Creating Your Personal Brand In The Workplace

Or read on for the transcript

Andrea Palten: Hello, I’m Andrea, Palten your host for today’s episode on Creating Your Personal Brand In The Workplace. With us, we have Robbie Green. She’s an amazing coach, but she leads by example. And that’s why she’s on the show today. She and I work together, and she’s created an impressive brand. When she speaks, when she comes on, you know what she’s all about, and she’s really done that at Talking Talent and so I want her to share with you the importance of a personal brand and also how you can create your own personal brand. So, Robbie, thank you so much for being back and please tell us more about what you do.

Robbie Green: Andrea, thank you for having me back and you know what I get to do. Listen, my mom has some gems of some sayings, my parents in general. When we were in Tennessee, and we would ask them to come up and stay with our children sometimes I would feel like it was a burden for me to ask. They would say to me, honey, don’t you know this is the joy of our lives. So, what I get to do every day to pour into working parents is the joy of my life. It really is so, and I just, I just feel so blessed in my life to be able to do that. But I am an Executive Coach with Talking Talent, and my very specific passion is working with working parents and caregivers, helping them to be able to juggle work and life and all the things that come with it so that they can have a better quality of life and doing it because we know it’s not always easy.

Andrea Palten: Yeah. So, before we get started on the actual topic of this episode, I want to ask you. You just said that this is your joy. This is your passion and it’s really clear when you speak that. It is. When did you know that this is what you wanted to do?

Robbie Green: That’s a good question Andrea and here’s the deal. So, over my lifetime, I’ve had several different jobs really, but on the flip side of that, I’ve never ever wanted a job. So, it was always easy for me to have and to keep a job and I would change jobs by choice. Get a little bored and do this and then I started to say, you know, I just feel like I’m not mastering any of these things. My background is in communications, which was nice and broad. That can mean a lot of different things. But then over time, I started to realize that organically people would come to me, especially moms and they would start to just share their life stories with me, without me even asking. A lot of times I would, it would be my first time to meet these people.

They felt like, I don’t know, comfortable enough to share. It was as if they knew I may have some words to say, to make them feel better, and most of the time I did. So, I just started to notice this pattern. I was like, okay, this is a real kind of thing here. Then I start to think over my lifetime, all of my work experiences, I needed them. So, they led me up to this present moment to be able to speak from different industries how work meets life and all the things that come with that. Different phases of life as a parent. My children are much older now than a lot of the people that I coach. They have small children, and I can give them life experiences from that and really, again back to my parents. It’s just like I feel like I’ve been given this gift of a childhood and a family that everybody doesn’t get to or have experienced in their lives.

But I feel compelled to say, if you didn’t have it in your life, you can create it for your own family. So, my parents were married for 50 years. 50 years, and one month exactly to the day my father passed away and I have no bad memories about my childhood. None. I know that’s not true for every person. So, I just feel like it’s a gift that was given to me that I want to give to other people. Then just to be able to couple that with women want to work, have a career and a family. I want to help them to be able to do those things successfully. Men want to work and have a career and a family. They also have a mental load that they carry. I want them to be able to do that successfully and have a better quality of life.

So, that’s how it just kind of grew out of wait a minute. I’m kind of giving advice here quite often and people feel either compelled or comfortable to come to me to do that. I think there’s a thing here. Then I started to think about, you know what, I’m not really interested in climbing the corporate ladder. I learned that early on, but I also learned that many women are very interested in it. I said, you know, there is a huge gap for people who want to have a family and a career and do it successfully. There’s no outlet for them to go to, to figure out how do I do this best? What do I do when I get overwhelmed? So, that’s how it happened. That’s a long answer, but that’s how it happened.

Andrea Palten: I love that long answer though because you are so good at what you do. I don’t know how often you hear this, but your coachees love you. The reviews come back all the time, how amazing you are. So, we’re just lucky to have you and everybody else that gets to be a coachee is lucky to have you. I love that story and even though we’ve worked together, I didn’t know that story. So, I’m glad that you told us and the listeners as well. So, let’s talk about personal brand. So, I’m in marketing. So, I’m thinking marketing brand, but a personal brand, the same, kind of different. So, can you please give us a definition? What is a personal brand in the workplace?

