personal brand = a storehouse of power

The past few weeks have really had me thinking about the power inherent in the development of your own personal brand. (Stay with me here, I've been reading a lot of Oprah again.) But really, I've been spending time with clients and friends and we've been sort of sitting back, watching the last long days of summer slip towards the chill of fall and thinking about how smart we've all gotten lately. Maybe not smart exactly but aware. And somewhere in that awareness has brought about a sense of responsibility and strength that I haven't felt in a while.

I think the economy and joblessness has taken it out of people. The fear of the unknown and unpredictable has sunk into to each of us. But, when used as a launching pad, these uncertainties have also gifted us with the ability to recreate ourselves a bit. Or at least, peel back a couple of layers and see what's really inside. Through this introspection, coupled with not just a small amount of acceptance, we're starting to see people act from a strength that enlivens and inspires.

I hate the stigma that's become attached to the term "personal brand" because I think it diminishes the process somehow. In fact, it makes it more like an outcome and less like a journey, which I believe misses the point entirely. Remember when you worked in a larger company and you were prodded into this thing called "networking" which felt so fakey and contrived that you couldn't see the possible benefit? And, if you're like me, you didn't really get a damned thing out of it other than to tell your boss that you were out there "networking!" I think that's where we've gone with personal branding too. If you work in a company now and have seen "develop your personal brand" creep up on a yearly review, raise your hand.

Instead of taking the life out of personal branding (as I talked about in this post), why not visualize the personal and professional confidence we could gain by wandering down this path in the first place? What I'm talking about here is the self-assured, electric, powerful feeling that we get when we're operating within our values, passions, strengths, personality and so forth. When we're (quoting Oprah here) "standing in our truth." When we have no problem turning to a friend and saying "No, I don't do that." Or turning down a job - not acting out of panicky fear - because it doesn't fit our true self. In my opinion, THIS is what the personal branding process should bring. Alignment breeds power.

Martha Beck did a great piece in Oprah magazine this month about power (actually the entire issue was about power, but Martha really knows how to get me thinking) and how we feel when we're convinced we don't have control or options or power over situations, people, things, what have you. And she talks about the differences between acting out of fear and acting out of love. The reality is, when you find yourself in that sweet spot of acting out of love (or in my term, alignment), there too you will likely find the core of your personal brand. And then you can set out to use it for good, and not just for performance reviews.

Go on. Plug in.