How to create an image over time that others notice, trust, and respect
Written by Dan Parry • 2 December, 2025
Networking & Personal Brand Article
Personal brand is the image people have of you when you’re not around. If your 24/7 karaoke fetish is something you want to keep under wraps, or your inner CEO is largely going unnoticed, what can you do to protect and develop your personal brand in the workplace?
Personal brand is your reputation, the version of you that people assemble based on your words, actions and the way you work. It isn’t branding in the marketing sense, it’s not a glossy overlay full of sheen and polish. It’s more about underlying reality.
For some people, personal brand is a take it or leave it kind of thing. They might feel they have little need to either hide or enhance their personal attributes in the eyes of other people. And fair enough.
However, like it or not, your personal brand follows you like a shadow. Turn this to your advantage by using it to build a little leverage. Personal brand is one of the few aspects of daily workplace life you can control. Ambitious people looking for their next move can use self-awareness, confidence, and consistency, to demonstrate personal attributes that others will be able to rely on.
When people associate you with traits such as clarity, curiosity, and composure, they begin to place their trust in the image of you that builds up over time.
To develop your personal brand, look for things you can show that demonstrate your personality. You’re looking to reveal who you are, it’s about presence rather than performance or perfection.
Personal brand stems from other people’s judgements about what you’re good at, what you care about, and how you get things done. It’s tempting to focus on the first bit – skills, experience, the LinkedIn-friendly stuff. But there’s maybe more mileage in the other two.
People are adept at spotting someone’s less obvious indicators. It’s about how you say something as much as what you say. Values, tone, quirks, the way you handle pressure, and the way you listen, all get noticed. These are the clues to personality that people look for in order to see what makes you you. With this in mind, develop your personal brand by thinking about three fundamental questions:
This question pushes you to look at the values and principles you actually believe in rather than the image you’d like to project. To ask ‘who am I?’ isn’t an existential pause for thought, it’s a sorting mechanism. What do you consistently stand for, even when no one’s watching?
Honest answers, that you’re able to commit to, support a steady image of consistency. Most issues associated with personal brand – feeling inconsistent, invisible, or misunderstood – develop as a result of skipping this line of thought.
This question focuses on your specific skills and the services you offer, highlighting the abilities you’ve developed and the niche you’re carving out for yourself. ‘What do you do?’ isn’t about job titles, it’s about the value you create. A vague answer dilutes your brand.
People need a clean, confident assessment that tells them exactly how you support the team. You might regard yourself as someone who turns difficult ideas into something others easily understand, or a manager who lifts performance, or a leader who navigates complexity. Clarity in your answer tells others what to think of you, when to call you, and why they should recommend you.
This question lies at the heart and soul of your personal brand. It’s about understanding the impact and purpose of your work. The more you are clear about its value, the more other people will follow your lead. This question digs into the outcome of your work: what changes because you exist in this space? What becomes easier, clearer, fairer, or more hopeful for the people you work with?
Many people stall at this point, often defaulting to a description of process instead of purpose. Your audience is looking out for meaning and value: they want to know why your contribution matters…to them. People want to understand not only what you do, but why it’s worth caring about. Give them a story – one they can see themselves in – in which your work benefits others.
A solid basis of fact will keep your personal brand on the straight and narrow. You can’t see what people are thinking about you, but you can shape the narrative by maintaining a steady and consistent commitment to your work.
Steadiness doesn’t need to be all there is to you. Stand out from the crowd by knowing your outcome. What would you like people to think of you? How do you get to that?
Add a little flourish to your personal brand by highlighting something that’s special to you. Maybe you’re the person in your team who has travelled a lot or who speaks languages or who contributed the big idea to a team project.
Think about unusual strengths, experiences, or quirks that set you apart. It might not be something that’s essential for doing your job, nevertheless an unusual or impressive chapter in your personal story will help to lift your image.
When thinking about your personal brand, be clear who you’re targeting it at. Attempts to influence the world at large aren’t going to get you very far. Knowing your target audience helps you shape tone, content and positioning.
In a presentation, when you’re in a room full of people, you can look them in the eye and talk about your subject. How do you address an audience when there is no-one in front of you?
Assume your audience are those people around you, your team for example. Decide what sort of a team member you want to be and do what you can to live up to your expectation. A defined audience gives your brand focus, direction and confidence.
By thinking about your long-term goals and ambition, others will see your direction of travel. This is likely to build on elements of your work that you enjoy and do well, for example bringing clarity to complex topics, or helping people think more carefully.
At Working Voices, our Personal Brand training course focuses on consistency of purpose rather than choreography of performance. Participants discover that personal brand isn’t a heroic shot of themselves staring meaningfully into the middle distance, it’s about the steady hand of authenticity.
In the end, personal brand isn’t vanity or theatre, it’s a practical tool for working life. It helps people understand what they can expect from you, and it helps you navigate your career with a little more intention.
What matters is the pattern you create over time – the way you think, behave and contribute when no one is prompting you. If you can bring consistency to that, your personal brand will look after itself, quietly enabling trust in all the places that count.
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The founder and CEO of Working Voices, Nick Smallman has been at the top of his profession for 25 years. Advising global blue-chip clients on engagement, productivity, and retention, he counsels leaders on increasing revenue via simple cultural adjustments.
Overseeing the successful expansion of Working Voices across the UK, the US, Asia, and the Middle East, Nick supports the leadership and communication capabilities of clients in a wide range of sectors. In particular, he has advised companies such as JP Morgan, Barclays, Sony, Nomura, M&S, and Blackrock for more than 15 years.
Developing his reputation for thought leadership, in recent years Nick has been leading work on The Sustainable Human, the subject of his forthcoming book. A concept unique to Working Voices, The Sustainable Human offers a package of solutions focusing on leadership enablement, future skills, and cultural harmony.
Working closely with HR specialist Mercer, Nick has developed solutions to four key modern workplace challenges:
“I’m excited to share the conclusions of three years of research that, if implemented, can make an immediate practical difference to leaders and their organisations.”
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