Summary Introduction 3 Chapter 1 The person as a company 6 Chapter 2 How to create your personal brand? 17 Chapter 3 Manage your personal brand 26 Chapter 4 Learning how to network 33 Conclusions 37 References 40 - 3 - Introduction Back to summary Introduction - 4 - Introduction Back to summary In this course we will study the phenomenon of creating and managing a personal brand. This concept has been around since 1997, when Tom Peters first coined the phrase in Fast Company Magazine Peters said that “the last thing you want to do is become a manager”. This term, like the term CV, is obsolete. Reinvent yourself! Forget living a life enslaved by your career progress and start thinking about yourself as a brand. You are in control of your own company, Me Inc. Our objective with this unit is for you to reflect on this concept and offer you advice on how to build and manage your personal brand so that you can leave behind the traditional notion of a career. This course and the activity provided are designed to help you understand the concept of personal branding, to help you think about your own brand and, if you want to, to incorporate its management into your habits and routines. This eBook is divided into four chapters. The first two adopt a more theoretical approach and aim to demonstrate why personal branding is relevant to you and how you can apply it to your everyday life. It is not an issue that only concerns marketers - 5 - Introduction Back to summary We suggest that you read the eBook carefully in the first few days, so you will be able to start completing the activity and put into practice what you have learnt so far. We want you to analyse a case study and identify what kind of elements you need to take into consideration to create an influential personal brand. Therefore, it’s time to learn, reflect and understand why personal branding is, why it is important and how a personal branding process works, so you will be able to manage your professional brand, enhance your value and make a mark on others. ME INC. ME INC. Today, companies are becoming a lot more like individuals, and individuals are becoming a lot more companies. You’re running Me Inc. and business is booming. Here ́s how you do it (by Beehooved): CEO You run this company, and all decisions go through you. You’ve put together a business plan, analyzed the goals and strategized where you see this company in the future. Publicist You’ve got connections and you use them. You’re adapt to any situation. You monitor and control the message better than anyone. Social Media Manager Your post are strategic, and thought out. You follow the IFE IFE rule: Interesting, Funny, Educational, Impressive, Flattering, Embarrassing.If your content doesn’t contain two of those attributes, it doesn’t get posted. Sales You’re a pitch-man. You make eye contact and have conversations that last longer than 140 characters. You think os innovative ways to get your product into the hands of the masses. Assistant You handle greeting cards, calendars, appointments and set up meetings. You make sure everyone is where they need to be and are prompt. - 6 - Chapter 1 The person as a company Back to summary The person as a company Chapter 1 - 7 - Chapter 1 The person as a company Back to summary A personal brand aims to identify and communicate what makes you valuable, useful and trustworthy so that you are perceived as a person worth knowing or hiring. The ultimate goal of a brand, whether personal or commercial, is exactly that: for you to be considered the best option and for them to finally choose you. According to Peter Drucker , one of the forefathers of management, companies are “factors of social change”. The innovations that organisations incorporate affect society as a whole and end up transforming it. They have become the driving force in our social life. As individuals, we compare and liken our behaviour to that of companies. Just like them, we know that the present is fleeting, fast, and does not allow us time for reflection. Companies, like people, have a tendency to regard the present as essential. Unfortunately, both struggle to anticipate the future; people and businesses are similar, although we do not like to admit it. However, the idea that we are a brand initially causes us to raise our eyebrows. Brands are products, things to be bought and sold, and something in us rejects being labelled and treated in that way. But the idea of personal branding goes beyond that first impression. To demonstrate this, let’s reflect on the two concepts on which personal branding is built: the person and the identity. We would be happy if, at the end of the course, you were to come to the conclusion that, in order of priority, the person comes first and then the brand. Video What is personal branding? - 8 - Chapter 1 The person as a company Back to summary We are not thwarting our own efforts, nor do we want to contradict the personal branding experts. However, as the president of France George Clemenceau said, “war is too important a matter to be left to the military,” and in the same way, personal branding is too wide a concept to be left to the experts. Personal branding does not just depend on marketing, human resource management or coaching. It is interdisciplinary. We should not build our personal brand without foundations, but nor should we be guided solely by what the specialists of a single discipline say. In this day and age, humanity is increasingly connected. We are living in a global village where nothing is alien to us. Being connected means being closer to more people, and this can lead us to feel a certain vulnerability if we are not ready for it. In our connected society we interact in