Your brand
Once you have read through most if not all of the chapters above you will automatically work out which tips work for you and which (quite frankly) don't. When putting together your thoughts on how to succeed, and I believe that each chapter can be taken in isolation, you may also want to think some more about your brand within your workplace. How do people perceive you? Organized? A good time-keeper? Honest? Open? One of my recommendations is for you to write down the four to five things that you want to be associated with in terms of brand image. I've listed some ideas below, but you may of course add to these and/or substitute them with your own:
• Are you seen as trustworthy?
• Are you seen as an ideas person?
• Are you perceived as a fair judge?
• Are you seen as generous with your time?
• Are you seen as a good developer of staff?
• Are you seen as a technical wizard?
• Are you seen as a good politician?
• Are you perceived as putting the business's goals before your own?
• Do people associate you with energy and drive?
• Do people associate you with good time-keeping?
• Are you perceived as someone that gets the job done?
• Are you viewed as pro-active?
• Are you seen as someone that adds value?
• Do people see you as someone that supports the business culture?
• Are you perceived as someone that supports the party line?
Think about the questions above and then prioritize what is important to you and what you believe to be important for the business you work for. You may feel that you are already perceived in a good light for many of the questions and that you'd rather concentrate on the one of two that present the most running room for further development. Being circumspect is a really good thing and I recommend that you review your brand on a regular basis (at least annually). If you have some close colleagues that you trust sincerely by all means ask them to critique your brand and then work on the aspects that they feel you can improve upon. If you have a thorough and robust annual or six monthly appraisals process the results of that exercise should also give you some clues on how to improve. If not, and if you feel that it is appropriate within your business culture, ask your boss to comment on your brand. This is a question that if answered well can deliver to you some concrete action points outside the normal skills discussed at such review sessions. By all means ask your boss to set up regular 'profile sessions' (See 'Managing staff') to allow you and them to monitor the enhancement of your brand image over time.
You could certainly combine this analysis w