At work when you are given an assignment or when you have something that you need to turn in, what does your end product look like? To develop your personal brand, your work is a reflection of how others will view you.
Lets say your boss had asked you to provide more information regarding a project proposal you had composed. Your boss simply asked for a simple outline, nothing fancy. Do you, A. give a simple outline or B. over deliver and hand in something that you could be proud of?
If you are developing your personal brand for career progression, it is important to consistently do well at what you are given to do. If given a task, do your best and only let your best work or closest to your best be the output. Don’t settle for less and put in the minimum effort like most people would. What this does is that it shows that you have the capacity for much more and the way your boss(es) view you and your work will be with full confidence that you will deliver with quality work.
A great example of this is about a guy I have worked with in the past who has always wanted to be promoted and recognized for his work. Whenever he did anything, he just gave it a half effort approach and the end result was just ok to get by. Now ask yourself, if you were this person’s boss, would you think this person is capable of doing more? Now take the next person who delivers quality work no matter how small or big the assignment or task is. This is the type of person who has demonstrated with proof about being able to handle more responsibility.
A lot of people I have observed who say that they have less than meaningful jobs, usually this is their first job that requires redundant and low responsibility tasks, complain about how he/she should be doing much more important things. So lets say for example, that their job is to wipe the counters and ensure that the copy machine is filled with paper each night. Not a glamorous task by any means but with each individual, their task is crucial for the performance and productivity of the team and organization as a whole. Now, this person who complains and gives only partial effort is inconsistent with fulfilling their tasks, do you think this is a person who would be promoted or given more responsibility? Heck no! Show that you can do even the smallest of tasks well and people will take notice, you will progress and the tasks will get harder and possibly more glamorous, but by keeping the strong work value of delivering quality work will add upon your abilities and career progression with each step. When you interview or go for a higher position, you will have an arsenal of examples to give on how well you do things and your referrals will most likely be positive. Deliver quality work and in the long run it will help your personal brand be associated with quality.
