her down but due to the power of her
conviction and what she stood for, she
created a character called George Sand.
It was under this pseudonym that she
became one of the most successful authors
of the time. She even went as far as
dressing up as a man (without a permit) to
reinforce the brand she had created. Her
mode of dressing opened doors for her
where other women could not gain access.
She even did the bizarre and smoked
cigars in public. This was before the time
when women were not allowed such
liberties associated with the wealthy upper
class male.
It was all part of her brand. She was
accepted into the upper echelons of the
society and like it or not, it worked for her
and her name has gone down in the history
books as a great author. Her convictions
and deliberate efforts to create herself as a
great author created her brand.
company was downsizing and she had to
be let off and like many others before her
and after her have rudely discovered the
phone went dead silent.
She went from someone who had to
juggle between multiple phones ringing
all the time and having assistants help her
with managing her phone calls to a person
who would check the phone regularly to
see if it was still working!
There was nothing wrong with the phone.
She had lost the appeal that drew people
to her. It was a very sad realization that she
found very hard to accept. She went into
a depression. Can your personal brand
survive being fired from your current job?
This is not a story unique to Lucy in
Lagos. We all know of people who when
working in certain organizations appear
to be celebrities. People want to take
selfies with them and when they call,
people pick up their phones.
You do not have to be confined to the
character that you were born with. Every
child is born without a brand. Even
those born in the royal families have to
deliberately work on their brands. Not
all royals command attention and not all
royals have the power of endorsement. Then when they are no longer in that
office for one reason or the other they
realize the sad painful truth that their
corporate brand had swallowed up any
semblance of a personal brand. In essence,
when placed alongside their corporate
brand, their personal brand did not exist.
Not all good footballers have the brand
power of Christiano Ronaldo. Not all
beauty product entrepreneurs have the
brand power of Kylie Jenner. Not all great
singers and entertainers have the brand
power of Rihanna. Yet on the other hand we have what I call
timeless brands. It does not matter where
they are, they rise and they shine. In fact
companies make a lot of noise about the
fact that such people are joining their
team. Their brand has already attained a
certain level where it commands attention
and respect. They do not need the
corporate brand to shine. They are already
shining on their own.
The world’s first impression of you does
not have to be the last. You are a human
being. You have creative power. You can
define your brand. God created each one
for a purpose. Branding yourself for that
purpose is entirely up to you.
Lucy (not real name) was a senior executive
in a Lagos firm and because of her position,
her phone was always ringing. When she
called, people were always quick to pick
the phone.
People would ask for selfies whenever
she was out at some public function -
especially functions that were sponsored
by her company. People simply adored her
because with one word from her, millions
of naira would be poured into events in the
name of sponsorship.
Lucy was by all standards a celebrity
and then the unthinkable happened. The
Many years ago, Steve Jobs was fired
from the company he started. They
were convinced that they could do well
without him. They realized when it was
too late that the growth and success of
the company was not just because they
had good products. They had a celebrity
leader who was able to make emotional
connections with people. They had a
strong personal brand that drove the
performance of the corporate brand.
With him gone, it was just a matter of
time. When they called him back, the
company once again bounced back.
Now compare this with CNN. Their
founder, Ted Turner also had to leave
the company that he started. In this
case however, many people did not
know that he had been fired. Life went
on as usual at CNN. If you compare the
two organizations you will see a major
difference in the fact that with Apple,
Steve Jobs was the only super personal
brand in the company. CNN however had
so many people like Wolf Blitzer, Larry
King, Christiane Amanpour and a host of
others. These were the very faces of CNN
and no one was more supreme than the
other.
They were such powerful personal brands
that they had what I call the power of
endorsement. If anyone of them went to a
small town station in a remote part of the
world, the remote station would suddenly
find a new level of visibility simply because
of the endorsement received from the
powerful personal brand.
A very good example is Oprah Winfrey.
If one took time to count the number
of authors, the number of products, the
number of companies that became hugely
successful because of the endorsement of
Oprah they will run into thousands.
The internet era and the power of social
media has provided a platform for many
powerful personal brands to emerge. I
believe that the decade that we have just
started will be the decade of the personal
brand. Big brands have had their say but
the loudest voices of the future will be the
voices of personal brands endorsing big
brands. This is why you cannot leave your
brand to chance.
The messing up of reputation is one of the
greatest threats to leaders today. Being
proactive about managing your personal
brand is no longer an option. It is the way
to go. Kylie Jenner is paid over a million
dollars for a single post in Instagram where
she has 153 Million followers. Think of it.
That is a direct hit to a population greater
than the population of most countries on
the face of the earth. Welcome to the era of
the personal brand.
Dr. Akinyemi is the Chief
Transformation Officer, PowerTalks
Corporate & Personal Development
Consultants. These are excerpts
from his new book titled: Define
Your Brand Or Somebody Else
Will. You can commune with him
on this or related matters via email
at: [email protected].