I often hear the lament, “How do I get seen?” in my work with women physicians. You need a leadership brand to land appropriate projects and grow your career in meaningful ways. A brand speaks to more than your skills and expertise. And a brand is a promise about what you plan to do and whom you promise to be while you’re doing it!

My client, Dr. Anna (pseudonym, but true situation), was excited about her role as Medical Director at a regional insurance company. As her long-term goal was to be a Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Anna’s current position should have provided the requisite experience. However, she wasn’t getting opportunities to demonstrate the value she could bring to her organization. Therefore, to ensure Dr. Anna was consistently showing her value as a leader, together we created her personal leadership brand.

Steps to a Leadership Brand

1. What results do you want or need to deliver to your organization?

This took some digging for Dr. Anna. Her specific goals initially were unclear.

2. What do you want to be known for? Your brand is a powerful way to be true to your values and strengths. Be sure to balance strengths that come naturally to you with new strengths you will need to develop to be effective in your role.

Dr. Anna wanted to be known as a direct communicator, who was focused on the bottom line, while showing deep respect and appreciation for the healthcare providers and their patient population. Therefore, we needed to work on strategies to ensure Dr. Anna’s heartfelt appreciation was communicated to the providers.

3) Make it real. Can you live up to the qualities you espouse? If you say you want to be seen as appreciating others, are you? Get feedback about how you are doing.

Whether you are aware of it or not, you have a brand. It’s better to be intentional about what you are known for and live up to it. Then, when people think about you, your brand and talents will come to mind for the next interesting assignment or an upcoming promotion.

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