You are a brand!

It is very important that every person treats himself/herself as a brand. A brand stands for certain values. Ask any consumer the reason for a particular purchase decision and you will get something definitely about the brand which made the consumer go for that decision. The “Apple” brand stands for innovation, great UI and cutting edge technology. Similarly, during the days of the emergency in India, people used to tune into foreign broadcasting channels which were believed to broadcast more credible news than the government owned channels. On a lighter vein , one can argue that the media in India has not changed much even with the entry of private competition.

Ask yourself the question “How do people relate to you?” . Are you known for one or more of the following attributes (or anything else that positively describes you)? Honesty, Integrity, Intellect, Punctuality, Standing up for commitments etc. Similarly certain brands are associated with negative perceptions. Are you known for being dishonest, having poor execution skills, not walking the talk, being Machiavellian etc? If people relate to you for anything negative then you better work hard in erasing this perception among the people who matter. The choice is yours.

Your actions and deeds determine your brand value. If you are known positively for the values cherished by your organization, you are bound to do very well there and have a promising future. Otherwise it could be a fall to the bottomless pit. If your brand value is strong and the brand stands for values like integrity, team work, transparency etc, you will succeed irrespective of the organization. However hard your detractors try, they will never succeed. Success for many means walking over and trampling others; however this can hardly be termed as success. In the end it all catches up.

Nurture your brand. Be passionate about what it means to others and do not compromise on what it stands for. You should learn from others and adopt it to fit into your style. Some people simply mimic others which do not work well as there is dichotomy between the brand and the actions or values manifest in it. You do not have to put up pretence because the brand in you manifests itself pretty easily.
This is rarely understood by people. Organizations give a lot of importance to the brand value of potential hires. What does the person stand for? Are these in line with what the organization is looking for? Is the candidate’s brand value accretion to the brand value of the organization? One’s career is similarly linked with the brand value of the individual.

Ultimately the organization ascribes a value to the individual by looking at the brand. Certain things are taken for granted in the case of a brand and organizations have very low tolerance thresholds if there is a mismatch between what the individual’s brand value represents and what the person brings to the table.

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