Authentic Personal Branding for Design Thinkers

NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. - Nov. 28, 2018 - PRLog -- In my other new book in the series on design thinking "Authentic and Holistic Design Thinking for Personal, Corporate, and Social Innovation; A New Design Thinking Blueprint that Inspires Imagination, Creativity and Innovation" (Rampersad, 2018), I launched a unique way of design thinking because  traditional design thinking approaches fail. They are mainly process-driven, focused on analytical thinking and how to follow design steps, cozy meetings, how to complete related tasks in certain order, and how to use design tools. It is about time to understand that successful design thinking needs an authentic, holistic, cyclic, iterative, and concentric approach. An approach in which personal innovation, personal disruption, personal integrity, spiritual & emotional intelligence, and authentic personal branding are embedded and are the starting points.

Empathy is a key element of design thinking. For this, you need effective storytelling and personal integrity to make an emotional connection with the customer. Being an authentic personal design thinking brand will help you realize this.

In this revolutionary book, I launch an authentic personal branding blueprint for design thinking professionals, in which personal innovation, personal disruption, personal integrity, effective storytelling, and alignment with your shared ambition are included. It is the first book on personal disruptive innovation. A personal disruptive innovation model is the starting point in this unique system, that provides an excellent framework and roadmap to build resilience, explore and (re)design your life, develop your authentic personal design thinking brand and personal integrity, let you make a significant social impact, and create new opportunities by unleashing the creative potential within you and interrupting the normal course of your life. By applying this model, you will able to disrupt yourself, unlock your creative potential, and become visionary, imaginary, innovative, creative, and empathic. You will also increase your skills for empathy, self-control, and personal responsibility and by doing so you will have better relationships and healthier interactions with your customers.

Authentic personal design thinking branding is about unlocking your creative potential and mastering strong presentation and people skills to make an emotional connection with your customers. By identifying and authenticating yourself, your brand delivers a pledge of trust, credibility, satisfaction and quality. The art of packaging and presenting yourself as a strong personal brand has become vital to design thinkers. Remember, you are your brand and you are in charge of your brand. You are the CEO of your life, you must think of yourself differently and grow and promote yourself like a business. Most design thinking professionals are not aware of this and do not manage their personal brand strategically, consistently and effectively. Take control of your personal brand and the message it sends and affect how your customers perceive you. This will help you to actively grow and distinguish yourself as an exceptional design thinker. Personal design thinking branding is a leadership concept that involves creating an image that resonates with the attitudes, behaviors, and perception of your target market. Your personal design thinking brand should convey a sense of trust. You must dig deep and find out what is unique about you! Then let your customers know about it.

Successful design thinkers, such as David Kelley and Tim Brown, understand the importance of personal branding in today's market. They have established themselves as a credible design thinking expert and an authentic brand in the design industry to gain clients' confidence. They are an authentic personal design thinking brand. You too must appeal to the emotional side of your customers and make an emotional connection with them if you want to succeed in the design thinking business. This means, you must be real (authentic), honest, open, empathic, and known to your customers. To gain trust, you need to strengthen your reputation and build an emotional connection with them. Things such as trust, integrity, consistency, and honesty really do stand out in the design thinking industry. Customers want to know if you will not waste their time and money, so they will research on you to see what others' experiences are and they will look up reviews, testimonials, and ask around. Therefore, you must be clear about who you are, what your values are, and why you do what you do. And then, do exactly what you promised you're going to do.

You must attract customers by communicating what makes you unique and makes you stand out from the crowd based on your specific design thinking skill sets, and why they should pick you. By defining your authentic personal design thinking brand, acting accordingly, becoming a design thinking expert, and communicating your unique brand effectively and consistently, you will build a strong reputation, gain trust, and become empathic.

Your personal design thinking brand is a promise you make to your customers. It defines who you really are and what you stand for. You must live your brand through your actions to build trust. You are your brand, so everything you do must be in line with your promise and your related values. You must always deliver on your promise and your behavior must be a reflection of your brand. This must be consistent and predictable...... READ FURTHER  https://designthinkingink.wordpress.com/2018/11/08/authentic-personal-branding-for-design-thinkers/

Hubert Rampersad, Ph.D.
Center of Excellence in Design Thinking
Phone: +1-7542218946 | hubert.rampersad@gmail.com | designthinkingink.wordpress.com