And therein lies one of the biggest differences between male and female career development. Most men just seem to know the behaviours and skills necessary to take their careers to the next level. Whereas women tend to be less intentional and strategic about their career. In fact, often women put their heads down and focus on getting things done, believing that producing good work will result in the appropriate recognition and reward – the tap on the shoulder.

There are many reasons for this; from the lack of female role models to generations of conditioning to be the ‘good girl’ and put the needs of others first, to the peculiarly Irish concept of making sure we don’t have ‘notions’ about ourselves.

But imagine this scenario; there’s a high-level meeting about forming a project team for an important assignment. Being part of this team would allow you to showcase your skills and experience, it would be a vote of confidence in your abilities, a significant achievement and would accelerate your career development.

This is a sought-after assignment. You aren’t in the meeting, but your manager is. Will they advocate for you? Will they do it with conviction? What will they say about you? In other words, can they represent your professional brand?

We all have a professional brand. It’s what people say about you when you’re not in the room. It’s how people introduce you, it’s how you introduce yourself. It’s also intangible; it’s how you make people feel. Most importantly of all, it’s your reputation.

A strong professional brand is key when the people in that room are decision makers, discussing issues such as secondments, promotions, key project teams and of course salaries.

When we don’t take ownership of our brand, we allow others to define it and that’s a very risky career strategy.

Career development is no longer all about industry expertise. It doesn’t matter how good you are at the ‘day job’, companies expect those skills as a baseline. There is a whole other set of behaviours and competencies that must be cultivated to ensure career success. These include strong social and communication skills, problem solving, networking, talent development and relationship building – among others.

Developing these skills is only part of the challenge, making people aware of them and ensuring that you are visibly demonstrating them is essential.

Catherine Kaputa, an expert in this area, writes about her observation of women at a networking event delivering their sixty second elevator pitch. She said that most listed their job title, education and company – but nothing about themselves, their success and achievements.

I’ve noticed the same issue and would add another behaviour that diminishes womens brands – the language they use to describe themselves. For the most part they use terms that describe tasks rather terms that describe impact.

For example, ‘I manage’ instead of ‘I deliver’. Women tend to use very mundane descriptions of their role ‘I’m responsible for…’ rather than I execute’.

Increasingly women are recognising the importance of a strong professional brand.  After all, there’s no point in being the best at what you do if nobody knows it, or worse somebody else gets credit for it.

As Tom Peters puts it ‘We are CEOs of our own companies; Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You’.

Kaputa suggests that the main reason we don’t see more women at the higher levels of business is not because of a talent gap, but rather a self-promotion gap.

Picture the scenario again – this time imagine your manager saying, ‘I recommend her for the project, she has valuable experience in this area, excellent judgment and is a great consensus builder.’ Not only does it increase the chances of you achieving your seat at the table, but it also creates a strong first impression on your new colleagues – before they’ve even met you.

A professional brand statement is not a job description or a list of tasks. It’s about the added value you bring to the role, that other set of skills.

Begin by identifying the skills you want to build your brand around – are you a consensus builder? Maybe you have good judgement or perhaps your skill is identifying and developing talented team members. It’s crucial to understand your Unique Selling Point (USP).

If you’re not sure what that is, ask trusted colleagues, your manager, reflect on client feedback, performance conversations, 360-degree feedback or psychometric testing. You’ll begin to see a pattern in what stakeholder’s value about you.

Then begin to craft it into a statement, how will you introduce yourself in different scenarios? A sixty second networking introduction is very different to introducing yourself in a meeting. Your USP should remain unchanged, but you will have variants of your statement for different audiences.

This can be very difficult when faced with a blank page. I often suggest working with a thought partner; asking a friend or colleague to draft a first version for you to edit. Remember to elevate your language and focus on impact rather than tasks.

Unless you’re in a very technical interview, nobody cares what your tasks are.

While your brand will evolve as you develop new skills and experience, it’s crucial that your brand statement is authentic, and your behaviours are consistent with the brand you want to promote. As Carl Jung wrote You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do.

When it comes to communicating your brand, it’s important to learn how to accept positive feedback. All too often women are uncomfortable receiving praise and deflect it with comments such as ‘it was nothing’ or ‘it’s all part of the job’.

Replacing that response with a simple ‘thank you’ or ‘I appreciate that feedback’ communicates confidence and self-worth.

We convey our brand to others through the language we use, including words, tone and pace, whether we speak or choose to be silent. Women often diminish their message by apologising for themselves unnecessarily, using phrases such as ‘sorry to bother you’ or ‘I just wanted to…’

How do people experience your brand? Is it a first class or economy experience? Think of all touch points, the number of interactions you have every day, how do you either enhance or devalue your brand?

One of the most effective ways to communicate brand is simply to tell people what you’re about and in professional terms, your LinkedIn profile is the best way to do this. When someone hears your name in a professional context, the first thing they will do is checkout your LinkedIn profile.

If your page consists of the default background, a picture of you at a black-tie event and a sparse or non-existent profile statement, that sends the message that you’re not putting much effort in. Contrast that with a professional headshot, a well thought out personal statement and up-to-date, relevant posts, which creates an entirely different impression. And having no LinkedIn profile at all can raise a whole host of questions.

Carefully cultivated posts, replies and reposts are an opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise, positioning yourself as a subject matter expert. Make sure you do this with a little panache – differentiating yourself from others is key. Consider factors such as language or visual identity.

As Keith Ferrazzi, author of the networking bible Never Eat Alone, advises ‘Good personal brands do three highly significant things for your network of contacts. They provide a credible, distinctive and trustworthy identity. They project a compelling message. They attract more and more people to you and your cause, as you stand out in an increasingly cluttered world.’