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“Character is that which reveals moral purpose, exposing the class of things a man chooses or avoids.”
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Aristotle
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Ok. Let me be clear upfront – I believe 90+% of Personal Branding is bullshit. Despite the fact I am a relatively unhireable 50something my resume & credentials are pretty popular with executive search companies <I assume it is because they like to have some fairly robust experienced people on file to round out their library, but never really find them a job>.
Regardless. This means I get a relatively constant flow of emails from executive search companies highlighting insightful podcasts, seminars, luncheons, meet & greets, advice columns and ‘positive thinking’ <“you are awesome and can dominate the world”> messages.
I received one several weeks ago that made me laugh out loud. I laughed mostly because, as noted upfront, I think the whole ‘personal branding’ thing is a bunch of bullshit. I also couldn’t believe they would have a luncheon, with relatively senior people who you would assume already know their shit, to discuss ‘dare to build your personal brand.’
Here is the invite <received without the picture I added>:
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THE INVITE:
‘Xxx’ is facilitating a networking meeting on Thursday, October 16, 2014 (7:30 AM – 9:30 AM):
cool Club
main Road
big city
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Platinum Members ($25.00)
Guest ($25.00)
Continental Breakfast Included
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Topic: DARE TO BE YOUR OWN BRAND!
Speaker: some personal branding guru <I assume>
Personal branding has become a widely popular topic. People from all walks of life are taking the idea more seriously. What about you? Do you want to make the most of what you have to offer and become more of what you visualize yourself to be? Are you asking, “What’s the right strategy for me?” and “How do I go about putting a personal brand strategy to work that will bring me greater success?”
Dare To Be Your Own Brand demands that you get clear on what makes you unique and how you want to be viewed by others. Then you have to leverage it with an unwavering commitment in everything you do and be willing to step out of your comfort zone, focus on a clear path for personal brand elevation and stay the course.
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Please come prepared to:
- Introduce yourself within 60 seconds
- Ask individuals/group for introductions to your targeted companies
- Share information you have to offer others in their job search
- Exchange business cards
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Look. I fully understand that in today’s business world simply having some skill won’t save you. I imagine only having some “texture” will save you <what your skill is wrapped in>. If all you offer is competence, someone can get it for cheaper from somewhere. Byy texture I mean you will have to create some connection between the work you have actually done and, well, you. To be clear, this “you” isn’t about daring to create a personal brand. It is about figuring out what a great company called DDBNeedham calls ‘personal narrative’ <or a ‘brand narrative>.
Now. Narrative sounds boring. And not edgy. Not true.
It is only boring if you build your personal narrative upon something you do not and cannot control because that has no texture.
That is simply surface information.
So. I say this having seen a shitload of companies that have rich narratives.
What do I mean? Think your typical great stories …“hero/conflict/resolution’ type outline with regard to their narratives. They can do this because companies have people, obstacles, trials, competition and situations in which someone wins or loses. This also means they talk about the character of the organization, about virtues and attributes and all the things necessary to navigate their narrative <and be heroic in some form or fashion>.
Oddly … I have seen a shitload of people who also have incredibly rich narratives … and yet they never share them in an interview or on a resume or anything to do with gaining a position. For some reason most people inevitably decide to not tell a story. They decide to not have a narrative instead they elect to create some ‘personal brand’ instead or they end up gussying up a resume with facts and figures and dates and titles and schools and accomplishments — everything but a narrative.
It seems weird to me that companies invest so much energy in a narrative and people don’t.
It seems weird to me that people don’t talk about personal journeys or character traits.
And it seems weird to me we choose to instead talking about ‘building a personal brand.’ And in building this personal brand (using tried & true branding acumen) we seek to come up with some ‘unique selling proposition’ <USP> for ourselves. This is great for ‘selling’ and selling ourselves.
But. We end up having no texture. We end up having no character. We end up having limited personality <only to the extent type font and layout permit it to happen>.
What’s up with that?
We know there are a lot of talented passionate people doing similar things as we do. Yet we seem to desire either tricks <personal brand> or fooling ourselves into believing our accomplishments are some remarkable unattainable-by-others type feats in order to try and stand out in an insanely crowded market with insanely good people.
We actually end up sacrificing the one true thing that differentiates ourselves. Yes. Ourselves. Our character. Our narrative.
Look.
You are not a brand.
You are not a Facebook profile.
You are not a list of accomplishments.
You are not a list of job titles.
You are not a list of companies who deemed to hire you in the past.
You are not a list of companies that have deemed to fire you in the past.
You are a person. A person with a personal <and one would assume unique> narrative.
So skip the whole personal branding thing and focus on creating a narrative that makes you interesting.
By the way. The personal narrative you create is not some convoluted narrative that fries the brain wrangling with it … and not so simple it is … well … too simple. Hack away the unnecessary. Hack away the boring shit. Hack away the hyperbole.
Just create an interesting narrative. Simplistically this permits you two basic paths to choose from:
1. A niche. A specialty skill.
Someone with a special skill in a narrow niche will always beat the pompous boring generalists who are good at everything <a lot of things> but not particularly great at one thing. The more specific you can be the better it will be.
Stand out by style <but do not sacrifice substance in doing so>. Use your personality and create some distinctness through style. It’s tricky … but you want to have a distinctive style that people link to you … and, hopefully, want to hire you for.
By the way <part 1> whatever the style it has to push to some edge. People don’t share boring shit. They only talk about things distinct <which inevitably is something that resides on the edge>.
By the way <part 2> I consciously did not suggest ‘edgy.’ Edgy implies something disruptive … and while I personally like disruptive … it is not for everyone. Simply seek a distinct style. And clarity is always more achievable on some edge. But it does not have to be edgy.
Anyway.
The whole personal branding or ‘create your own brand’ drives me nuts. And it actually scares me a little that well regarded executive search companies actually hold seminars to those who you would deem worthy of a higher salary <therefore having some credible career experience> to ‘dare to be your own brand.’
Now. I completely understand why this personal brand shit has become so discussed. It can be depressing to think about solely being measured by the actual work you do.
What do I mean? Well.
Based on my experience here is how compensation works these days:
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do shit work … receive no pay.
do good work … receive shit pay.
do excellent work … receive good pay.
do remarkable, insightful, make everyone sit up and pay attention type work … receive excellent pay.
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Yes. I made this up.
Yes. It is also kind of reflects reality.
Well … this means we are constantly trying to make the case we did something remarkable <or are someone remarkable>. And what does that mean? I assume it means “dare to create your own personal brand!!!” and make sure while creating it … you create something remarkable.
Bullshit.
If you are an executive going to some executive search company seminar on ‘creating a brand’, you are screwed. The last thing you need to be thinking is personal brand, you should be wondering why you are going to something like that in the first place <trust me … you will see your ‘brand’ is the least of your issues>.
If you are an executive <or anyone worth a shit> you should aim high and be ridiculously persistent with your aspirations.
You should be following the same advice I actually give businesses.
Don’t be afraid to pursue revolutionary ideas and don’t hesitate simply there are ‘unbeatable’ competitors.’
Don’t be afraid to go after competition.
Don’t be afraid to go after what you want <and think you deserve>.
You do not need a personal brand to do that.