239: Creating Your Legacy Through Your Personal Brand with Cindy McGovern

Believe it or not, everyone has a personal brand, whether you’ve taken the time to plan one or not. Today, you’ll hear from Dr. Cindy McGovern, the author of a new book on personal branding titled Sell Yourself: How to Create, Live and Sell a Powerful Personal Brand. Cindy is also the Founder of Orange Leaf Consulting, a sales and management consulting firm, and the author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller, Every Job Is a Sales Job: How to Use the Art of Selling to Win at Work. Known as the First Lady of Sales, Cindy speaks about personal branding, sales, and leadership topics all over the world. In this episode, we dive into creating your legacy through your personal brand, what it takes to thoughtfully and intentionally craft an authentic personal brand and live it, and why Cindy believes that learning to sell like a sales professional will make you more successful at selling your most important product–you. This episode illustrates the importance of understanding how your personal brand impacts those around you and why selling yourself needn’t feel ‘icky’ or uncomfortable. Plus it’s jam-packed with useful tips and practical advice for focusing on your impact– the outcomes you’re uniquely able to generate, using the perceptions of others about you and your work to your advantage, being very intentional about the words you choose to describe yourself, and so much more. Tune in now to learn how to build your personal brand and leverage it for greater impact today.   Highlights From This Episode: What Cindy means when she says that simply identifying your personal brand will not make that brand powerful or effective. [05:57] Common mistakes you might be making with your own personal brand. [07:12] Selling yourself as a sales job and why sales needn’t be manipulative, uncomfortable, or dishonest. [07:45] The value of asking the right questions to uncover what you can offer, uniquely and powerfully. [12:44] Why so many corporate professionals struggle to define their personal brands. [14:11] How to thoughtfully create an authentic brand and then live it, day in and day out. [17:35] Tips for testing your brand by soliciting valuable and candid feedback. [20:00] Using prejudice to your advantage by elevating different facets of your brand. [22:18] Carefully examining the words you use to describe yourself and the impact they have. [27:47] The importance of activating your network in order to create a lasting legacy. [31:54]   For More Information: Dr. Cindy McGovern Dr. Cindy McGovern on LinkedIn Dr. Cindy McGovern on Twitter Dr. Cindy McGovern on Instagram Dr. Cindy McGovern on Facebook Dr. Cindy McGovern on YouTube Orange Leaf Consulting Orange Leaf Academy   Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Pre-order Cindy’s latest book, Sell Yourself: How to Create, Live and Sell a Powerful Personal Brand Get your copy of Cindy’s Wall Street Journal bestseller, Every Job Is a Sales Job: How to Use the Art of Selling to Win at Work Read Cindy’s blog post on why many corporate professionals struggle to create their personal brands   JOIN KATHY IN HER AMAZING CAREER PROJECT 16-WEEK ONLINE COURSE, STARTING OCTOBER 6TH AND BUILD A HAPPIER CAREER THIS YEAR!(Register by September 24 to save $500 and get 6 great bonuses)! I'm thrilled to share that the enrollment window for the Fall session of my 16-week Amazing Career Project course is open now! 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Truly, this is a powerful investment in you and your career and there is nothing to lose and so much to gain.  I’d love to work with you this Fall!    ——————— Order Kathy’s book The Most Powerful You today! In Australia and New Zealand, click here to order, elsewhere outside North America, click here, and in the UK, click here. If you enjoy the book, we’d so appreciate your giving the book a positive rating and review on Amazon! And check out Kathy’s digital companion course, The Most Powerful You, to help you close the 7 most damaging power gaps in the most effective way possible.  Kathy’s Power Gaps Survey, Support To Build Your LinkedIn Profile To Great Success & Other Free Resources Kathy’s TEDx Talk, Time To Brave Up & Free Career Path Self-Assessment Kathy’s Amazing Career Project video training course & 6 Dominant Action Styles Quiz ——————— Sponsor Highlight I'm thrilled that both Audible.com and Amazon Music are sponsors of Finding Brave! Take advantage of their great special offers and free trials today! Audible Offer Amazon Music Offer   Quotes: “It’s more than having a brand and saying, ‘I want to be known as these words.’ It’s how you exemplify those words through your actions, [how you] create and craft your legacy, and — more importantly — how it impacts those around you. Without the impact, you don’t have a legacy.” — @1stladyofsales [0:06:36] “I don’t actually sell someone on something. I invite them to buy.” — @1stladyofsales [0:10:41] “You are not the company brand. You are not what is in your email signature line. You are whatever [impact] you are making on those around you.” — @1stladyofsales [0:15:15] “I’m going to walk into this room, and they are going to underestimate me. How am I going to use that to my advantage? How am I going to elevate the facets of my brand to show them, sell them on the fact that I can do this?” — @1stladyofsales [0:22:52] “If I don’t have a story to tell about you, you don’t actually have a legacy.” — @1stladyofsales [0:30:03] “It’s the way you show up, the way you consistently keep the message going. You’re truly being your authentic self, but you are activating your network to want to help you sell. That’s how you actually create a legacy.” — @1stladyofsales [0:32:31] Watch our Finding Brave episodes on YouTube!Don’t forget – you can experience each Finding Brave episode in both audio and video formats! Check out new and recent episodes on my YouTube channel at YouTube.com/kathycaprino. And please leave us a comment and a thumbs up if you like the show!