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Personal Image Branding and Career Excellence

The personality of people reflects their identity, where each individual acquires his or her qualities from the social aspects surrounding them. They establish their behavior and practice within the cultural framework where they grow up in, learn from, and interact with.

It is where the intellectual and behavioral patterns are drawn that facilitate the adaptation of individuals, as well as their relationships with the general surroundings, as explained by Linton in defining “personality.”

Boost your personal image

Social Impact

The attention in presenting the concept of personality as an influence on the lives of individuals has become a topic worthy of study and analysis because of its psychological and social impacts on relationships created in society. Sapir said that Personality influenced how the entire group of people think and behave as some forms of social behavior are rooted in certain patterns of the personality, even if the individual does not really fit in with them. This means that the behavior of individuals may affect the environment within which they live in or work, so the character has taken up an important role within the work environment that has begun to be taken into consideration within the employment strategies as one of the main features of the selection process.
Social Impact
On many occasions, individuals who come for an interview are rejected or do not get the job, despite their competency and qualifications. However, after noticing their performance and their appearance, it turns out that some of them are improperly dressed in a way that does not fit the size of the job. Some
tend to over-dress intending to impress the employer by the price of clothes, brands, but it could back-fire and they get rejected as this may exceed the specified wages or it may distract the listener away from their experiences, or it may even give the false impression of mistrust.

First Impressions are important because they are the initial impression people leave from the first look which hardly can be improved in the second time. For that reason, the interest in showing the perfect version of one’s personality has become the main driver for experts in providing advice to employees, professionals, and for those who hold influential positions, whether towards the community, managers, or the masses.

An American study was conducted by researchers, aimed at identifying how to choose employees came to the following results: 58% of the impression is from the exterior, 35% of the sound tone and tone while the content is 7% when it comes to the impact on others.

Which means that job applicants were selected according to their external appearance while a number of applicants were excluded as a result of them being exposed to certain projections which find them unfamiliar to them. These projections increase the pressure and psychological tensions and have negative impacts on people who find it hard to get rid of or act spontaneously. These people could be job seekers, businessmen and even professionals despite their professional success.  they could be exposed to the loss of many relationships in political, cultural, and economic fields, if they are faced with unfamiliar projections outside their cultural and social environment.

The importance of personality, its definition and building are what we aspire to achieve in this article, we aim to define the importance of removing the image and showing it as a milestone that leaves a clear print in the minds of others. This brand that distinguishes individuals in the context of career competition is what we know as the “personal image branding”.

What is the difference between a “Personal image” and “Personal image branding?”

The “Personal image” of individuals are the qualities of the external appearance only in the outfit, elegance, cleanliness which is commonly known among the members of the community in general. The “Personal branding”, on the other hand, is the full representation of the person. Where he or she leaves his or her impact in the work environment and the relationships resulting from it through the development of the personality in order to leave a clear emotional, spontaneous, and influential impressions.

It is therefore necessary for each person to recognize and seek to develop themselves to reach the essence of the personality, in enhancing their cultural and cognitive abilities that will help them to stay on the right track. Moreover, individuals must learn the “culture of elegance” and choose the image that best suits his or her personality, which must be carried out on three bases to reach a personal brand:

  • Charisma: which is the programming of the nervous system to extract negative energies and achieve psychological balance.
  • Exterior appearance: recognizing the shape of the body, clothing and styling, hair, hygiene.
  • Etiquette: Learning the art of acting in society and work environment using the skills of body language, face, and voice.

1- Main attributes of Charisma:

The concept of charisma refers to the ability to influence others positively by communicating with them physically, intellectually, and emotionally as Tony Alexander defined and explained in demonstrating the importance of the “personality” that defined its charismatic characteristics in combining the following:

  • Trust
  • Passion
  • Harmony
  • Optimism
  • Smiling

These qualities have led to the superiority of businessmen in leading their institutions and companies, as well as political leaders who have succeeded in attracting their audiences which also have strengthened their positions in politics.

Rebuilding charisma requires an internal force that drives individuals to gain strength, influence success in achieving goals, and creating a personality that has an impact on the psychosocial dimension and enhances a person’s self-confidence and self-esteem thus reaching satisfaction and personal balance. 

In order to achieve these goals, individuals must acquire basic skills and attributes in the formation of the charismatic personality,

most notably; the reprogramming of the nervous system to get rid of weaknesses and disadvantages in order to gain independence and enjoy the strength of Presence.

2- Paying attention to the exterior appearance:

A study by Duke University on the controversial relationship between “appearance” and “success” in the business world, and career advancement.

The study proved that personal attributes like; ambition and competence are not the only elements of qualifications for CEO’s through a beauty contest held by the university where the appearance was the main factor. Even the researchers commented about that saying: “We expected the outer appearance to be a factor for the success of politicians in their elections, but we did not expect that to be a factor for the success of executives as well, who assumed to be appointed for more important reasons than appearance.”

The importance of taking care of appearance seeks to break the stereotype of people and give a bright image that reflects a positive spirit in dealing with others. In a simple comparison in the daily life between people whom we meet in public places who attract us by the smell of their fragrance, the hairstyle, and elegance of clothing. All of which creates an image printed in our imagination while ordinary persons do not leave that impression … 

The personal image of people has become a key for communication especially within the global openness that we live in, whether in public life or digital networks, which have now become one of the most important way of social and professional communication.

3- Etiquette skills in the workplace:

Etiquette skills within the working environment is one of the basic qualities that were developed to protect diplomatic relations as a tool for political relations and then developed to reach all areas where it introduced rules governing the behavior of employees to prevent any embarrassment or unpleasant situations that employees may face. Especially within a different working environment and culture that must be identified as one of the international protocols in order to ensure a successful communication and achieve the required results. Therefore, our awareness of the importance of showing “personality” depends on the techniques of “verbal communication” in tone, voice, speech, choice of words and through “non-verbal communication” embodied in the body language and face, which is conveyed by the personal charisma of the recipient and affects the impression on them
keeping in mind their outfits, and colors, thus, creating this distinguished “personal brand” that experts of appearance and behavior seek to develop and enhance.

Conclusion...

Why it is important?

Don’t settle, it is working on yourself, like reading books, getting more courses to learn, developing you business, your personal branding is as important as all of the above for your growth.

We at Pinnacle care for the people as employees, leaders, entrepreneurs and believe that branding does not stop at the logo or the colors of your Corporate identity, it is more about you and your people branding themselves for success.  

Pinnacle have long standing history of personal branding services, our consultants have made consultation for business people, directors, managers and even sales people and professionals like doctors and engineers, politicians and government officials and in many countries and cultures. Our Personal Image Branding Services is unique as it is based on the knowledge and experience of the subject matter experts.

Pinnacle® is a multi-country consultancy firm. Our consultants are spread around the world; with 70% of our consultants are women. We have built our organization on modern business model with agility, diversity, and resilience to the business dynamics. We have chosen our technology platform to support our modern mindset thus we work from anywhere …. As work is not a place anymore. We implement Lean Six Sigma in everything we do whether internally or externally at our client sites. 

This article is written by:
Reem Berro
Dr. Reem Berro
Pinnacle, Personal Image Consultant
Pinnacle Ltd.

Pinnacle Ltd. is a multi-countries modern consultancy firm, with offices around 11 countries in 4 continents, and 28 consultants working remotely and virtually managed.

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