Why Building an Authentic Personal Brand Matters More Than You Think

Even if you don't have a business, are not an influencer, or just don't like "personal branding"

Reading time: 8 minutes

Whenever I mention the importance of having a cohesive authentic personal brand for folks working in Tech, I get mixed responses. A few people are “all in”, some are neutral, and some believe personal branding is nothing but a big load of corporate BS they are better off without.

To those who aren’t sold, I understand your hesitation. Personal branding doesn’t always have the best rep largely because it’s misunderstood and misrepresented. If you think personal branding is useless, fake, or only needed by those who want a social media presence, you are not alone.

Let’s step back for a minute from all the confusion, corporate BS, ick factor, etc... Here is what I mean by “a personal brand”:

Your brand is what you’re known for, your professional reputation, and what people say about you when you’re not in the room.

The truth is: You already have a personal brand, whether you like it or not.

Through personal branding, you figure out who you are, and what you care about and align that with what you do and the reputation you create for yourself. A by-product of this alignment is a host of benefits to your career —we’ll talk about that in the latter part of this article.

For example: Let’s say I'm a software engineer who is good in crisis, an expert in Postgres databases, and a code quality advocate. How can I make it such that if I ask any person I worked with, those would be the attributes they call out about me? How can I be involved if there is a crisis? How can I make sure I get opportunities aligned with my strengths and interests?

This is where personal branding comes into play.

In today’s article I’m going to be:

• Sharing how personal branding impacted my career

• Debunking the most common personal branding myths

• Explaining the massive benefits you get from a solid personal brand

But first, let’s start with some story time.

Why do I care so much about this topic?

During my time at Google, I randomly took an internal course on personal branding. I was only a couple of years out of university and didn’t know much about branding, let alone personal branding. But I was curious.

Now, after 10 years since that course, I can confidently say that what I learned in those 2 hours helped me more than I could ever imagine. It changed how I operated in my day to day. Making sure I’m acting with integrity, creating a solid track record of results, and sharing my knowledge became a habit for me.

I wasn’t thinking of career advancement or anything like that. My motivation was the reputation I was creating for myself, through my work and my behaviors. I really cared about that.

When I started “The Caring Techie”, I didn’t need to spend a lot of time trying to define this brand, because it was simply an extension of the personal brand that I’ve already been building. I knew what it stood for and what its mission was. The only layers that I needed to add were the visual ones.

My personal brand brought me numerous benefits including leadership opportunities, an increased area of influence within my roles, speaking engagements, and even job offers without interviewing.

Anybody can achieve the same, if not more if they start showing up more intentionally and invest in their personal brands.

Now let’s clarify the biggest misunderstandings about personal branding.

Source canva.com

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Debunking the biggest personal branding myths

Let’s walk through the common objections that keep people away from personal branding one by one, and finally put them to rest.

Myth #1: Personal brands are for less competent or less technical people.

A solid personal brand needs to be rooted in competence, not be a cover for incompetence. You might be able to create the most impressive image of yourself, but it won’t matter if you can’t back that up with competence and a track record of results. People will see right through it.

Myth #2: Personal branding is fake and manipulative.

If what you’re portraying is not in alignment with who you really are, sooner or later, people will figure it out, and there’s no coming back from that. When a person’s brand is perceived as inauthentic, trust and credibility will be (irremediably) damaged.

The best personal brands are rooted in authenticity. You have to show the real you to people. There is no hidden agenda or ill intent here.

Myth #3: Personal brands are only for people who want to sell things or offer services.

You don’t need to be self-employed, or selling products or services to have a brand.

As long as you work with others—and who doesn’t—you have a brand. The discussion we’re having is not about “Do you need a brand.” It’s – are you intentionally crafting your brand, your reputation, how you are thought of, or are you leaving that up to others to form?

Myth #4: You only need a personal brand if you want to promote yourself on social media (LinkedIn, X, YouTube, etc).

and

Myth #5: As an employee, investing in your personal brand is a waste of time.

These 2 myths go together. No, you do not need to create content or be on social media at all to have a personal brand. You can very well have a brand within the company you work for.

The point is to get people to see your value and your potential so you get to work on the best projects and build the experience you want. The best part is that this reputation stays within the network you created, it’s never forgotten.

Myth #6: You can’t influence people’s perception of you.

We often make this more complex than it is in reality.

People usually think highly of those who do good work, treat others well, and consistently align their words with their actions. You’ll be amazed at how far this goes to build your brand/reputation.

What you gain from having a solid personal brand

A solid personal brand is rooted in authenticity, character, and a track record of results. Here’s what can come out of it.

Standout at work, work on better projects, get interviews and jobs

If you build a personal brand of being known as a reliable team member who gets things done, you will be the natural choice to lead or be involved in certain work streams. And you better believe if your boss, skip-level, and pretty much anyone you work with leaves and is forming a new team, they will reach out for future opportunities.

42% of referral hires come from employee-submitted referrals, giving yet another reason why caring about your reputation as an employee is so important.

Build trust and credibility with leadership and stakeholders

Without credibility, everything is an uphill battle, difficult, slow, and frustrating. When you have a credible personal brand, you don’t have to spend so much time convincing, and your word weighs more. As a result of that, your input will be sought out and considered when making important strategic decisions.

Maximize your surface of influence

A solid personal brand makes influencing so much easier. Relationships are the essence of influence. Well, part of building those relationships is showing up authentically and intentionally aka our personal brand. When you have a credible personal brand, the question “Why should people listen to you?” becomes a no-brainer: because you’ve shown you know what you’re talking about.

Parting words

Visibility, credibility, trust, and influence are things everyone wants (and needs) to grow their careers. Whether you like the term “personal branding” or not, the goals are the same. Then why not approach achieving these goals through the lens of personal branding? You don’t need to reinvent the wheel.

If you enjoyed this post, please leave a comment or reply to this email. It truly means a lot to me to hear from you.

Until next time,
Your Caring Techie

P.S.: Special thank you to

Caleb Mellas

for providing thoughtful feedback on this article 🙏🏻

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Ready to grow your tech career with me? Here are 3 ways I can help:

1. Learn personal branding using my 5-step framework: In “Impact through Influence” one of the things we focus on is personal branding in Tech. Join the next cohort if you want to be guided step by step in defining your brand and creating your own branding plan.

2. Book a call where in one hour we can tackle the most pressing issues you have at the moment.

3. Private Coaching - I am opening a handful of coaching spots to work with me 1-1, email me at thecaringtechie@gmail.com or DM me to learn more

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Related reading:

Influential People Don’t Network, They Build Social Capital

Top 5 Mistakes That Sabotage Your Ability to Influence Others

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