Whether you intend to or not, you have a personal management brand.

In his book, The Leaders Shadow, William Judge says there are 4 ways in which our personal leadership shadow (or brand) is cast on those around us:

• What we say
• How we act
• What we measure
• Our priorities

As managers, we need to be aware of our behaviours, and what shadow we might be casting, because whether we intend to or not, we have one. 

The best way to think about this is to ask yourself, what do you think others would say (both good and bad), if you overhead them talking about you? 

Then ask yourself, what would you WANT them to be saying about you?

Stephen Covey also covers this in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and it’s specifically Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind. 

He asks us to consider the end or future goal (leaving a positive management legacy) and behaving right now to achieve that.

So how would you (or others) describe your management brand?