The importance of building your brand

By Sukhrob Murodov

In this post, I do not intend to engage in criticism. I want to write about things that are so unspoken, just because people who know these do not stress the importance with the aim of remaining the only ones who know how to navigate the system. 

Truly, we’ve progressed a lot in Uzbekistan - especially in Youth Affairs. The generation seems to be so talented generally, pursuing big educational and professional milestones. In admissions, at least 15% of the whole high school population is working towards top universities, and professionally, there’s big advancement too. Speaking from my own perspective, I’ve been seeing a bunch of students who are getting a bunch of ACCA papers, or even CFAs by simply being at local universities. Why? What connects them all? Ambition. 

But ambition and knowledge alone are not the end of the story. The progress is crazy, yes - but why not go even further? 

By talking to most of these people, what I realize is that most of them are too limited by their knowledge base. They probably think knowledge is the end of the story, but it’s not. It is what takes you to the door, and navigating the rooms is now your responsibility.

How do you navigate the rooms? By having your brand. It’s important to have your own way of speech, negotiation techniques, professional presence, and personality. You need to develop an ability to shake hands confidently - something most people can’t do, ironically. 

I myself am focusing a lot on these now. I have gaps here. I stand in front of the mirror for 20 minutes a day to practice my body language, facial expressions, and public speaking skills. I go to busy events and shake hands, developing an ability to approach strangers and begin conversations. I record myself for around  5 minutes every day to enhance my tone and voice - to be able to keep any listener engaged. I try to dress clean and neat, because the first impression people get from you is contingent upon your wear (unfortunately) and the confidence of your handshake.

Coupling soft skills with technical ones would create a powerful combo, I believe. That’s what it probably takes to be invincible. Sukhrob Murodov

Incoming intern of Deloitte US