communities with varying degrees of belonging. Our environment is increasingly changing and our life stories have become unpredictable. The future is uncertain and nothing can guarantee us permanent stability. Jobs for life and planned careers are a thing of the past. We do not know what might happen to us. Therefore, in order to lead a full life, we must adapt, be flexible and live coherently according to shared values. It is time to be in control of our own destiny. The expression “we are our own business” should encourage us to take initiative and exercise intrapreneurship which essentially means behaving like an entrepreneur in the workplace. We respect our colleagues in the same way that we respect our customers. We work together ME INC. ME INC. Society Culture Family Identity Personality Biology - 9 - Chapter 1 The person as a company Back to summary and we are leaders, we make others want to work with us because of our passion. We do it knowing that in the connected society our personal and professional lives are inseparable. In the past, our career and personal life were separate areas. Now they run parallel to each other. Mixing them too much can be problematic, but those who try to keep them apart do not understood the nature of the current era. Are we just our identity? Are we indifferent to what is alien to us, as seems to be suggested by the quote from the philosopher Nietzsche? Those of us who have prepared this course think otherwise: we are more than just our identity. We are constantly influenced by others. We are how we are and what we are, but we cannot leave the world out of the equation. Person and digital identity So that all those years are like one another in the greatest and also in the smallest, so that we ourselves, in every great year, are like ourselves in the greatest and also in the smallest. “ “ Friedrich Nietzsche Thus Spoke Zarathustra - 10 - Chapter 1 The person as a company Back to summary Certainly, our genes and our personality, which we show in the best and worst of times, shape our identity, but they do not define us. Even when we think we know ourselves perfectly, we can still discover aspects of our personality that we were unaware of. Moreover, we often end up discovering that our identity depends on others. As hyper-connected people , today we are very exposed to others. According to Erich Fromm , human beings have three main needs (affective, cognitive and volitional) that must be addressed equally and which make us fragile and vulnerable. In the age of social networks , the digital identity has appeared. Previously, we had to rely on what our environment said about us, but the core of our identity was protected; our image depended primarily on us. Now, we share the construction of our identity with our environment. We no longer have a monopoly on our personal information. Anyone can label us, in all senses of the word. This is one of the main changes to our physical-digital relationship, because of connectivity and the digital identity. Intimacy has been split, for some painfully, into two categories with blurred lines: the new intimacy and the emerging privacy. Cognitive needs Volitional needs Emotional needs (self-awareness and the others) (the active use of our freedom and will) (feelings) Video Digital Identity In Social Media - 11 - Chapter 1 The person as a company Back to summary VS VS INTIMACY PRIVACY It is not observable. It is the closest thing to the identity of the person. It refers to the conscious, beliefs, values, ideological positions, etc. Accessible to other people. It is the external part of the personality. It refers to the image, personal details, family life, friendships, hobbies, etc. Before the widespread use of social networks, our intimacy was confused with our privacy. Now our private life is much more exposed. If we participate in the digital society, we must accept the privacy conditions that warn us about how others may treat our images and data. At the same time, we are more at risk from somebody harming our intimacy. The risks have multiplied and this is a factor worth taking into account when establishing a digital identity. Privacy is an essential right for people and organisations. So, when we exercise our personal brand , when we act like businesses, it should be of concern to us. However, it would be absurd and impractical to raise insurmountable obstacles and barriers. We live in an open society where the management of our - 12 - Chapter 1 The person as a company Back to summary digital identity, our data and the use of our image, corresponds to the area of privacy which, paradoxically, is managed without opacity. Privacy managed transparently need not violate our intimacy. There are no shortcuts when building our digital identity. If we are true to ourselves, we will take the best of our personality, experience and knowledge to configure our identity on the Internet. Be yourself. Keep in mind that, just as in real life, first impressions are very important and that image is important to others. This is the second issue about the emergence of the digital identity that we want to highlight, online reputation , and how to manage it, positioning Reputation depends on what others say about us. The current social use of the Internet means having to devote time and effort to your digital identity since it is no longer optional. It is an act of pure responsibility. The other Internet users are the ones who build your personal brand. Taking them into account at all times means taking care of your online reputation. Online Reputation Online Reputation News & blogs Opinions & votes Forums New sites Social networks Competitive sites - 13 - Chapter 1 The person as a company