Contrary to what Tom Peters wrote more than a decade ago, being the CEO of You, Inc., does not make you a brand.
Back then Tom encouraged everyone to think like a brand manager. How do you stand out from your competition? What makes you different? What benefits do you offer (that no one else does)?
All good questions.
But people are not brands.
Brands aspire to stand for one thing (or more correctly, brand managers aspire to associate their brands with a single idea or story). Volvo = Safety. Kodak = Memories. Nike = Achievement.
But you stand for more than one thing (I hope).
You are multi-dimensional. Depending on the role you fill, lots of things change. You may be the boss at work, a partner at home, a helper at your daughter’s school, a coach for your son’s football team, a competitor on the squash courts, and a confidant to a friend.
You can be tough or patient or funny or enthusiastic or frightened or delirious as the situation demands. You change as needed.
Brands have a tough time making that pivot. Just ask BP. Or GM.
And if people treat themselves like brands, when situations change, they can’t easily go from one position to another.
Take Tiger Woods for example.
He is a huge brand, right?
He was an incredible athlete. A devoted husband. A trustworthy spokesman.
And then we learn that maybe he wasn’t all that.
But because he is a brand—a tightly controlled image—when it’s time to pivot from incredible athlete to contrite and apologetic husband, he can’t do it.
At least, not without appearing to be insincere.
And insincerity is the death of a brand.
There’s a lot to be said about managing your career and reputation as Tom Peters recommends (I wholeheartedly agree with this advice):
“… there are four things you’ve got to measure yourself against. First, you’ve got to be a great teammate and a supportive colleague. Second, you’ve got to be an exceptional expert at something that has real value. Third, you’ve got to be a broad-gauged visionary — a leader, a teacher, a farsighted “imagineer.” Fourth, you’ve got to be a businessperson — you’ve got to be obsessed with pragmatic outcomes.”
But that doesn’t make you a brand.
You have a bigger story than that.