It’s important to build a personal brand because it’s the only thing you’re going to have. Your reputation online, and in the new business world is pretty much the game, so you’ve got to be a good person. You can’t hide anything, and more importantly, you’ve got to be out there at some level.
Kyle Pearce – Entrepreneur
Kardashians. Donald Trump. Tim Ferriss. Sean Ogle. Barack Obama. What do they all have in common? Strong personal brands. You know who they are and what they stand for by their personal branding and even personal disruption.
Tom Peters, the management guru of In Search of Excellence, knew a good thing when he saw one. He picked up on the theme that we’ll be self-employed professionals and came up the expression: The Brand Called You™ almost 20 years ago. Great idea and great timing! Peters said it succinctly: “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.”[i]
Personal disruption starts with introspection. You’ll have to assess your work choices and decisions before you can reengineer your career. Just as any business, you’ll have to understand your core proficiencies, understand what’s valued in the marketplace, and if necessary tweak your existing competencies or even develop new ones.
Millennial creatives are great in establishing virtual personas and personal brands in social media. Caroline Calloway, one of Instagram’s first influencer brands, explains it this way:
“However, as an artist and as a creative person, it’s both my responsibility and my right to support myself so that I can make the things I want to make. I acknowledge that in order to do that, it behooves me to understand and respond to the ways other people might see Caroline Calloway as a brand, and to act accordingly. Even though I don’t see it in my heart this way, I understand why I must in order to be the best businesswoman that I can be. I need to support myself.”[ii]
Work Lesson Earned: What do you need to do to develop your Brand You? Execute tasks. Finish projects on time, on budget, within scope with satisfied customers. Design killer products or apps. Have self discipline. Be resilient. Be able to balance peaks in work activity. Make money.
[i] ‘The Brand Called You’, Fast Company, August, 1997.
[ii] ‘Was Caroline Calloway Instagram’s First Influencer’, Man Repeller, June 20, 2018.