There was an online article from Fast Company in mid-January titled “Personal Branding is Dead. Here’s What to Do Next.”
The article provides many reasons and rationale why personal branding is not appropriate for the future.
Instead, the recommendation is to move to telling your personal story.
The point of view in the article is based on high profile individuals like Oprah Winfrey and Richard Branson have done online to create brand personas that are carefully curated.
In contrast, the author suggests that we should unbrand ourselves and focus on our personal story.
I had to read it several times and wait to write a post for two reasons:
- The point of view is quite different from my own.
- I’m not sure there is a difference between personal branding and personal stories.
My Perspective
For as many years as I’ve been working, a resume has been a tool used to communicate who you are.
This tells others what you bring to an organization or project.
The resume is your core personal branding document.
From there, we create artifacts like bios, professional photographs, LinkedIn profiles, and on and on.
Each time we engage online or in person, we are adding to that persona that others see.
We curate and share information that resonates with us.
We gain more self-awareness of our strengths.
I believe we choose to be intentional about our personal narrative or we avoid developing a message.
Either way, others see a message and will make decisions on how they engage with us.
We are creating a personal brand – intentional or avoidance is a strategy.
The article suggests that personal branding is a fake persona.
My point of view is to focused on who you are and present yourself authentically.
If you are doing this, you are doing the right thing.
I’ll continue to use the term personal branding when helping others identify their strengths.
The goal is to ensure those strengths are highlighted in our personal marketing spaces (resume, bio, LinkedIn, etc.).
Your Turn
Did you read the article? If so, what did you think?
Do you see a difference between personal branding and a personal story?
How do you ensure that your strengths show when you present your information?