Do They Care About Your Personal Brand?

An interesting post at The Buzz Bin touched on some issues I've been thinking about for a while. In "I Don't Care About Your Personal Brand,' Geoff Livingston outlines why he opposes the idea of developing a personal brand. His post is aimed at people working in the online space, but his points apply to anyone. You should read the whole thing, but this is the part that caught my eye:

3) While personal brands are concerned with themselves, the market is also concerned about itself.

4) The market doesn’t care about the persona, only what value the persona contributes to the larger community.

This gets to the core of why I have never jumped on the personal branding bandwagon, despite having flirted with the idea for a while. In the end, I'm much less interested in having my clients focus on their 'brand' than on the value they can add to potential employers. Value-added is simple, direct and focused on the employer. Personal branding is something broader (to be sure value-added is a part of it, but not the only part) and seems to me much more focused on the individual.

In order to pinpoint a client's value proposition (exactly how he or she will help the company succeed) I  use many of the same approaches as a personal branding consultant, but the focus is different - not the self-indulgence of me (the candidate) but the outward focus of they (the employer).

For a long time, I attributed my reluctance to jump on the personal branding train as something related to my background. As a Brit, I'm always a little uncomfortable with anything that smacks of taking oneself too seriously. But after reading Geoff's post, I see that it's not just that.

It's this:

24) A personality oriented brand does not necessarily equate to successful results.

It's the fact that results (and actions) matter. Results and actions tell me what you will do for me. Results and actions tell me whether or not you will add value to my organization. Results and actions show me who you are much more effectively than any carefully crafted public image.

I know that many of my colleagues disagree, but for me, a focus on results will always be more effective than a focus on brand. After all, all products and services have brands, but how many of them deliver what they promise?

My personal favorite is my bank Chase, who tell me that 'the right relationship is everything' and then constantly leave me on hold for hours while they try to figure out why my online banking has gone awry one more time, leaving me yelling "THIS ISN'T THE RIGHT RELATIONSHIP!!!" as my blood pressure soars once again.  (But they do send me the occasional Starbucks gift certificate, with a very nice message about how much they value my custom, so I guess that makes it all OK).

I can't help wondering how much better they would be if they stopped spending money on branding experts and fancy loyalty programs and instead invested that money in actually adding value to my life.

And in the end, that's my point. Instead of worrying about personal brands, I think people need to think about results and value-added. In some cases, with the right candidate and the right personal branding coach, maybe the two things converge anyway - but if you have delivered great results and made a big impact on prior employers, you really don't need to worry about packaging it in a nice brand message. It will be obvious to everyone.

And if you haven't, well a nice brand message isn't going to help you for very long.

Comments

[Luke Harvey-Palmer]

Hey Louise, nice to hear your thoughts here. However, I am not convinced you completely understand the notion of developing a personal brand. A brand is not an advertisement - if you advertise a capability (like Chase) and do not deliver...then this damages your brand. Your 'brand' is about so much more than 'the promise' A personal brand is all about your results, how to achieve them, how to they are valued, and who values them etc etc (I call this IP3 - Intellectual, Principle, Practical and Physical). I can understand how reading so much of the material on personal branding that you (and Geoff) take this view that a personal brand is all about self promotion and marketing hype. I would urge you to take a broader view of developing a personal brand, and recognise that it includes the disciplines and practices of delivery. You already have a personal brand, when I hear your name, I now have a particular perception of 'your brand' - I can however understand if you chose not to 'promote' this brand...that is entirely up to you. Good food for thought and discussion though!

[Geoff Livingston]

Louise: You are on the right track. A brand is a promise to the marketplace. Promising the marketplace a persona's value is great, but how does that help a company's products and services?

See, the problem comes in delineating the difference between infusing personality and conversation into the marketing as opposed to creating "rock stars" that don't serve the market... or the company's needs. And that is where Luke and others fail to understand that the marketplace dictates the needs... and the communication. Not persons trying to create brands for themselves.

[Trace Cohen]

After reading Geoff's article and your as well, this is what I get from it. The problem that you both face (and many others) is the fact that you believe personal branding is the selfless promotion of oneself. While that is partly true, it is also the effort of that individual to aggregate everything they have done and all there values into a package so to speak, to create a brand image around there name that they will hopefully be able to deliver on what promises they may make. There are a lot of people out there who do selflessly promote themselves to get their moments of fame in the blogosphere, but thats their brand and what they will be known for. Only by knowing yourself can you build a brand that attracts the people who need you most.

Now you both bring up the argument that the marketplace "dictates the needs," which is entirely correct. And for such needs to be fulfilled would you rather hire John Smith or a person who has promoted themselves to be able to solve and fix that specific problem. The branded person has by putting them self out there made a promise which hopefully they can deliver on, and if not, then their brand is tarnished.

Regardless of what you want to call it, reputation or personal brand, I believe that it is the new buzzword much like "entrepreneur" was years ago. In a time of uncertainty, people want to stand out and promote their skills and expertise, while companies want to save money and hire the right people.

[Louise Fletcher]

Trace and Luke, thanks for your comments. I take your points, but I do think I understand the concept of personal branding, and - as I said - I think there are probably times, with the right client and the right coach - when it works as intended and does actually help communicate value. But the problem is that I think the concept is too open to misuse and misunderstanding.

I just want people focused on getting out there and doing stuff and less on packaging themselves. Those people who do both ... great! But they're not the majority IMO.