5 steps to Building a Personal Brand for Elevating Your Influence

Slides for a talk I gave in Qcon SF 2024

Transcript

1. 5 STEPS TO BUILDING A PERSONAL BRAND FOR ELEVATING YOUR INFLUENCE PABLO FREDRIKSON @PELADONERD
2. EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM HAS A PERSONAL BRAND
3. YOU ALREADY HAVE A PERSONAL BRAND
4. You already have a personal brand • Even if you don’t have an online presence • Or maybe you have a “generic” online presence • Your “internal” company personal brand also exists and it’s important!
5. You already have a personal brand • Even if you don’t have an online presence • Or maybe you have a “generic” online presence • Your “internal” company personal brand also exists and it’s important!
6. You already have a personal brand • Even if you don’t have an online presence • Or maybe you have a “generic” online presence • Your “internal” company personal brand also exists and it’s important!
7. What’s your goal?
8. 1. Why do you want to build or elevate your brand? • Transitioning roles: Building credibility in a new field • Thought leadership: Positioning yourself as go-to expert • Career progression: Getting noticed with your company or industry ◦ Getting noticed is important, seniors that are “too quiet” don’t progress ◦ Learn how to own problems
9. 1. Why do you want to build or elevate your brand? • Transitioning roles: Building credibility in a new field • Thought leadership: Positioning yourself as go-to expert • Career progression: Getting noticed with your company or industry ◦ Getting noticed is important, seniors that are “too quiet” don’t progress ◦ Learn how to own problems • Helping others: Making your company or industry a better place!
10. Decide What You Want to Be Known For
11. 2. What is your defining expertise or passion? • Goal is the outcome; identity is the persona you build. • If the goal is a tech leadership role, the identity might be as a mentor or visionary in the tech stack they work with. ◦ What do your company needs that you can help with? • Encourage specificity but allow room for evolution: ◦ “What specific contributions, values, or unique skills do you want to be synonymous with your name?”
12. Define your goal Decide What You Want to Be Known For
13. Pablo Fredrikson • Principal SRE @ Harness • 18 years of experience • CNCF Ambassador • Pelado Nerd @ YouTube
14. Know your audience
16. 3. Who should your brand influence?
17. 3. Who should your brand influence? Internal audience: If you’re aiming for a promotion, your internal brand should resonate with leadership or decision-makers within the company. 1. Say yes to visible projects, build relationships across departments, and join leadership or planning discussions.
18. 3. Who should your brand influence? Internal audience: If you’re aiming for a promotion, your internal brand should resonate with leadership or decision-makers within the company. 1. Say yes to visible projects, build relationships across departments, and join leadership or planning discussions. External audience: If aiming for a broader industry presence, think about where your skills can make an impact outside your organization. 1. Write for tech blogs, make videos, speak at meetups, or contribute to open-source projects.
19. Build an Online Presence That Reflects You But be careful
20. 4. Considerations to have in mind 1. It’s really hard to separate your job and your online persona, so be mindful 2. Try to align your public brand vs your internal brand a. If they don’t, maybe it’s time for a change! 3. Talk with your manager/director about your online persona, make sure they are OK with it a. Have it in writing! 4. If you are looking for a new job, talk about your online persona during interviews! a. It’s not bragging! Use it in your advantage (but also make sure they are OK with it)
21. What’s my passion?
22. Find your dinosaurs
23. 5. Find and share your passion consistently 1. Find what you are passionate about: a. Clean code! b. Data privacy! c. Leading productive teams! d. Cars!
24. Be Ready to Pivot
25. Wrap-up & Key Takeaways
26. Takeaways 1. Define your goal. 2. Decide what you want to be known for. 3. Understand and engage your audience. 4. Be careful what you choose or share 5. Find and share your dinosaurs. a. You are probably already learning about dinosaurs in your free time!
27. Takeaways 1. Define your goal. 2. Decide what you want to be known for. 3. Understand and engage your audience. 4. Be careful what you choose or share 5. Find and share your dinosaurs. a. You are probably already learning about dinosaurs in your free time! 6. Just be a good person
28. Start today! 1. Write a blog post 2. Ask a colleague from another department if they need help in their project you are interested about 3. Talk to your boss and tell them about your passions 4. Help someone
29. ¡Gracias! Questions? https://fredrikson.com.ar/qcon.html