To: Recipient

From: spomish@email.arizona.edu
Subject: Personal Brand Narrative
Date: October 9, 2018

Dear Recipient

After completing personal evaluations and reviewing my peer’s complete surveys, I have
identified key traits that I possess. As a result of these surveys, I now recognize the disconnect
between how I see myself and how others see me. From these differences I can work towards
developing a more concrete personal brand through my people styles, cultural behavior and
personal values.

People Styles
Respondents have identified similar styles that I myself have thought to be true. My colleagues
identify me as an outgoing individual who radiates positive energy in both social and work
settings. However, not all individuals agree with my personal consensus or with other
respondents. The disconnect is derived from how I see myself and how others perceive me.
According to Kalkhoff, Marcussen, and Sherpe (2016), people tend to seek consistency in how
they view themselves and how they believe others view them. This helps individuals self-verify
their actions or means of behavior. I have recognized minor discrepancies from internal and
external sources regarding my non-verbal communication, tone and perceived behavior.

Non-verbal Communication
When speaking, I utilize facial expressions to better portray my message. 63% agreed with this
notion and the others did not. This disagreement could come from the variance of whom I am
talking to, the subject, and my mood that day. Regardless of my positive attitude, work that is
bothersome or demotivating can result in a mundane tone, and inflection in my voice.

Tone
The majority of my feelings are depicted from my facial expressions, however, most would say
my tone conveys my emotions. In professional settings or situations where I am not completely
familiar, I tend to be softer spoken. One respondent identified that I am softer spoken, when
there are multiple strongly educated personalities, such as professors and teaching assistants
present. In these instances, I am not as confident in my knowledge or experience, which can
result in my being timid. As time progresses, and I become more comfortable with people and
settings, I allow my personality to shine. Looking forward, I hope to find a balance in being
comfortable with my louder-spoken self in unfamiliar conditions, which can lead to a more
consistently perceived behavior.

Perceived Behavior
Half of respondents said I am more likely to make statements and the other half answered that I
typically ask questions. Personally, I believe to be someone who asks questions because of my
curiosity and eagerness to learn. The 50% who said I tend to make statements would conclude
this from my outspokenness and willingness to stand up for myself and others. Two out of the
eight respondents agree that I am less likely to use small talk or anecdotes when communicating.
In most settings, I begin with small talk, then progress into personal anecdotes to state my case.
The different techniques I use to communicate have resulted in my Cultural Map Scale scores.

Cultural Map Scales

Interestingly, I found that the largest disconnect came from my cultural map scores. The biggest
variances were among communicating, evaluating and trusting. I gave myself low scores in these
categories, whereas my peers ranked me highly.

This discrepancy is because I may not exhibit the behavior that I want others to use towards me.
For example, I prefer people to communicate using simple, explicit and clear methods, however,
I may not do the same for others. When evaluating I prefer to give negative feedback, in reality I
do not always because I fear hurting one’s feelings, nor do I want them to think less of me. Most
may consider me trustworthy from the beginning, however the feeling may not be reciprocated.
Although my People Styles and Cultural Map Scales scores have received contrasting outcomes,
my life values have been portrayed uniformly among respondents and myself.

Values
Regardless of the way I may act in different situations, my personality and values are still present
and recognized by others. Personally, I recognize myself as someone who is optimistic, task
oriented and confident. However, I still agree with my respondents’ culmination of words that
describe me in Figure 1 and am enthused they see me in a specific manor.

Figure 1: Created from Wordle.com

After comparing my scores, I have deduced that my people styles, cultural map scales and values
vary depending on the scenario. In order to maintain a more consistent brand, I can work towards
stepping outside of my comfort zone to become more comfortable in uncomfortable situations. I
hope to create a persona that is consistent in the translation of my beliefs into my actions. For
further information regarding my personal brand, I can be reached at:
spomish@email.arizona.edu.

Best,
Sydney Pomish