open up to new realities and possibilities
that have the potential of making the year
happy and new.
One such possibility is that of taking your
brand seriously. You may be a CEO but if
you are not deliberately conscious of your
personal brand you might find yourself in
a difficult position at some point in time
because if you cannot stand alone aside
from the corporate brand which you
represent, bumpy days await you as we
shall soon discover in this sojourn.
31st of December 1983 started like any
other day but by the time the day was
over, Nigeria had been ushered into a
new era. The military led by a younger
Muhammadu Buhari toppled the
democratically elected government of
Shehu Shagari.
Those days, nearly every single person
in power was in uniform - ministers,
governors and heads of key government
installations were all manned by the
military. Buhari was head of state.
Babangida was his Chief of Army Staff
and a coup specialist. Abacha was a
member of the Supreme Military Council.
Now fast forward to today. Abacha is dead
but was in the process of transforming
One extraordinary woman decided to
change that mold. Her name was Aurore
Dupin Devant. Since the world was not yet
ready for female literary giants, she decided
to create one. Publishers turned her down
but due to the power of her conviction and
what she stood for, she created a character
called George Sand.
himself into a civilian president before
he died. Babangida was a presidential
candidate and a key political figure in the
country while Buhari is back again as the
president. How can a person who truncated
a democratically elected administration
position himself as a democrat? In the
same vein, how do people that we know
stole money suddenly return as anti-
corruption fighters and we accept them?
We have heard it said that you have
only one opportunity to make a first
impression. That is a view for mostly weak
or ignorant people. Think of the number
of people that you have met that you did
not like the first time you met them and
that you ended up liking. Think of the
number of people who hated each other
when they first met and who eventually
got married.
It does not matter what the first
impression is, what is most important is
the last impression and you can fix that
at any point in time. No matter what
the first impression was like, anyone can
change the perception and their brand
communication. It may be more difficult
after the first time but all that depends on
how deliberate one is.
The Buharis of this world simply got
brilliant people who could rebrand them.
Rebrand him from an anti-democracy
general who put an end to a democratically
elected government to a peace loving
democrat. The rebranding was so good
that he won the first time and then again
the second time. If you want to win the
future, you must be ready to work on your
brand as a person.
Similarly across the continent are so many
people who are known for their corrupt
practices and yet we celebrate them as
leaders and look up to them for wisdom
on how we are going to make it in life.
Never underestimate the power of correct
precision personal branding.
One of the most remarkable cases of a
person who took the defining of their
brand very seriously is the story of George
Sand. There was a time in France when
women who wanted to wear what was
considered as men’s clothing, had to get
a special permit. This was a direct order
from the French police in 1800.
It was also a period during which few
people had any regard for female authors.
It was an era where no woman was making
any money in the literary world because
there was a ceiling beyond which they
were not allowed to rise.
A urore D upin D evante
22 MAL34/20 ISSUE
One extraordinary woman decided to
change that mold. Her name was Aurore
Dupin Devant. Since the world was not
yet ready for female literary giants, she
decided to create one. Publishers turned