Robbie Green: In the workplace, your personal brand is what do you want to be known for and what do people know you for? You’ve got to be very intentional about doing that. Just like you said, in marketing, I asked people, I said, okay when you hear the word brand or branding, what brands come to mind? They may name things like some very successful athletic brands out there that come to people’s minds immediately, or Blue Jeans, very successful brands that come to mind immediately. Then I said, why did you say that right off? What made you think of that right away? Sometimes people can answer that. They’re like, you know, I don’t really know, but that’s the first thing that came to my mind.

That’s what you want to do in the business world. When someone comes up with a task, a project, something that they need created done, and they say, huh, all right. So, we need someone in this space that this is going to require really connecting people across the globe really, even, maybe. Where do we go? So, you want somebody to chime in immediately and say, you know what? That girl Christie that’s who you want. She is the best connector I have ever seen. Christie has done an excellent job with putting her brand out there. So, it’s one thing for, let’s just say, Nike. Let’s say, Nike, even though Nike is not paying us right now, Nike, whoever created the swoosh for Nike, if they created that solution, then shopped it around the office and said, hey, check this out what do you think? And people are going, oh, that’s really cool. I think that’ll look great on a shoe. I like it, but it never left the office. Who cares?

None of the consumers know it to be their brand. We don’t recognize it. We’re not standing in line to buy shoes because of it, but they’ve done an excellent job marketing the swoosh. Every time we see it, we know immediately what it is. We have to do that. It is one thing to create the brand but if you never market it, it’s really useless. You may know who you are or who you believe to be. Let’s just say you’re starting off in a new position. People may not know that you’re great at connecting people globally. So, you have to take opportunities to be able to market that brand.

Andrea Palten: Okay. I want to get deeper into how to do that. But first I want to ask why is this so important? I mean, we know in marketing, why it’s so important. Is it the same thing, just so people know who you are, or are there other reasons why it’s important for people to have their own personal brand at work?

Robbie Green: A lot of it’s the same Andrea because you’re not the only person at that job. It’s competitive, can be, especially if you are trying to get to the next level in your job, or if you’re exploring different jobs. You want people to know what you’re great at. Not just good, great. Often when I’m helping people discover their personal brand. I’ll say, all right, I want you to tell me, what are you great at? They’ll say, oh, you know, I’m really good at… I’ll say no, there are lots of people who are really good. That’s not the question. What are you great at? We just had the Olympics a couple of months ago. Thousands of athletes from so many different countries, great athletes. Only three of them stand on the podium in any given sport.

That is why your brand is important. You want to stand on the podium amongst all the great athletes. You want to be the greatest and so that’s what your personal brand does. Sometimes people don’t know what you’re great at and so the more you can find opportunity to market it, the better. It doesn’t have to sound like I am really great at connecting people. I value X, Y, and Z. There were… No, you don’t have to read it off a script. You have to be intentional, but you have to be creative just like the commercials that you see. They’re intentional and they’re creative and because of that, you remember them.

Andrea Palten: So, do you pick one thing you’re great at, or do you pick a bunch of things you’re great at, I want to talk about the steps of how to get through it. So, let’s walk through that. So, okay, I’m coming to you. Robbie. I need help. I need a personal brand. You’re telling me, Andrea, what are you great at? How much do I pick?

Robbie Green: I think there are four elements here, Andrea for us developing our personal brand. It starts with what are you great at? So, you pick one till about three things because we’re not great at everything. So, if you start just rattling off things, nobody believes that from the jump. You’re only great at a few things. So, you identify what those things are, what am I graded? And then the next thing is, what do I value? Because I’m going to do certain things because I value certain things. Then the third element is what kind of leader am I? How would I describe myself as a leader? Am I a lead by example? Am I do as I say, not as I do kind of leader? What kind of leader am I? Then finally, what do you want to be known for or how do you want to be described as famous?

Robbie is known for coaching. She is known for that. She is in that space. She is doing it. What do you want to be known for? She is known for making people feel comfortable. I often get that feedback from some of our surveys, and I find it interesting. People will say things like she has a very comforting voice. I’ve never described myself that way, but evidently, people receive my voice that way. So, Andrea, to your point, recognizing what you’re great at, it’s also important that you get feedback from other people. You ask people that you know and trust what do you think I’m great at? Because sometimes you’re executing greatness in places that just seem like, oh, I wasn’t, I don’t know. I’m just showing up. It just seems regular to you. But other people receive it as, oh my God I wish I could do it like that. So, what am I great at? What do I value? What kind of leader am I and what do I want to be known for? Four things.

