Why the “Personal Brand” needs to die
When you hear the word “personal brand,” do you groan? I get it. I’ve helped hundreds of professionals struggling to craft their “personal brand.” They range from founders and executives to managers and professionals, and they all agree on the importance of the personal brand. However, they consistently get stuck. I know why. The assignment is tough because the underlying assumptions are wrong. We shouldn’t be trying to craft a “personal brand.” We need to rebrand the term “personal brand.” Let’s call it a “professional perspective” or a “professional point of view.” Why the term “personal brand” is unhelpful & counterproductive Brand identities as we understand them—logo, color palette, persona, maybe a jingle—are meant to be instantly recognizable by a broad spectrum of potential customers, and are often crafted by million-dollar creative agencies. But now, with the ubiquity and importance of social media, we place that branding burden on every professional and founder—regardless of their area of expertise, whether it’s sales, tech, or HR. “Personal Brand” requires us to objectify & commoditize ourselves Let’s be real: Most of us don’t have the marketing experience to craft a brand about ourselves. Crucially, we also lack the ability to see ourselves in the third person or objectify ourselves. The assignment we are giving people is: Treat yourself like a Nike sneaker or a packet of sugar. Trying to commodify ourselves is profoundly challenging, because we are humans, not goods. And more so, it misses the difference between what customers expect from a brand (consistency, convenience, maybe price) and a person (creativity, relationship, unique perspectives). Katie Gatti, host of Money with Katie, calls branding for humans slightly “dystopian” because to her, a ”brand is static and unchanging and can be confining. While being human is about being in a constant state of evolution.” As a veteran of TV, I’m used to giving editors and producers notes on videos, and now that I market myself on social media, I’m used to giving notes and speaking about myself in the third person. But this is not a normal way to speak about oneself. I can admit that! Not only is it difficult, it’s also counterproductive. To be effective at marketing yourself, you have to check your self-consciousness at the door. What will draw people in, and keep them connected to you is being “real” or “authentic.” That comes from not overthinking every post. Dedicating yourself to being “on-brand” will lead to you filtering yourself too much. If your natural authentic perspective is a nice well-cooked steak, overthinking that post turns it into an overcooked dry piece of protein. In short, you may be sticking to your “personal brand,” but your brand will be . . . bland. Craft your “professional perspective” by tapping into your passion Instead of trying to hold yourself at arm’s length and treat yourself like an object, embrace a completely different process. Your new assignment is to have a professional perspective or a professional point of view. This isn’t about “creating” something or “marketing” yourself; it’s about putting your existing viewpoints and personality into the world. First step: Think about what topics interest you within your field and consider what you could share in a seminar. Specifically: What excites you professionally? What could you talk about for an hour? (And not be bored.) You can also include some of your personal life, career journey, or your hobbies. It helps others to have a point of connection; I promise someone else out there is obsessed with bird-watching or backgammon, too. Plus, as a complete person, all of these things intersect to create the unique perspective and capabilities that only you could share with the world. Include your values and have a strong point of view Terry Rice, a high-performance coach to entrepreneurs and judge of the new Amazon show 60 Day Hustle, recommends incorporating “character branding,” which includes how you show up in the world. He gives the example that if he writes a social media post about missing a meeting because he had to pick up his daughter from school, he’d write “here’s how I explained it to my stakeholders and I’m so glad I have a flexible job.” That makes people want to work with him more, not less.Gatti shares how much of her personality she adds into her brand Money with Katie: “I might take an element of my personality and turn it up a little bit” because “showing up with a strident point of view matters.” Don’t let your career and business goals be hampered by a term that feels too weighty, start putting your Professional Perspective out into the world—and go forth and post.
Business Economic Syndicated News 
When you hear the word “personal brand,” do you groan? I get it. I’ve helped hundreds of professionals struggling to craft their “personal brand.” They range from founders and executives to managers and professionals, and they all agree on the importance of the personal brand. However, they consistently get stuck. I know why.
The assignment is tough because the underlying assumptions are wrong. We shouldn’t be trying to craft a “personal brand.”
We need to rebrand the term “personal brand.” Let’s call it a “professional perspective” or a “professional point of view.”
Why the term “personal brand” is unhelpful & counterproductive
Brand identities as we understand them—logo, color palette, persona, maybe a jingle—are meant to be instantly recognizable by a broad spectrum of potential customers, and are often crafted by million-dollar creative agencies. But now, with the ubiquity and importance of social media, we place that branding burden on every professional and founder—regardless of their area of expertise, whether it’s sales, tech, or HR.
“Personal Brand” requires us to objectify & commoditize ourselves
Let’s be real: Most of us don’t have the marketing experience to craft a brand about ourselves. Crucially, we also lack the ability to see ourselves in the third person or objectify ourselves.
The assignment we are giving people is: Treat yourself like a Nike sneaker or a packet of sugar.
Trying to commodify ourselves is profoundly challenging, because we are humans, not goods. And more so, it misses the difference between what customers expect from a brand (consistency, convenience, maybe price) and a person (creativity, relationship, unique perspectives).
Katie Gatti, host of Money with Katie, calls branding for humans slightly “dystopian” because to her, a ”brand is static and unchanging and can be confining. While being human is about being in a constant state of evolution.”
As a veteran of TV, I’m used to giving editors and producers notes on videos, and now that I market myself on social media, I’m used to giving notes and speaking about myself in the third person. But this is not a normal way to speak about oneself. I can admit that!
Not only is it difficult, it’s also counterproductive. To be effective at marketing yourself, you have to check your self-consciousness at the door. What will draw people in, and keep them connected to you is being “real” or “authentic.” That comes from not overthinking every post. Dedicating yourself to being “on-brand” will lead to you filtering yourself too much. If your natural authentic perspective is a nice well-cooked steak, overthinking that post turns it into an overcooked dry piece of protein. In short, you may be sticking to your “personal brand,” but your brand will be . . . bland.
Craft your “professional perspective” by tapping into your passion
Instead of trying to hold yourself at arm’s length and treat yourself like an object, embrace a completely different process. Your new assignment is to have a professional perspective or a professional point of view.
This isn’t about “creating” something or “marketing” yourself; it’s about putting your existing viewpoints and personality into the world. First step: Think about what topics interest you within your field and consider what you could share in a seminar. Specifically: What excites you professionally? What could you talk about for an hour? (And not be bored.)
You can also include some of your personal life, career journey, or your hobbies. It helps others to have a point of connection; I promise someone else out there is obsessed with bird-watching or backgammon, too. Plus, as a complete person, all of these things intersect to create the unique perspective and capabilities that only you could share with the world.
Include your values and have a strong point of view
Terry Rice, a high-performance coach to entrepreneurs and judge of the new Amazon show 60 Day Hustle, recommends incorporating “character branding,” which includes how you show up in the world. He gives the example that if he writes a social media post about missing a meeting because he had to pick up his daughter from school, he’d write “here’s how I explained it to my stakeholders and I’m so glad I have a flexible job.” That makes people want to work with him more, not less.
Gatti shares how much of her personality she adds into her brand Money with Katie: “I might take an element of my personality and turn it up a little bit” because “showing up with a strident point of view matters.”
Don’t let your career and business goals be hampered by a term that feels too weighty, start putting your Professional Perspective out into the world—and go forth and post.
