Imagine that you are the manager of your company’s marketing department. You have the distinct feeling that your chief financial officer doesn’t like you. When you ask him why, his reply stuns you.

“You don’t care about return on investment,” he says.

You do care about ROI (return on investment). But you don’t argue. Instead, you ask him to explain further. This is what Kelly Garret, of Farm Credit Canada, put herself through to improve her personal brand.

You can think of your personal brand as your reputation, or as what other people say about you, Garret explains. Whether or not you choose to manage your brand, it exists. Your brand can affect your career opportunities, your access to sources, your credibility as a leader, and your ability to influence other people.

A person can consciously improve their brand. However, to be successful, their brand must be rooted in authentic talent and personality traits, says Garret. Garret recommends going through five steps to improve a personal brand: self-awareness, research, focusing on which areas to improve, creating a plan, and asking a few other people for help. She also recommends being aware not only of strengths and weaknesses, but what strengths look like to other people when they are over-played.

These strategies have paid off for Garret. She was able to convince her chief financial officer that she and her department did care about ROI, and has since advanced her career. Since then she has become the senior vice president of Farm Credit Canada, and is a certified executive coach.

This entry was written by Lisa Guenther, 2011 IFAJ-Alltech Young Leader and Boot Camp delegate. Kellie Garrett, senior vice president of Farm Credit Canada discussed with the IFAJ-Alltech Boot Camp the importance of managing your personal brand.