The Insignificance of Your Personal Brand
Over the last several weeks I’ve read
a number of articles and had a number of conversations about personal
branding. Each have been interesting;
some even compelling A couple have had
me to stop and consider the merits of the concept.
How could I not? Coined by noted author Tom Peters in a Fast
Company article entitled “The Brand Called You,” the subject of personal
branding has been discussed since at least 1997. But it seems to get new life with each
successive professional generation and with more recent articles such as
“Creating Your Personal Brand,” and others in publications such as Forbes and
the New Yorker it’s hard not to give new attention to this decades-old
topic.
I’ve
learned that “personal branding is
the practice of marketing people and their careers as brands. It is an ongoing process of developing
and maintaining a reputation and impression of an individual…” That’s interesting.
I’ve
even learned on LinkedIn that there are people out there who make a career out
of being a Personal Brand Strategist.
Cool! Must be nice work if you
can get it.
I do
understand that in our 24/7, selfie taking, social-media driven, “look at me”
culture and in a job market that is in a state of rapid evolution it is
beneficial to stand out when pitching for a contract or applying for a
gig. But if there is one thing that I
take away from the articles that I’ve read and the conversations that I’ve had
on the subject of personal branding it is this:
They are all wrong!
Personal
branding devotees each seek to entice you to consider how important your
personal brand is, and to do something about it.
Be
careful. Tread lightly.
If your rationale for building a
personal brand is to get attention so that you can get the next job, make more
money, or to feed your ego, then you can do that… Doing so will likely be short-lived,
difficult to sustain and unfulfilling.
It doesn’t take long for people to spot an “empty suit.” If you want your “five minutes,” it’s never
been easier to get it. But that’s much
different than creating a legacy, having your work speak for itself or creating
a lasting brand.
I’m
here to attest to the insignificance of your personal brand.
None of
those articles and books, and too few of those consultants, will tell you to
achieve something worth hanging a brand on first. In the era where every kid on the team gets a
trophy, whether the team was any good or not, we want to believe that we should
all be noticed, that we should all be invited to give the keynote address, and that
we all are an expert at something.
Even
Mr. Peters puts it this way in his blog, “A personal brand is your promise to the
marketplace and the world. Since everyone makes a promise to the world, one
does not have a choice of having or not having a
personal brand. Everyone has one. The real question is whether someone’s
personal brand is powerful enough to be meaningful to the person and the
marketplace.”
You may
be competent; that doesn’t make you an expert.
You may have skill; that doesn’t make you an icon. You may be well trained; that doesn’t make
you a virtuoso. You may be experienced;
that doesn’t make you the best. You may
have a degree or two, or three; that doesn’t necessarily mean that the world
should listen.
Please
don’t misunderstand. Professional
self-confidence is a good thing. I have no desire to diminish all of your
hard work and what you have accomplished.
Rather, my intent is to ask, what is it that you’ve accomplished exactly? What of note is among your body of work?
What no
one seems willing to say is that your personal brand is insignificant. What matters is the work!
Think
about it for minute. The most admired of
leaders – people who definitely have personal brands – began with an objective
of meeting a need or of serving a purpose.
The work that they do was born out of a passion for achieving that goal. They did it well and for a sustained period
of time. The persevered through good
times and bad, through ups and downs, and they are admired because of it. Evangelizing for that cause and showing
results created believers and therefore the individual became synonymous with
the work. That is the definition – no,
the manifestation of a personal brand.
In other words, service to the cause
creates a strong personal brand. You
won’t have to work so hard to build the brand because the people you serve will
help out. They will tell your story for
you because the work that you’ve done matters to them. The work is what matters much more than
joining another professional organization or incessant posting on LinkedIn or
the ‘Gram.
The
work that you do – its novelty, its scale and its impact – is what people
notice and it is what defines and what drives your personal brand. Not the other way around.
Neither
your podcast, your social media profile, the panel discussions you participate
in nor your logo, your wardrobe or your hair color are the driving factor in
building a personal brand.
It’s
the work.
So go
do that.
Find or
create a job that you care about. Work
hard at it. Purpose to change the world,
or to change someone’s life. Be
determined to make a difference.
Overcome obstacles. Fight without
ceasing. Do more with less. Make a miracle happen.
People
will notice. They will ask you to share
your secrets. You’ll tell them that it wasn’t as easy as it looks. You won’t say that your Twitter followers made a big difference. You’ll say that it took a team to do it. You won’t say that those speaking engagements were a key part of your success. You’ll report that you were honored to have been a part of it all. You won’t say that you were the only one who could have pulled it off. You’ll say that you grew because of it, and that the sacrifice was worth it. You won’t likely say, “that article I read on personal branding gave me the confidence I needed.” But you’ll be proud of yourself. The work will have made
you a brand.
This is fabulous. Honest, true and motivating. Thank you for this.
Tremendous piece. Articulates much of what I have felt about the ”glamour shot + social media account = Success” notion that’s out there!
Thanks sir!
Important perspective going forward, thank you.
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