Creating a Brand Worth Championing

Abstract

Maya has thought carefully about her champion’s advice. She recognizes the need to get her priorities sorted and clarify what it is she wants to achieve, and who she really wants to be as a person, at home and at work. Having reconnected with her values, and created a plan of action, Maya is once more able to deliver above expectations at work and focus her time at home on what matters. Her team, peers, and line manager trust her to deliver, but she has been so driven by achieving results that she has not made the time to network and raise her visibility with those above. Some months later, over lunch with an old friend, a successful marketing director for a retail chain, Maya shares her thoughts. Having known her for a long time, her friend offers some wise counsel: “You need to embody your core values, Maya,” she says, “and raise the visibility not just of what you do so well, but of who you are as a person and ensure the right people have sight of you. You have the capacity, focus, expertise, and strength to reach the top, but that is not how you are always seen by those who do not know you well — and you need to do something about that.”