| Brand You |
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Headhunter John Purkiss and business psychologist David Royston-Lee realised that very few people understood how to market themselves effectively. Writing a book about personal branding meant they could reach out and help many more people to do this. Awareness and understanding of personal branding are starting to increase. However, the rise in entrepreneurs and micro-enterprises, plus the fact that most people will change jobs an average of four or five times in their working life, mean that it has never been more important. As David says “Job titles are meaningless. We all suffer from time famine and having a brand is a quick and easy way for someone to identify you.” Many people believe you can choose a particular brand, but the authors pointed out that brands only work when they are authentic; otherwise the brand cannot be trusted. We all have a brand. In order to discover it you need to understand your unique combination of talents, skills and experience. David said "We spend too long worrying about our weaknesses and what we haven't got. We want to encourage you to look at what you are good at and enjoy doing. This is where your power lies.” John added “Life is too short not to embrace your talents. If you were born with a talent that other people need, you should use it. Imagine if Shakespeare had decided to get a steady job!” A good brand can also tell a story, which people find memorable. For example: ‘I’m a business psychologist with a marketing background’ or ‘I’m a headhunter and I write books.’ Once you are aware of your brand you can use it and if you use it authentically it will become a strong one. A Business Book with a Spiritual Twist I found Brand You a very engaging read. The branding concepts were very accessible and I enjoyed working through the exercises. The first half of the book helps you uncover your brand and the second half discusses how you can use it in the wider world. Many non-fiction books include a plethora of case studies, but in this instance the authors deliberately choose two to maintain consistency. The case studies are a composite of different people that David has coached. They deliberately chose a man and a woman and gave them an international flavour. What really sets this book apart for me though, is the alternative approach it takes to branding. It is presented in a way that is logical and practical so that it will appeal to a business audience. The following concepts particularly stood out for me: Self-knowledge If you don’t know yourself, then you can’t possible discover your brand much less market yourself effectively. You need to become aware of your talents, values, your unique combination of skills and experience and your purpose. These all comprise your brand identity. The Big M: Money! I wasn’t expecting to read about the importance of turning down clients…the wrong clients that is! Whilst this may sound difficult (particularly if you are staring your own business) it is essential if you are to attract the right ones and do the work you love. Behaviour This chapter talked about the law of karma, particularly relevant when you are networking. When you offer to help someone or share information, you may get something back from that person, but it is just as likely to come from someone else at the event or even elsewhere. Presence This word makes me think of people who are poised and confident. Brand You considers the true power of presence as giving someone your complete attention (most of us know how hard that can be!) and accepting yourself and others just as they are. A Brand as a Building ‘Imagine your brand is a building under construction. You want it to be distinctive and clearly visible. Think of the Eiffel Tower, the Empire State Building or the Taj Mahal. As it becomes bigger and taller, more and more people will notice it. They will start to ask what goes on inside. (…) If your brand is a building, your talents are the bedrock on which it is built. (…) Each successful project adds a storey. It will gradually become a landmark.’ This powerful and striking metaphor runs throughout the book. John, who has a background in economics, came up with it. Many business people are visual and this three-dimensional model is a great way of explaining a psychological concept. Evoking Your Archetype This is one of the things that I loved most about the book and I found it intriguing to discover my own brand archetype. David has been using archetypes with his clients for many years and introduced John to the book ‘The Hero and the Outlaw – Building Extraordinary Brands through the Power of Archetypes’ by Margaret Mark and Carol S. Pearson. The authors say that “Archetypes can give your brand a clear meaning by communicating how you do things. (…) Developing a powerful brand involves projecting your purpose to the outside world. Archetypes can help you to do this by representing your purpose in a form that everybody recognises. If your behaviour is consistent with your natural archetype(s), your brand will take on a meaning that increases your appeal to people who want what you have to offer.’ Here is a list of the archetypes in Mark and Pearson’s model. John and David modified the titles slightly, so they would be relevant to an international audience. The Caregiver The Creator The Explorer The Hero The Innocent The Jester The Lover The Magician The Ordinary Guy/Girl The Ruler The Outlaw The Sage The authors stress that it is best to focus on one or at the very most two archetypes in order to project a strong brand. The key is to ‘evoke’ an archetype – derived from the Latin verb evocare, to call forth. It is not about embodying it, as you risk putting yourself into a box if you do that. You can evoke your archetype by the way you speak and the way you dress, your logo, website copy and so forth. If you do this authentically then you can call forth your archetype in the minds of other people. Doing The Exercises It is often tempting to gloss over these in a book, but it’s really worth taking the time to work through them. Those relating to talents, values and purpose have been tested by David with thousands of people from different countries and industries. Both John and David were keen to explore the psychology of branding in the book, rather than merely giving people sales and marketing tools. As such the exercises require a lot of thought but they are very revealing indeed.
Your talents According to the book our talents are often revealed by high points or peak experiences in our lives. David said “When you ask people to describe their talents, they often list their skills instead. To find your talents look at what you are naturally good at; this where your power lies.” Your values These are what you believe is important and one way to discover them is by thinking of people that you admire and why. Your unique combination In terms of the building metaphor this is the structure i.e. your particular skills and experience. ‘It consists of concrete floors, lift shafts, stair wells and so on. It is built on the foundations (your values), which rest on your talents (the bedrock).' John developed this intriguing exercise after giving a talk to a group of people, who did not know what their unique selling point (USP) was. Your purpose This is what guides you to do what you do. When you are in flow, you are on purpose. I found this exercise quite a challenging one! Practical Tips for Co-Authors Co-authoring can be a challenge, so here are some important things to bear in mind: Pick someone with similar values, but different skills and a different background. John and David brought different elements to the book. John helps clients to transform their businesses by recruiting senior people. He is also a writer. David is a psychologist who enjoys developing people. He is a strong listener. Choose someone you respect and are proud to be associated with. Be clear about your expectations (e.g. in terms of book promotion, royalties and so on). John wrote the book (as he had written others) and this ensured a consistent style throughout. David supplied the majority of the exercises which he had been applying for many years. Both of them also ran lots of workshops to test which exercises worked best of all and refined the book accordingly as they went along. The Challenges of Getting Published It took them two years to get a publishing deal. This was predominantly because they were ahead of the curve and many publishers simply didn’t understand the concept of personal branding. Others asked for the book to be twice as long or wanted to tailor it to fit into a series of titles. In the end Artesian agreed to publish it. The authors feel that a number of things contributed to that: John had already been published, so they knew he could write. In addition, he had written all 43,000 words, so the publishers were able to make a decision based on the entire manuscript. The exercises had also been thoroughly tried and tested. Both authors were very keen and able to promote the book to the media and John had connections with retailers, which would help to get the book into the supply chain (often a challenge for smaller publishers). Brand You is doing well and there is interest in the book from publishers in Continental Europe. Personal Branding in the Future As awareness of personal branding spreads, it is likely that the number of brands will increase. Simply creating a brand because you think you should however, will not ensure success. What really came across for me in the book is the importance of authenticity, which is the basis of a successful brand. It is about really knowing who you are and projecting that, although as the book says ‘For most of us, this is a lifelong voyage of discovery.’ Considering the authors met on a treasure hunt that seems rather appropriate! If this has inspired you to discover your personal brand, you can purchase a copy of Brand You directly from Artesian Publishing
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It’s not every day that two people on a treasure hunt decide to write a book together, but that is what happened to the authors of