It's the Ignite B2B event, 2018 and Lucy Steers from Hymans Robertson is looking at how you can build "Brand You".  In a hugely honest talk, Lucy has looked at how to build your personal brand most effectively and has taken a look at her own career and the challenges she has faced along the way at building her own personal brand.

Her first two tips which I think really resonated were:

1. Be Authentic
2. Remember what you are good at and focus on your strengths

The "Be Authentic" point really resonates with how we work with our clients on creating expert-led insights.  So many companies create content for their experts which, because it does not come from the heads of their subject matter experts is NOT authentic.  Lucy says that it is how other people see and perceive you that makes "Brand You".  If you are not being authentic with the insights that you post on your website, share to your social networks or send to key clients then this will only work against building your personal brand.

Finally, Lucy touched on the loss of confidence she suffered when returning from her first maternity leave.  She suffered real self doubt and had "imposter syndrome". This can be a huge issue for people returning to work from time off and I have seen first hand with my wife on returning from her 4 maternity leaves.  Each time she returned to work as a Chartered Accountant she suffered exactly what Lucy described.  This is something we should all be aware of as employers and line managers and help give that confidence back to talented individuals whose confidence may have gone astray.