A business leader spends their whole career building their personal brand. It is the most valuable asset in business, yet it doesn’t have a price tag. A positive personal brand is a hard-won commodity so it is important to protect it.
A damaged personal brand can have many negative repercussions for your business, like a loss of investment, decline in stakeholders, loss of clients and dwindling future prospects.
By far the best strategy for protecting your personal brand is to build a strong reputation that will help you weather negative feedback or a mistake.
When your personal brand is at risk, threatened, or damaged there are certain steps you can follow to help repair it.
4 ways to repair your personal brand
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Take control and be the leader
Even in situations where you weren’t responsible for the action that led to your damaged brand, you still need to take full control. You’re responsible for your personal brand, so it must be you who deals with the negative feedback. If you have feedback that you know is false and damaging, stand up and don’t back down. Let everyone know that you are the expert and you are in control.
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Be open
Being strong in business can be mistaken for not showing any weaknesses. Sometimes to be strong, you must be vulnerable and honest. The more honest you are about what has happened, the sooner the problem will go away and you can start repairing. You’ll be surprised that if you open to what has happened more people will start to connect with you on an emotional level. However, if you aren’t completely open, or genuine in your vulnerability, this will backfire and could make the problem worse.
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Be of service
A great way to repair your personal brand is to share your expertise with the aim of helping others. This act like none other helps to build incredible trust and goodwill as it comes across as being purely for other people. We all have experiences that others might learn from in some way. It is these experiences and your learnings you should focus on sharing.
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Build it up
A crisis to your personal brand can sometimes make you want to stop working on. This is the worst action you can do when trying to repair your brand. You need to be proactive in order to build your it back up.
The stronger your personal brand is, the harder it will be to damage. You can’t leave it on the backburner and worry about it later; it is important to the success of your business.
Mistakes happen but it is how you deal with the damage to your personal brand that will elevate you as an industry leader. Although a price can’t be placed upon your personal brand, it is the most valuable commodity you have, so do your best to protect and repair it if it is damaged.
