Here’s Why You May Need a Clean Break
Let’s recap: Your brand is powerful, whether you pay attention to it or not. No matter what you do, you are always building your personal brand. So whether or not you’ve deliberately crafted your brand and deeply considered how to position yourself - in your company and your field - you definitely have one. And it’s either helping you or it’s hurting you. There’s no in-between.
If that seems harsh, consider this:
How do you respond to mixed messages?
How do you respond to missing information?
When you’re making a big decision, how often do you choose an ambiguous option over a clear winner?
When you’re making a purchase, do you pick a product that kind of more or less maybe meets your needs or one that obviously checks all the boxes?
It’s simple: you have a brand out there because you have a reputation. Your employer, your colleagues, and your peers all have a working impression of you that influences their opinions and behaviors towards you. All those impressions might be coherent or they might conflict - but they always weigh in on whether you’re selected or passed over for opportunities. And they strongly influence your assignments, evaluations, and feedback.
Leveraging the power of intentional branding means you can take stock of your reputation, discern where there is consensus or conflict, and take action to bring those impressions into alignment with who you want to be professionally. But there are obstacles. Think back to middle school.
If you were teased for any reason, did you want that reason to follow you to high school?
If you felt embarrassed by a story - real or made up - that all your classmates knew, didn’t you want a fresh start at your new school?
And when you got that fresh start, were you afraid someone from your old class would ruin it?
That’s exactly the scenario that many of us face as adults today. If that makes you cringe a little - that’s good. It means you’re ready to take control of the situation.
To shake free of old rumors, embarrassing nicknames, and the merciless teasing that goes with them, you needed a fresh start at a new school. The same is true of corporate spaces. If you had a rough start at your current company (despite your progress since then) it might still be the strongest impression of you in that space. Alternatively if you’re known as the go-to person for a particular task, specialization, or perspective (even if it no longer interests you) you might keep getting those assignments despite trying to move into a new role. That’s your reputation - your brand - working against you. This may not be a disaster scenario but it actively limits your potential, compromises your self-determination, and inhibits building your career by design.
Your employer, your manager, and your colleagues are responding to your current brand. If they seem resistant or impervious to your efforts to reposition yourself, it might not be malicious! It’s just the power of your current brand working. Consider the value that you add in your current position, and with the reputation you’ve established. You’re brilliant, dependable, and consistent. You deliver amazing results. People count on your availability and expertise. In that situation, no wonder they’re resistant to change!
Given those odds, do you really want to spend the time and energy trying to shift that dynamic, and throw yourself against a wall that might not move? Or would you rather invest those resources in creating your new professional reality? While at a previous company, I realized that my brand was ill fitted for standard profile of a senior leader. I was ambitious and sill wanted to move up, but it felt like an uphill battle. I was meeting all sorts of opposition on every side - because the box I had been slotted into did not align with the expectation of more senior leaders. I knew that my potential was far too great to waste and eventually decided to explore external opportunities. After one submission and three interviews, I got a call asking if I was interested in a senior leadership position - a role one level above the role I’d actually applied to. Without that old box confining me - and limiting the ways I could show up and be seen - my leadership abilities could finally shine.
So I challenge you to take stock of your current reputation, and assess whether it’s time for a rebrand. And then take the time to assess your environment - because this could be the moment for a clean break.
One word of caution: making a fresh start at a new company is not a universal solution. Right now, you might have a company culture that welcomes and encourages you to create new goals, take some risks, and recreate yourself professionally. But there are many more environments that - without malice or ill intent - restrict your capacity to rebrand and create a new professional reality for yourself. And when you’re clearly in the latter, it’s time to give yourself the chance to start fresh.
