Your personal brand and reputation define the first thing that comes to others' mind when they hear your name, see your name on a document, see a video of you, hear a recording of you, or see you in person. Work hard to develop your reputation and brand, and work even harder to maintain and defend them. Your brand defines what you are known for and what attributes you are associated with. A good brand improves your reputation. Work hard every day to improve your brand and reputation, and work even harder to maintain them.

Here are examples of positive ways in which your brand can define you:

accessible, accountable, active, active listener, adaptable, aggressive in a good way, approachable, articulate, assertive, attentive, authentic, aware, big heart, bold, calm, candid, careful, caring, change agent, clear, coachable, collaborative, collected, collegial, compassionate, composed, confident, conscientious, considerate, consistent, cooperative, courageous, courteous, creative, critical (in a constructive way), critical thinker, curious, data-informed, dependable, dignified, diligent, disciplined, disruptor in a positive way, driven, earnest, effective, efficient, embraces change, emotionally intelligent, empathetic, encouraging, energetic, enthusiastic, equitable, erudite, ethical, even-handed, excellent, experienced, expert, fair, fearless in a good way, focused, forgiving, forward-looking, friend, friendly, full, fun, generous, gentle, genuine, glass half-full, good, good habits, good judgement, grateful, happy, hardworking, healthy, healthy skeptic, helpful, honest, honorable, hopeful, humble, imaginative, impactful, inclusive, industrious, informed, innovative, inquisitive, inspiring, intelligent (one or more forms of intelligence), intentional, judicious, kind, knowledgeable, leader, level-headed, lifelong learner, likable, like, loved, loyal, mature, measured, mentor, mindful, modest, multi-dimensional, natural leader, nimble, observant, open-minded, optimist, optimistic, partner, passionate, persistent, personable, planner, poised, polite, positive, powerful, predictable, prepared, present, present and engaged, productive, professional, proper, proud, prudent, punctual, purposeful, qualified, ready, reliable, reserved, resilient, resolute, respectable, respected, respectful, responsible, responsive, restrained in a good way, role model, scrupulous, self-aware, self-controlled, self-sufficient, servant leader, service-oriented, sincere, skillful, smart, sophisticated, spontaneous in a good way, steadfast, strategic, strong, successful, supportive, teachable, team player, thankful, thinker, thought leader, thoughtful, transparent, trustworthy, truthful, unbiased, understanding, unflappable, uniter, upbeat, useful, welcoming, wise

Here are examples of negative ways in which your brand can define you:

absent, abrupt, ageist, aggressive in a bad way, ambivalent, angry, antagonistic, apathetic, arrogant, authoritarian, awful, awkward, backward-looking, bad, bad behavior, bad habits, bad role model, back-stabber, belligerent, biased, bitter, bossy, bully, careless, chauvinist, close-minded, clueless, competitor, complacent, complainer, conceited, confrontational, conniving, critical (in a negative way), crusty, curmudgeon, curt, cynic, deceitful, detractor, dictatorial, difficult, discouraging, disengaged, disgusting, dishonest, disliked, disloyal, dismissive, disorganized, disrespectful, disruptive behavior, disruptor in a negative way, distracted, divider, dogmatic, doom and gloom, egotistic, elitist, empty, enemy, erratic, exclusive, fake, feared, fearful, fearless in a bad way, fickle, foul mouth, glass half-empty, hard-headed, harmful, harsh, hated, hater, hot-headed, hurtful, hypocritical, ignorant, ill-tempered, immature, improper, inaccessible, inattentive, incompetent, inconsiderate, inconsistent, ineffective, inequitable, inflexible, impulsive, insincere, irresponsible, jealous, judgmental, lack of energy, lack of humility, lack of imagination, lack of judgement, lazy, liar, loathed, malcontent, mean, micromanager, miserable, misfit, misogynist, narcissistic, naysayer, negative, not useful, novice, obstinate, off the cuff, offensive, out to lunch, passive, patronizing, pessimist, petty, petulant, pompous, presumptuous, pretentious, purposeless, random decision maker, resists change, restrained in a bad way, rigid, rough, rude, saboteur, schemer, self-centered, self-flattering, self-important, selfish, self-promoting, sexist, snippy, snob, socially awkward, spontaneous in a bad way, stingy, stubborn, stuck in the past, sucks the life out of others, temperamental, too confident, too lenient, too proud, too quiet, too talkative, toxic, two-faced, unaware, unclear, uncoachable, uncollaborative, uncurious, undependable, undisciplined, unethical, unfair, unfocused, unfriendly, unhappy, unhealthy, unhealthy skeptic, unhelpful, unidimensional, unimaginative, uninformed, uninterested, unintelligent, unkind, unpredictable, unprepared, unproductive, unprofessional, unqualified, unreliable, unreserved, unruly, unscrupulous, unsophisticated, unsupportive, unsure, unteachable, untrustworthy, useless, vicious, weak