No MBA mumbo-jumbo, just stuff that's worked through 30 years of team-building in business and the military.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

There's Only One Reason to Care About Your Personal Brand

You hear a lot these days about your personal brand - that is, making your name valuable in the marketplace just like companies do with the brand names they sell under. I don't mean to be a Grinch on this, but for the true leader there's only one reason to care about your personal brand.

Basically the idea of personal branding is selfish - it's all about either personal glory or personal advancement. Those are bad motivators for a leader. If that's what you're after, then be honest, with yourself at least, and acknowledge that you don't want to lead, you want to climb on the backs of your people.

The one good thing your personal brand brings to the team is influence, which is just your ability to get others to trust you and agree with you. Influence is what lets you convince those outside your team to do things that will help your team.

So stop thinking of your personal brand and start thinking about your reputation. Reputation is like a brand without the price tag; it's wanting the same good name for purposes other than yourself.

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