Coaching Lessons You Can Use to Strengthen Your Brand & Career Goals

By Dorisse Shakir-Ullah, ACC – Career Forward Coaching

Listen to Yourself the Way a Coach Listens

Coaches learn to listen beyond words for meaning, patterns, values check, and energy. You can do the same.

When you reflect on work, ask yourself:

• What part of my work feels most fulfilling to me?

• Where do I feel drained or unseen?

• What do people consistently count on me for?

Listening with curiosity helps you notice what’s really calling you next.

Creating a welcoming coaching environment fosters trust and openness

Clarify Your Core Values

In coaching, we often pause for values clarification. When it comes to your brand, values is one of the anchors that builds your strongest asset, You!When your career decisions align with what you value — integrity, learning, service, creativity, community, you’ll find trust in the process and outcome.

Try listing your top five values and asking, “How present are these in my current role?”

Interested in discovering your values, try this assessment by Brene’ Brown: https://brenebrown.com/resources/dare-to-lead-list-of-values/  

Woman taking online survey

Practical Strategies to Elevate Your Brand

Enhancing your brand and skills mean adding new tools to your coaching toolkit. Here are some actionable strategies I use to keep my coaching fresh and impactful:

1. Stay Informed: Keep up with the latest trends in AI technology, career development and the job market. This helps you provide relevant advice and resources.

2. Invest in Training: Attend workshops, webinars, or certification programs to sharpen your professional skills and knowledge.

3. Use Assessments: Tools like personality tests or skills inventories can offer valuable insights for defining your brand to be your best advocate.

4. Encourage Networking: Help build connections that open doors to new opportunities.

5. Practice Self-Care: Job search and professional development routines can be a long process and emotionally demanding. Take time to recharge so you can show up fully.

   
   

By integrating these strategies, you’ll not only enhance your effectiveness but also model intentional momentum and progress.

Practice Awareness Especially Across Differences

Just as coaches check their assumptions, career professionals can too. Awareness of unconscious bias and communication styles strengthens every interaction.Pause before meetings or dealing with others and ask: “How can I approach this conversation with openness, curiosity, and respect?”

This awareness builds trust and sets you apart as a thoughtful leader.

Confident Professional Woman Smiling

Set Intentional Career Goals

I guide clients to set SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) because clarity of direction drives momentum and meaningful change.

Start small, ok? Choose one action to take over the next 30 days that aligns with your overall vision. Examples might be enhancing your brand, updating your resume or LinkedIn profile, reconnecting with a mentor, identifying a new training opportunity or taking the character strengths survey. Interested in a free resource to get started, try the VIA Character Strengths that I love to use. It can help you see which qualities you naturally bring into your leadership.  Visit https://viacharacter.org.  The report is comprehensive and a great small step toward progress.

Journaling Career Goals

Keep Growing Your Brand with Grace

As a federal hiring official with over 40 years of career and personal development, I learned the importance of having a solid brand. Furthermore, career advancement is rarely a straight line. You will grow faster when you give yourself permission to adapt, stay open to opportunities for growth and learning.

Keep planting seeds to grow a strong network of empowering relationships. Take intentional steps that align with your values to build a brand that speak for you before your resume does. Ask yourself, “What do you want to be known for?”

In Summary

You don’t need to have it all figured out. You just need to take one step with IMPACT; (Intentional, Mindset, Presence, Action Clarity, Trust.)

Your brand is your strongest asset and already speaking for you, even when you are not in the room, so make sure it is telling your unique story.

If you’re ready to gain clarity, rebuild confidence, and take actionable steps to open access to your next opportunity, I would love to partner with you and cheer for you every step of the way!

Schedule a Discovery Call | Learn more at CareerForwardCoaching.net.

Coach Dorisse Shakir-Ullah