Have you ever asked yourself what makes you different from the guy in the next office? What is it that drives you? What are your passions and how do they factor into your success? As you begin to develop your leadership skills under Professional Development you will want to develop your personal brand. Through the process of developing your personal brand you will come to realize that your greatest product is you.

Tom Peters originated the term "personal brand" in a 1995 magazine article. The process through which you will develop your brand will require you to figure out who you are, the value you bring, your passions and values. The use of a personal brand keeps you focused and on goal. Ultimately you will create your unique value proposition which results in increasing your visibility and value.

Looking inside yourself and outside into your world, you will need to answer some questions. Begin with your vision of the present world and what your role in that vision is. What purpose will you serve in attaining that vision? You will need to uncover your personal beliefs and values. How do these beliefs and values affect your decisions. What drives you to succeed?

Like any map to a destination, you will need to identify your mileposts or road signs. Establishing specific goals along the route will be your map to success. Set increment goals: this year, two years, five years. All goals need to be specific, timely, realistic and measurable. They are the metrics of your journey. These goals, once set on paper, become your strategic plan and will keep you focused.

Every brand uses descriptors. What are your descriptors? Use simple words to describe yourself, your value. What about your personality? Are you outgoing or shy? Relationship based or data oriented? In what areas are you an expert? Think about the words used to describe you in your last performance review.

To get a complete picture, you will need to reach outside yourself to get feedback. You will want to talk to your colleagues, managers and even clients or direct reports to get some constructive feedback on what you do well and yes, on those things that need some improvement. You might want to consider outside groups you are active with, like community, church or civic organizations.

Ask them what they see as your core strengths and the value you bring to the group. Ask them to be honest, not flattering, as this feedback is important to you. Then, you need to assess how their feedback jibes with your self-assessment.

What about the external environment? Your competition in the marketplace? You will want to conduct a SWOT analysis to evaluate your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. These should be a comparison of you vs the competition. Always be aware of your weaker points so you can be improving them along the way.

Once you are close to finalizing your personal brand, you need to identify your target audience. Who is your customer base going to be? To whom should you send your resume? How do you attract the decision makers? How do you overcome resistance?

Finally, your competition needs to be identified. How are you different from your competition? What qualities and values do you bring to the game that your competition doesn't or can't. What sets you apart?

After completing all of these steps, you will realize that your personal brand is composed of your values, strengths, passions and how they add up to your value proposition. The bottom line is that your personal brand demonstrates that your greatest product is you.

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