Quite recently, I had to be present in a program where a couple of
people where conferred the highest
degree of philosophy. While I have absolutely no intent of questioning the
credentials any of them, I was wondering what contribution those people had indeed
made, as a few of them were indeed novices to the field to which their awards
were being cited to. This incident is just not one out of the blue. A large
number of people are being celebrated at some platforms with citations in areas
or subjects in which they have absolutely any idea or contribution. Possibly
the awarding agencies were either getting branded through those celebrities or
those awarded are being celebrated for their associations at some level or the
other. Well, over a period such degrees, awards and recognition lose their
credibility and they go unnoticed. However, the trend is a part of increasing
social dynamics. The clear message is
that there is increasing hunger in the society to get branded, celebrated and
noticed. It is supposed to elevate their popularity index.
A couple of years ago, a gentleman had sought time to meet me at
Delhi while he was there to receive an award the next day from the hands of the
top-dignitary of the Government. After exchanging pleasantries’ and discussions,
he gave me his visiting card while parting. I was surprised to note that the
card indicated his name with the title he was about to get the next day. When I
said “you appear to be too fast, he smiled and said “I can’t afford to wait to
add that title to my name, you know. So I got it printed as soon as the award
was announced, because it is a privilege.”
We are living in a consumerist society where the focus is
increasingly shifting towards emotional consumerism. As a part of a competitive
need to showcase ourselves – as ‘important’, as ‘successful’, as ‘role models’,
as ‘achievers’ and as ‘leaders’, we try
to engage in an exercise of ‘branding’ ourselves – to satisfy the ‘ego’; and
more necessarily to use such ‘brands’ to scale higher peaks of professional credibility
and visibility. We always look for ‘appreciation’, ‘authority’ and ‘access’ to
enter such gateways which are not accessible to us in the normal course, and
seek favours or rewards, which may or not necessarily be worthy. Further such
exercises do help us to create a visibility across a community and help us to
use such positions to enhance our market value and revenue models. A few of them do claim achievements which are
either superlative or a little out of the trajectory just to enhance a market
value. As such one could find these are replications of the same content in
diverse packages. While exercises of branding are universal, normal and a part
of human intents to find a meaning and identity for their existence, when one
finds there is a huge mismatch between the facts and the projections, it does
create a socially disprovable projection.
“Branding” says Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, “is what people
say about you when you are not in the room.” “Personal Branding is not about you;
it is about putting your stamp on the value you deliver to others.” So, the
exercise of getting branded brings with it a sende of responsibility, a
commitment to accountability and an assured credibility. It goes with the worth
an individual profile oneself. It is therefore, important, for brand-seekers to
understand some misgivings they have in the exercise of developing their
brands.
a.
It is not a one-time event of getting photographed availing a
photo-shoot as a luminary on a stage or a platform.
b.
It is not about one’s association with people who matter or institutions
which need one for some reason.
c.
It is not about how influential one is and how much one can facilitate
those who invest on them.
d.
It is not about one’s glory or achievements being read out in a
platform.
e.
It is not only about one’s access to people or be ‘smart enough’ to
manipulate things in short-cuts
In a lighter
vein, it is said that when one drives down in a branded car, the brand is in favour
of the car and not necessarily the person who drives it, though we seek to
associate with that brand as a booster to our own image.
The following
factors generally influence personal branding:
Professional knowledge, competency, skills and ethics.
b.
Inter-personal relationships with empathy and social-consciousness
c.
Ability to reach out to higher purposes of life without sacrificing
basic requisites for a good
quality and standard of life.
d.
Willingness to be an on-going learner and thus lead knowledge; with
one’s hunger for creating new knowledge or new opportunities
e.
Willingness to outreach and share major responsibilities for some
causes for which the society is waiting for people like them.
f.
Moral strength to stand tall during times of crisis and when one is
put into an acid test.
It is said that
‘you develop your individual brand’, while “others give you an individual branding.”
Branding is not
about a title, a logo or an association one has with an object of material
value. Such brandings go to the volatile memory of others and hence evaporate
at short intervals of time. Even if it is recalled when they meet the concerned
person, it doesn’t become a primary focus of attention, as people start looking
at you with a question ‘what have you done after that” However, when it is built on the quality and quantum of
outreach one has, they look at you with a sense of purpose, need, an entrepreneur
of ideas and services. Your association is held by strong bonds and they leave
you looking for the next opportunity for association. “Your personal branding is a promise to your clients.
a promise of quality, consistency, competency and reliability “says Jason
Hartman.
It is very
important that people looking for personal branding should be genuine, have
high sense of integrity whose actions should match their words. Any one who
celebrates ego or authority and unwilling to listen radiates a negative signal
all round and loses respect and credibility too soon. I remember a case of a
Senior Government Executive who was holding a National conference for a theme
related to their organization, was absolutely unwilling to meet the delegates
even informally. Even clients who had travelled from countries abroad found
that he is unwilling to listen and was carrying on his shoulders his position
and authority. Though the position had a celebrity brand, people looked at him
with a sense of contempt. “Life is not about finding yourself; it is about
creating yourself” says George Bernard Shaw.
“Everyone has a
personal brand by design, or default” says personal branding expert Lida
Citroen.”
What is your
choice? How do you want to go about it?
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