputation, so think about how you want people to feel when you walk into a room!

Once you’ve drafted responses for these pillars, you’ll have the start of a great narrative that showcases your personal leadership brand.

Looking to build your leadership communication skills?

Start with taking our free Leadership Communication Skills assessment! You might also like to check out our communication skills training options here.