February 2016 Woman At Work Digital

BRAND ‘YOU’
Your
GRAVITAS
In this monthly series, Ruchi Suneja, founder of Ikon
Image Consulting and one of the leading Image Coaches
in Western India talks to us about how to build one’s
personal brand to standout in the crowd and carve a
space for ourselves in our professions of choice.
W
hen I was a teenager,
one day I was standing
in front of the mirror
and adoring myself, I heard the
wavering voice of my grandmother
whisper into my ears, “Soorat ke saath
saath seerat bhi acchi honi zaroori hai
(Your behaviour has to be as beautiful
as your outward appearance).”
Since then, that statement of hers
has stuck with me and made me
cautious of my behaviour. We always
remember the behaviours of people
more than their name, qualification,
experience, profession or pedigree.
Try to recollect a few instances and
am sure you would be reminded of
umpteen such occasions, both
pleasant and otherwise. And if the
above is true, then the same holds for
us as well. People will remember our
behaviours more than the
qualifications we bring to the table.
So it is important to be conscious of
our behaviours because this is one of
the key building blocks of Brand
‘You’ along with confidence, self
belief, verbal and non verbal
communication which we have
written about in the previous articles
of this series.
What exactly do we mean by
behaviour? It means showing right
etiquettes or mannerisms towards others
when we interact and meet with them.
Behaviours are social survival skills. The
way you want to be treated by others is
the way you should treat them. The way
a person or an interaction “makes you
feel” is what we call behaviour. Yes,
there are written norms and standards for
etiquettes, but how “I make the person
feel” sets me apart from others and
leaves a good or a bad taste.
Remember your school teacher or
parents telling you about 5 golden
words- Sorry, Thank You, Please, May I
and Excuse Me. Is that it? Someone
might apologise to you with all the right
words but her tone does not reflect that
apology. Does that make us feel good? I
bet not!
Your behaviours also establish the
levels of trust and comfort in a group.
Termed Gravitas, this is voted by experts
as the number one dimension that
determines an employee’s Executive
Presence in the company.
“Your brand is what people say about
you when you’re not in the room,” said
Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.
Behaviour is an integral part of your
brand and you have the power to build it
the way you want it!
February 2016 | 9