3 Steps to Uncovering Your Authentic Personal Brand

by Marina Byezhanova

What truly differentiates our work at Brand of a Leader and makes us the leading personal branding agency for Founders and CEOs globally is our systematic approach to uncovering the essence of each person we work with. While intuition plays a role, it's our process-oriented methodology that creates transformational results and has enabled us to scale globally in just four years.

Here's Our Three-Step Process (That You Can Steal)

If you're a Gen X entrepreneur who's ready to define your personal brand with the core goal of serving your business objectives, here's our framework:

Step 1: The Lifeline Exercise

I'm going to ask you to do something that might feel a bit like therapy (clients lovingly call it "business therapy"):

• Grab the biggest sheet of paper you can find and draw a line straight through the middle
• Above the line, map out every significant positive moment from childhood onward
• Below the line, mark the challenges, setbacks, and difficult times
• Don't filter yourself—that comment someone made when you were 8 that still sticks with you? Include it
• Look for patterns that keep showing up decade after decade in your life

One of our CEO clients discovered through this exercise that her entire life had been defined by creating spaces where people belonged—starting with making friends feel welcome in her childhood home, to creating college study groups, to her leadership approach. We then built her entire brand positioning around this insight, and it resonated immediately because it was authentically her. She is now a global speaker, positioning her business as a dominant industry authority as a result.

Step 2: Perception Deep Dive

This step is where most people get uncomfortable—because it forces you to confront how you're actually showing up versus how you think you're showing up:

• Write down 3-5 specific adjectives describing how you want to be perceived
• Then list 3-5 adjectives representing how you absolutely don't want to be perceived (and no, these can't just be opposites)
• Send anonymous surveys to colleagues, clients, and friends asking how they would describe you in 3-5 words
• Compare what you think versus what they say (brace yourself—it's often surprising)
• Make a list of people whose communication style you admire—they reveal more about you than you might think
• Do a digital audit of yourself (and no, don't get excited if you have a non-existent digital trail—unless "invisible" is on your list of desired adjectives)

One technology founder was floored when he discovered the disconnect between how he saw himself ("innovative and forward-thinking") and how clients consistently described him ("grounding and clarifying"). This wasn't just an interesting observation—it completely shifted his brand positioning to leverage a strength he'd been undervaluing for years.

Step 3: Strategic Audience & Content Planning

Now we get tactical—but with a twist that makes personal branding feel less self-promotional and more impactful for our businesses:

• Define two completely different audiences: people who provide transactional benefit (prospects, potential employers, etc.) AND people you genuinely want to impact with no financial return
• Figure out your natural content format—are you a writer? A talker? Do you light up on video? Don't force what doesn't come naturally
• Pick ONE platform where your audience actually gathers (yes, one—get consistent on it before you try to be everywhere)
• Choose 1-2 topics that showcase your expertise and one completely separate topic that humanizes you

The game-changer here is identifying that non-transactional audience. When you're creating content to serve both business goals and contribute something meaningful to people who may never pay you a dime, the "icky" feeling of self-promotion vanishes.

Why Gen X Resists Personal Branding (And How We Break Through)

Let's be honest about why most accomplished Gen X leaders initially roll their eyes at personal branding:

1. We didn't grow up posting our daily thoughts online—we prefer letting our work speak for itself
2. We fear getting pigeonholed—after decades building versatile skill sets, the idea of being known for just one thing feels limiting
3. We're allergic to anything inauthentic—the thought of manufacturing a "personal brand" feels gross
4. We would rather focus on scaling our businesses – remaining behind the scenes building an exitable business holds a lot more appeal than the spotlight.

Yet, the marketing game has changed, and human-led thought leadership is what now propels organizations to industry leader status.

Our process at Brand of a Leader was designed to tackle these concerns head-on by:

• Building your executive brand around who you ARE, not what you DO (which means it moves with you across ventures giving you portability)
• Creating positioning based on patterns we discover through introspection (not trends or market gaps)
• Designing a marketing approach that fits your actual personality (not what some 25-year-old "social media expert" says you should be doing)
• Focusing on our key goal of serving your organization and its growth vis-a-avis your thought leadership
• Working with your key executives so that joint thought leadership becomes the key marketing lever of your company rather than you becoming the spokesperson of the organization

Results That Actually Matter

A business strategist client came to us frustrated by his seemingly scattered background across industries. Through our process, we discovered his superpower was what we called "decentralized thinking"—connecting ideas across disparate fields that others saw as unrelated. This positioning not only differentiated him in a crowded market but transformed how he packaged his service offerings, leading to a 40% increase in his consulting rates.

Another client initially told us, "I absolutely do not want to be the face of my business." Through our process, she discovered that her passion for democratizing financial literacy could be expressed without making herself the center of attention. Her brand positioning focused on the transformational impact of financial knowledge—putting her ideas front and center while keeping her comfortable level of personal visibility.

You can – and likely should - build your Founder brand around your business goals. And if that's the case, then you need to set your KPIs in alignment with those. Stop counting likes and focus on what actually matters.

Systems Make Personal Branding Sustainable

Personal branding fails when it's treated as a creative, spontaneous activity rather than a business function with systems and processes. You need:

• A reliable content creation workflow (for when inspiration is nowhere to be found)
• Clear guidelines for messaging across different contexts
• A decision-making framework for opportunities (speaking engagements, podcast appearances, etc.)
• Metrics that actually matter to your business goals (not just likes and shares)

By systematizing your brand expression, personal branding stops being that thing you do when you're feeling inspired and becomes a consistent driver of business results. Here is where systems-driven agencies like Brand of a Leader help. Interested in learning more? Book a complimentary personal branding call today!