Gone were those days when women place is in the kitchen. Everyone wants to exercise their potentials. Women now occupy chairperson position in big corporations. Many women have developed their potentials so much that many of them are now performing at a cutting edge that is better than most men.

 Women of today need balance in the midst of their multi-tasks otherwise a failure at home can spell a doom on any other achievement. This is not general anyway but those who value home over achievement should take note of this. I strongly believe and this has been proven by statistics available that women give more value to relationship than men. Men are also allowing their wives to pursue their dreams. This is encouraging the rise and rise of corporate ladies. Women are rising and becoming up and doing in their daily tasks. This has necessitated the need for corporate ladies to properly manage their personal brands so they can be outstandingly successful.

 Before we start this discussion, it is important to note that there is no perfect human being anywhere, it is an illusion and one of these days we will do an article on the need to pursue progress instead of perfection. Ladies in corporate environments can therefore consider the following points that can enhance their personal brands. Other points will be included in my soon to be released free personal brand e-book.

 1. Differentiate, do not compete: competing with men in the workplace will give your brand a negative image. Instead, corporate ladies/women should try to differentiate their offerings; uniqueness so that it becomes obvious that they are good and that can not be disproved.

 2. Balance: Every corporate lady should ensure balance in their daily tasks. Do not allow the pressure of work to allow your family to suffer beyond necessary. It is true that at the beginning, sacrifices need to be made. But do not make that a long- life affairs. Ensure you use quality time with your family. It is not in quantity but the quality.

 3. Communication skill: everyone needs to develop this. But when a lady gets to the top, many are not mindful of the stuffs that come out of their mouth just because they think that their presence is intimidating their male counterparts. Do not be the proverbial “Margaret Thatcher’.

 4. Keep eye on the big picture: Do not be engaged in stuffs meant for the hen when you are an eagle. Bickering, back-biting does not belong to your class. You are too good a stuff for that. See you soaring until my book is out.

Being an expert is one of the necessities in personal branding building. To have a niche in a market, an individual must work hard at becoming a reservoir of knowledge, experience in a given market.

There are several highways available to an expert to use, we will just observe few today. We encourage our community to raise a standard in these highways so they can enjoy the benefits accruable to an expert. Being an expert is not just enough, communicating the niche is also important.

1. Get right qualifications: paper qualification is still important in today’s practice. Even though there are quite a sizable number without right qualifications who are still making very much impacts, but many experts will not be accepted in our environment for now without right paper qualification. So if you can, please get it.

1. Join related trade associations: the heat is being turned on especially in our own environment with strong indication that without a membership of certain professional organizations, one will not be able to practice. As an expert, get accredited into a professional association.

1. Put searchlight on your experience: if you have worked for multinationals and known names, it helps in no small measure. You may need to flaunt this. Fortune 500 companies are good leveraging grounds.

1. Get published on your topic: always get published in relevant magazine in your trade. This should be at least once in a quarter.

1. Run a blog: if you can, run a blog. It establishes your thoughts on leadership in your niche market. The content of the blog must be so important that it can generate traffic. You do not need to post content everyday all you need is to post once in two weeks. It will be great to blog everyday for the first six months.

 Today I was at a leadership meeting which parades speakers like Executive Governor of Lagos state-Barrister Raji Fashola(San), Taiwo Odukoya of Discovery for Men, Sam Adeyemi of success Power International . I must confess that today was the first time I saw the passion for change by Barrister Fashola as Executive Governor. We, at “The Brand Gavel” will keep a watch on him before we run our comment.

Every one is a leader. No matter where you are There is need for each one to let his/her leadership brand resonate. “Every one can become a leader because everyone can serve. You do not need to understand the philosophy of Aristotle, and euro- dynamic laws to lead, all you need is a heart to serve” so says Dr. Martin Luther. Some of the qualities that will make a leadership brand resonate include:

1. Responsibility: The speakers spoke on unequivocal terms on the needs for leaders to be responsible. A driver is a leader when he is doing is job. He holds the lives of people in his hand while he takes them around. This responsibility demands that he should be very careful and give driving a huge sense of attention. The passengers are also responsible to be leaders to ask driver to drive well when if he is misbehaving.

1. Influence: This is the second point mentioned for any leadership brand to resonate. The level of influence you can make will determine how much your leadership brand will receive emotional relevance.

1. Character: Minus character leadership brand is a façade. Leadership brand without character is useless. Work on your character as a leader. Reputation can take you far, but character will sustain your growth.

1. Skill: This was agreed upon to be a necessity for a leadership brand that will go far. It is defined as a craft or ability that is acquired or developed through trainings, mentoring, and exposure.

A leader must be a destination for best practices. Leadership is not about title or multitude. Leaders are problem solvers. Check your leadership brand.