Andrea Palten: All right. So, I have four steps. So now we did that. We did the internal work. We wrote out all those four things. How do we bring it into the workplace and how do we get other people to see us as what we wrote down on this piece of paper?

Robbie Green: I was a legend at is one of my favorite things. So that’s where the marketing comes in. You have to find pockets of opportunity and time to sprinkle in your brand. That can happen in a few places. Emails, you can market yourself in an email. Someone sends you an email, you reply, and you say things like, well, I’m really great at connecting people, blah, blah, blah just back to the email. You’re in a meeting and in conversation, you say things like, you know, I really value honesty and because of that and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. The more you say it, it will become synonymous with who you are. People will see you and they’ll say, oh yeah, there’s Robbie, she’s a connector. Sometimes they don’t even know. They haven’t even experienced you connecting people but because you have marketed yourself in such a way, that’s what they believe.

Andrea Palten: Yes. I love that. I love the email that you said my value is and therefore I do this. I think that was really cool and it’s not at all a way where you’re clearly marketing yourself. It’s more of a little marketing. Nobody really knows what’s happening. That’s really smart. I like it.

Robbie Green: Exactly, exactly, and consistency as we know is key. You can’t just do it one time. Listen, I’ve been telling this funny story to lots of my coachees lately. I was like, look, you’re talking to the girl who wishes she could wash clothes one time and magically never have to do it again. I wish, but it’s not how life works. So, it’s like talking to a teenager. You give them one job and you’re like, yeah, one job. I just told you and you… Oh, sorry, mom. I forgot. That’s how it is with the people you’re marketing to because you’re not the only brand that’s being presented. That’s why you’ve got people that are at the top of the ladder in certain areas and then you’ve got people who were consistent in their marketing, and they climb the ladder. Then they’re up here, neck and neck with the people that have been in that space for years. Consistency is key.

Andrea Palten: So, when you’re climbing that ladder, do you change your personal brand? So, for example, right, I come in as a marketing coordinator and my goal is to be a manager, then a director, then eventually a chief marketing officer. My values, should they change, or should they always stay the same if I’m staying at the same company, trying to climb?

Robbie Green: Your values should never change because that’s who you are and that’s what you believe. Your values should not change. The way you deliver things often needs to be tweaked because it depends on who you’re speaking to. You got to read the room, consider the audience. When you’re having these conversations that lead to the things that you want in your own life consider who you’re talking to and what’s important to them because this is conversation. So, it’s not just, what’s important to me, also what’s important to this person that I’m speaking to and how can I deliver what I want in such a way that it lands on them, and they can receive it and they say, oh yeah, that lines up with what I, with what I want too. So now they hear you better and now they want to hear more of it. So just being creative. Just think about over the years, some of the top brands and how they’ve morphed, how they’ve changed with the times, how they’ve changed with the generations, how they change with whatever cause is apparent in the world at the time. You have to be savvy enough to do that because you’ve got to be able to keep people’s attention.

Andrea Palten: Yeah. Mentioning change, obviously, we’re in a huge, crazy time right now with change and we have something called the great resignation where a lot of people are changing companies or leaving companies to start their own companies or they’re changing their careers completely. They’re going from one to the other because they are realizing, you know what, I want more in my life. I want more fulfillment. So, here’s my question to you Robbie. What happens with all this change and you moving along to a different company or different career, and you have your personal brand. Do you take that personal brand from company A with you to company B? Again, same question. Do you change it or what happens when you get there, and you realize this doesn’t align? My personal brand does not align with this new company I just got hired at. So, what happens in those situations?

Robbie Green: That’s loaded. So, a few things. First off you are going to take you with you wherever you go and that’s the conversation I’m having a lot too with people because they want to get in the movement and be part of this great resignation. They’re considering it. But you’ve got to remember wherever you go you’re going to be there. Wherever there are people there will always be conflict. I don’t care where it is. Wherever there are people, always conflict because people, different personalities, different ways of seeing things, different ways of working out problems. Always there’s going to be some type of conflict. So, you can’t escape one place thinking that you will go somewhere where it’s going to be conflict-free. Not a real thing. So, that’s the first thing to consider, really think about why you’re leaving.

Now, wherever you go, your values should always follow you. Your values should never change. Now consider what you’re going to, and the thing that you want to be known for, does it align before you ever get there? That’s the question. You don’t want to take yourself somewhere where what you are great at nobody really cares. How does it show up here? How’s it going to be better for you if you take what you’re great at to this next place. So, that’s really the question. Then again, they’re going to be different people so then you’ve got to tweak. You’ve got to figure out what is important to you. Mr. Manager, owner of the company, marketing director, whatever the case may be. What’s important to you. You’ve got to find that out and then tweak your conversation so that what you need lands on them in a way that they can receive.

