12 Personal Branding Actions to Take in 2026 to Grow Your Career

Your personal brand is more important than ever as AI reshapes work and competition intensifies. To stay relevant and visible to your stakeholders, make sure you’re up to speed on these 2026 personal branding trends in Part 1 and Part 2. These trends are in response to the vast changes that are shaping the world of work.

1. Help AI Get to Know You

The biggest mistake people make with AI is that they don’t make it a priority up front to get to know each other really well. When your preferred AI tool (choose only one as your primary) really gets you, you’ll get more on-brand responses to your prompts. Make sure it knows your:

• Values, passions, purpose, strengths, and differentiators.
• Pet peeves, the things you really dislike.
• Best work. Share your stellar articles, blogs, and emails with AI.
• The ways you want it to support your work.

2. Make Your LinkedIn About 70% Likability, 30% Credibility

In our tech-infused world, people are craving substance and personality. Your Headline, Experience sections, and other LinkedIn features help you tout your credibility. Use your About section to showcase who you are as a person and create a human connection with those looking to learn more about you. Add at least one paragraph that highlights your personality, your approach to work, or what energizes you. Being real is essential in the age of AI.

3. Use Short-Form Video as Your New Business Card

Video is powerful for getting seen in Google (make sure your videos are in a YouTube account), and in our mostly virtual world of work, video is the next best thing to being there in person. Video allows you to deliver a complete communication and connect with your audience on a deep, emotional level. It’s a much richer form of communication than words on a screen. Forrester Research determined that just one minute of video is worth 1.8 million words.

4. Share “What I’m Learning Now” Posts

Lifelong learning is one of the most important skills you can master in the rapidly evolving world of work. Commit to regular professional development so you can remain relevant. When you share what you learn with others, you show that you’re focused on growth while helping your community learn from you. The best way to truly master a topic is to commit to teaching it to others.

5. Turn Your Origin Story into a Career Asset

Everyone has a story to tell and yours helps you connect with others. People want meaning. Having a clear “Why I do this work” narrative differentiates you more than any credential. Include a provocative or inspiring sentence or two that explains the moment or experience that set you on your path. Then, tell viewers what’s happened since, and the impact it has had.

Related: How to Develop Your Personal Brand to Embrace Internal Mobility

6. Build a Small Inner Circle of 25 Content Champions

A small, loyal group of people who like, comment on, and share your content consistently helps spark deeper engagement in what you share online. Identify the people who regularly consume your content and make it easy for them to interact with posts regularly. Then, return the favor by being a champion for those whose work you admire.

7. Publish One POV Piece Quarterly

People follow leaders who bring new ideas into focus. Update your signature topic with new research, a personal experience or a client anecdote. There are countless people who are focused on your topic, making it hard to grab attention. To stand out, take a stand and express that point of view consistently.

8. Collaborate On Communications

In 2026, personal brands that show partnerships, co-creation, and community thinking will garner attention. AI has increased the amount of content available online, making it easy to get lost in the noise. The key to getting your insights noticed is to make them unique or at least different. Co-authoring an article or delivering a podcast with a colleague is a great way to make your content more magnetic. Shared media is one of the four types of media you should be using to grow your visibility and credibility. Involving your community by polling them and sharing results is also a powerful form of collaboration.

9. Hyper Personalize Your Communications

One area where AI excels is in making your communications specific for a community or even an individual. Take content that truly reflects who you are and ask AI for help customising it. One place to use this technique is with your standard elevator pitch. Ask AI to personalize it for every person or group you’re about to meet. First impressions last and a targeted elevator pitch will make a magnetic and memorable first impression. You can also use AI to tailor emails, intros, and proposals so each one feels handcrafted.

10. Document Your Signature Stories and Frameworks

Your signature stories help people understand your values, purpose, and passions. Take some time to document those stories that help you connect with others deeply. Your frameworks, models, and structures are currency. Turn them into formalized systems that are part of your thought leadership. Your signature stories and frameworks are critical components of your brand differentiation.

11. Treat Your Digital Footprint Like an Asset

Audit your online presence at least quarterly. Google yourself and pay close attention to the page one results. Ask yourself, “If someone was searching online to learn about me, what would these results communicate?” Remove outdated messages, update visuals, and make sure every touchpoint is authentic, current, and compelling.

12. Share a Monthly Behind-the-Scenes Story

One way to get people to connect with you is by sharing personal stories that aren’t typically public. People trust what they can see and appreciate knowing the backstory. A short glimpse of your process, struggles, or successes makes your brand relatable and real. Share these on LinkedIn or in your newsletter so people see the person behind the professional.

13. Build a Personal Advisory Board of Three

It’s easy to get lost in our own thoughts and habits, so it is important to seek input and advice from people you trust to tell you what they really think. Choose trusted peers who can stress-test your ideas, stories, and direction. It will help you sharpen your voice and nurture relationships that are important to you. Of course, be willing to support others’ advisory boards.

Commit To Taking These Personal Branding Actions in 2026

Prioritise these personal branding actions and pen them into your calendar or to-do list so they don’t get lost in the busyness of business. Then, commit to acting on them, turning them into opportunities for your brand and fuel for your career.

This article was originally published in Forbes.

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