Stop focusing on your “personal brand”!
It goes unchallenged these days that we need to be “authentic”, “speak our truth”, and focus on developing our “personal brand”. It has gotten to the point that any of these phrases make my skin crawl. It is not that I am opposed to what (I believe) the underlying sentiments are- but rather I wonder why we need to address them using this sort of hyped up code words. I know I am old-fashioned (and pretty proud of it actually), but I think that time immemorial people have applauded the basic values that underpin what all of this hype is meant to convey. Instead of buzzwords, here is what I would prefer:
- Substitute “being authentic” with “live with integrity”. Being two faced, having a public and private persona which are different, wearing a mask- whatever you want to call it- all of it implies a lack of integrity. What do people with integrity do?
a) They are honest about who they are and what they believe
b) They are consistent in representing themselves and can be relied on to live up to the values they espouse
c) They do what they say they are going to do, when they say they are going to do it.
d) They are respectful and acting like decent human beings
What’s the difference then with being authentic? Sometimes being your “authentic self” can be a smokescreen for “this is just who I am and I don’t care if you don’t like it”- which has it’s positive points, unless “who you are” is someone impossibly rude who wants to just be able to get away with bad behavior.
2. Substitute “speaking my truth” with “speaking the truth”. Truth, by definition, does not come in shades. You can have your interpretation of events, but that is markedly different than your personal interpretation of the truth. 2+2=4 irrespective of what anyone thinks. Discerning the difference between ones opinion about things, and what is actually fact, is helpful to all concerned in understanding what there can be debate about, and what we can collectively take as given. Usually when people are talking about “speaking their truth” what they mean is that there is something that is shocking, or controversial in their life and they want to share that with the world. That is certainly their prerogative, and it may even be quite helpful to others. They may in fact even be speaking THE truth about what a set of events is- in which case, why not label it TRUTH- because qualifiers certainly weakens the story.
3. Substitute “personal brand” for “who I am”. This is one that I have been guilty of in the past, where I have encouraged young executives to develop their “brand”. What I meant by that, as I believe it is commonly interpreted, is think about how you are representing yourself to others, and be conscious of whether that is how you want to be seen. All good. But the real heart of it is — are you the person you want to be, and if not, in what way do you want to improve? This requires self awareness, which for some is in short supply. But a true examination of oneself in which a real, honest assessment can be made is far more useful than the “lipstick on a pig” approach that developing a “brand” implies. What we really need to do is to consider our reputations, and be sure that our actions convey the best version of ourselves to the world.
Perhaps the buzzwords help people to crystallize some of these messages, but I do worry that they also cheapen the meaning. In the end, striving to genuinely be the best person you can be, and to be humble enough to put the “real you” out there without pretense or puffery is a valid goal. Kindness, empathy, honesty, being trustworthy- these are all the sorts of qualities that we should be cultivating in ourselves, and encouraging in those around us.