Andrea Palten: Okay. So now you have somebody that their personal brand is they just get stuff done. They get stuff done fast. They’re reliable. Everybody knows they’re going to get their stuff done but sometimes they make mistakes because they get so much done and they get it done so fast that that happens. So, now this person, that’s the personal brand. People love that person for it. They get a new boss. This boss is a perfectionist, and they want everything analytical, thought through, slowed down, and you have to be perfect at every single thing you do. What does this person then do, that person with the personal brand that moves quick and that likes to do things fast and is not a perfectionist?

Robbie Green: Transparency is key. When new people enter the workplace and it’s times a thousand these days because things are changing so quickly. New people are coming in, mergers are happening. We’re working from home. I got to report to a manager who is in a different time zone, all the things. So, transparency is key. Everything Andrea starts with a relationship. I don’t care what it is. A lot of times in their workplace people have a hard time receiving that. They’re like, well, this is business, this is not about relationships. These are people so it’s always about relationships. So, establishing that relationship with that new manager to say, hey, I’m such and such. This is who I am. This is how I’ve been operating, how I like to do things. I would love to learn how you like to do things because it’s the boss. He’s the manager or she’s the manager, the person you’re reporting to. You’ve got to know what they expect from you, and you have to establish what they can expect of you. Expectations, a two-way street. So, setting the expectations when that new person comes in is all about getting clear expectations and finding an opportunity to set the stage. That’s how that works because that happens all the time. I’ve coached people who’ve said in the last two years I’ve had four different managers. That’s a lot. That’s a lot of adjusting. So, at some point you’ve got to say, look, this is it. This is what you get. This is what I’m bringing to the table. Let’s see how we can sit here together and have a nice meal.

Andrea Palten: Yeah. I’m assuming you can do that in the interview process. You bring your brand there. You’re very clear about it. So, then you don’t accidentally get hired for the wrong position or because of the wrong skill set that they thought you might have.

Robbie Green: Andrea, that’s so funny you said that. I just had this conversation this morning about that, talking about the interview process. I suggested to the person I was coaching it is good to ask what are you great at, and then try to make people feel as comfortable as you can in the interview if you’re being genuine, which you should be otherwise, what’s the point. When you ask someone that then you can follow it up with, I really want to know, because we want to make sure we’re putting the right people on the right seat on the bus in this company. So, what are you great at? Then figure out how that aligns with the position that you’re interviewing for and then something else could have it from that you. They may discover that you may not be the best fit for that particular job, but there’s something else that’s available that they may say, you know what, I want you to talk to Joe, because what you’re really great at speaks to what he really needs right now. Things like that happen all the time, all the time, but people have to be willing to be transparent. It doesn’t really do anyone any good if you come in and you make up stories about what you’re great at, and then you get in there and you’re not. It’s wasting everybody’s time.

Andrea Palten: Yeah. It’s going to give you a lot of stress. So, I want to end this episode by going back to the four steps. I wanted to see if we can get a little bit personal and you can talk about those four steps, what you are in all of them so you can give an example to the listeners.

Robbie Green: So, I like to sum it up like this. I’m really great at helping people juggle work and life and because of that, I’ve come up with a little acronym. You know I like an acronym. So, I help people to manage parent guilt. I help them to overcome being overwhelmed. I reassure them of their relevance, and I take them from exhausted to excited about life. That’s MORE. So, I’m here to give parents and working caregivers MORE, not more to do, but more out of life. So, I’m good at more. Yeah.

Andrea Palten: I love it. I love it. Thank you so much, Robbie and we’re going to have you on again, just because you are brilliant. That is your brand you’re brilliant. I really appreciate you being here and if somebody wants to find you online, where can they find you?

Robbie Green: I’m on LinkedIn at Robbie Davenport Green I believe it is. Yes. I’m on LinkedIn there. I love LinkedIn. I get to share nice gems there for working people. So please check me out there. Please don’t fail to check out our website at talkingtalent.com and learn a little bit more about me. My bio is on there as well, and just some other social media platforms that you can link from my LinkedIn page. So, I look to seeing people connect with me on LinkedIn.

Andrea Palten: Awesome. Thank you so much.

Robbie Green: Thanks for having me.