As we have entered into 2021, this period appears to be the best time to reflect on our activities in the year 2020 and to draw up new goals. It is important and ideal to take stock of previous achievements and failures in the outgone year while also outlining our brand new resolutions with the aim of rebranding ourselves and focusing on self-development towards a better career and future. In the New Year, it is mostly advisable to revisit our goals, career-wise and to know if we have been able to live up to individual expectations and our employers’ satisfaction. If our answer is in the affirmative, then it is important that we do not fall off the radar, but probably refresh our brands by improving on ourselves by setting new goals.
On the other hand, if our answer is ‘no’, it is time to really realign our goals and values with those of our employers and work harder by redeveloping ourselves to have fulfilment and make our impact felt in our offices. Why then do we need to rebrand? Executive Career Brand suggests the following questions to help determine if there is any need at all for personal rebranding: Did my brand reputation change over the past year? Have I become the “go to” person for new areas of expertise? What value do I now offer in the marketplace? What ROI (Return on Investment) do I offer that my job-seeking competitors do not? Which driving strengths and personality traits of mine are particularly important?
However, personal rebranding can be defined as the honest reflection of ourselves or the state of doing things for self-development in a new and redefined way with the intention of succeeding beyond every expectations. Personal rebranding for self-development is necessary because it is believed that when we rebrand with the aim of improving ourselves positively, it would make us fall in love more with ourselves, and this can only be possible if we stick to our resolutions. When planning the New Year resolutions or rebranding process for better job productivity, we should bear in mind that if we intend to live a better life or to take the lead at our respective places of work, there is the need to put in a whole lot of work to achieve set goals and aspirations.
While rebranding, we should ensure to start with the aim and purpose, meaning that what one intends to achieve in becoming a better version of oneself, which could be personal or collectively for the betterment of the organisations, one must be able to ascertain the exact thing that defines the person. This is necessary so that one can know what and where to work on or the things to do to become better persons. We should also ask whether we have been putting in our best in whatever we are entrusted with. It could be our jobs, family members and lots more. Are we passionate about all these things? What is key is to ensure that our organisational goals, values, visions and missions are reflected in our personal brands by creating an avenue for colleagues and employers to experience and recognise the values we are likely to add to our organisations.
We should try as much as possible to improve our work ethics, if we have been slacking in the previous year so as to rebrand. Not only that, we should know our worth and values and marry them with results. On the other hand, we should ensure that our employers get value for the wages that we are being paid, and if the value has changed significantly or not being felt, there is the need to rebrand since no one knows when the opportunity that would bring an elevation to a higher level that would single us out among our colleagues. The need to add value to ourselves this New Year entails being more accountable, productive, setting new goals, developing communication skills, identifying areas of strengths and weaknesses and working hard to improve on those weaknesses.
We should not also relent in trying as much as possible to rebrand your résumés or Curriculum Vitaes. One of the effective ways to do this is by putting ourselves in the social space like creating the LinkedIn profile, and if that already exists, we should update it with sell-able contents and current achievements that would help to connect to bigger opportunities. As we take a step towards rebranding for better productivity, we should remember that self-rebranding for a better job productivity is a smart career move that could take one to places. A few tips that could be helpful include: forgetting our failures and being focused more on what to be achieved, widening our horizons by reading books and topics that can help in the self-development journey, expanding our networks to promote our brands, making new friends that would impact us positively, being proactive, authentic and confident in who we are and what we can offer.
We should not forget that consistency is key, so we must be consistent with our goals. Having set the goals, we need to work towards achieving them and be dependable. Above all, there are times when we feel like giving up, when this happens, we should keep pressing on till success is achieved by bearing in mind that life is a journey and if we are yet to achieve something tangible, there is still time to do so and now is the time. Kellyservices.ca states that individuals that aim for self-rebranding should be completely authentic in their rebranding efforts, adding that if we create an image of ourselves that is not truthful, then we would have a hard time living up to it. Therefore, we must resist the temptation to embellish the truth, but rather be confident of who we are.
The following were suggested as helpful for rebranding:
* Determining what our strongest attributes are by considering ourselves as a package of strengths and skills. We can make a list of our strongest points.
* Pinpointing what our unique value propositions are by defining why an employer should choose one over other people with similar skill-sets.
* Representing our brands or organisations positively wherever we may find ourselves.
*Proving our worth and values by keeping track of our personal achievements by making sure that our contributions are felt.
As members of the FUNAAB community, it is important for us to have a common goal, which should generally be aimed towards the development of University. We should bear in mind that success can only be guaranteed when all hands are on deck to make the University great, no matter the challenges. It is just ideal that we work in unison by ensuring that FUNAAB is put on the world map and in tandem with the visions, mission and tripartite mandate of the University. When this is done, we are bound to be truly productive, fulfilled and happy.
