Defining your personal brand: what do you want to be known for?

Executive overview

Most professionals default to vague self-descriptions like "I get stuff done" — useless in rooms where senior hires and board decisions are made. Personal brand is what fills that gap: a specific, authentic articulation of your unique value.

Joanna Bloor developed this framework through a year-long group process with 12 women tech executives, then built a coaching practice around it. The core insight: being known for something specific makes you discoverable, memorable, and easier to hire, collaborate with, or promote.

Clarity about what you're known for is a competitive advantage — for individuals and the companies they lead.

Why most people struggle with this

• Generic answers ("great at connecting people") signal no real value proposition
• Fear of "picking wrong" makes people avoid the question entirely — but the answer is not a tombstone inscription, it's a phase-specific choice
• The "Bob effect": senior hiring decisions favour people known for a specific thing, not a broad resume
• Executives have become like brands; their personal narrative directly affects company perception and talent attraction

How to find your answer

• Start with backward-looking tools: What Color Is Your Parachute? surfaces what you've loved and hated across roles
• Use forward-looking tools: Wishcraft — ask what you'd want if unconstrained; a 20-year horizon opens possibilities a 1-year horizon closes
• Map personal brand values the same way you would for a company brand: who is your audience, what conversation do you want to have with them?
• Career pivots are normal; your "known for" should reflect this phase, not your entire life

How to test and refine your answer

• Try a word or phrase on five people who have no emotional investment in you — not close friends
• Ask what words they heard, not for generic feedback
• Call them back 48 hours later: what do they remember? Sticky words are genuine
• Practice saying the phrase out loud; discomfort is normal and fades with repetition
• It's malleable — try it on, change it, evolve it as your career evolves

Why authenticity matters more than polish

• People detect inauthenticity quickly; cheesy self-promotion backfires
• Saying "I'm working toward this" is more credible than performing a persona you haven't earned
• Visual identity matters too — Tim Gunn's signature look was externally suggested, felt wrong at first, and became defining
• The "itty bitty shitty committee" — the inner voice saying you're not good enough — dilutes your signal to others if you let it

Why this matters at the company level

• Leaders who know what they're known for help CEOs allocate talent more precisely
• If everyone shows up as "I get stuff done," team composition becomes guesswork
• Executive personal brands are additive to company brands: Sheryl Sandberg's advocacy for women increased Facebook's talent appeal; Benioff's "benevolent billionaire" framing supports Salesforce without describing its product
• As AI and automation absorb execution tasks, human differentiation will depend more on what is distinctly yours — not just what you do