Back to summary Are there differences between a reputation in the physical world and one in the digital world? Nineteenth-century novels are full of stories about reputations and how easy they are to lose. Although our world is very different to that in the novels of Balzac or Galdós, our reputation is still associated with the ability to create a good image that maintains and enhances goodwill. After all, a reputation is good for business. It protects against the vagaries of the market and, as we have seen, it is linked (voluntarily or involuntarily) to our privacy and to the privacy those with whom we have a relationship on the net. If we refuse to live in the digital society and have a small digital footprint, it is not that we have no reputation. We do have one, but we have a poor reputation associated with neglect and carelessness. In short, we have a brand image of great irresponsibility. Although it has the same leitmotif , as physical reputation, the digital reputation is developed in the online environment, and that means it has different characteristics. Performance of information Visibility and erase finding content online Credibility of the source of information When you write something on the Internet and post it on a freely-accessible page you should assume that those lines will be permanently stored and available on that page. We must be aware that the fundamental mechanism for the dissemination of information on the Internet is copying. Even if the original publication of the information was private, the ease of copying makes the odds of it being made public very high. Any content posted on the Internet on an open page is likely to be located, indexed, copied and linked by Google. For better or for worse, our reputation has to some extent become more reliable, more grounded in reality, making it more difficult to intentionally manipulate it. In a society that values transparency, the separation between our private virtues and our public ones is less and less clear. On the Internet we have many more points of information about any individual or company. We have a greater wealth of information and it is more easily accessible. Deception is still possible, but has become much more difficult. Building a reputation is an increasingly collaborative task and much more dependent on the opinion of others. This could be in relation to a social circle, experts in a field, or other users with previous experience of the same person or product. DIGITAL REPUTATION DIGITAL REPUTATION - 14 - Chapter 1 The person as a company Back to summary We often build our digital identity without much thought. However, expressing it and building it can be a creative and enriching process. We will start at the first stage of expressing our brand. This is what experts call self-awareness . By consciously planning to create our brand, we gain a deeper understanding of ourselves which will allow us to establish consistent targets, both personally and professionally. Self-awareness refers to both personality traits, skills and abilities (competencies) as well as to professional preferences. An honest reflection on these aspects will reveal our personal and professional strengths and weaknesses, which will help us to define the ultimate objective behind the creation of our brand. There are many ways to achieve self- awareness, but its analysis is beyond the scope of this course. We have many resources relating to emotional intelligence and how to cultivate it that are accessible through the Internet. In the Spanish blog, soymimarca.com they define their own technique as “iceberg soymimarca” which consists of three phases: self-awareness, strategy and communication. At the base of the iceberg, motivations, the diagnosis of the current situation, fears and resistance to leaving our comfort zones are analysed. Know your identity γνῶθι σεαυτόν The concept of self-awareness is not new. More than 2,500 years ago in the temple of Apollo, in the Greek city of Delphi, people were reading an inscription that read: “Know yourself”. This was the key principal of the Delphic Oracle. Socrates claimed that once we know ourselves, we can learn to take care of ourselves, but if we do not know ourselves, then we will never do so. Being aware of our limitations, motivations, interests and skills is the key to building an effective personal brand. - 15 - Chapter 1 The person as a company Back to summary HOW TO CULTIVATE EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE HOW TO CULTIVATE EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE Based on the “iceberg” personal branding method Communication Communicate your message through the most appropriate media such as blogs, television, social networks etc. How can we communicate with our audience? Which media channel is best? Which one best fits my strategy and objectives? Self-awareness Detect the beliefs, values, skills, competencies, motivations, fears, comfort zones etc. Who knows us? Are we capable of transmitting what we are? Do we like how people see us? Do we know what we want? Do we like the life we have? Are we willing to change? Strategy Draw a roadmap which includes the vision, mission, values, objectives, audience we are addressing and an action plan. Where do we want to be at the end of our lives? How do we want to be at that time? Do we have the necessary skills? What is worth changing or maintaining? What message do we want to transmit? Who do we want to reach? What are the timeframes, what are the shortcuts? - 16 - Chapter 1 The person as a company Back to summary Self-awareness allows us to detect our comfort zone, that space where we are comfortable and where we do not feel threatened. If we remain stuck in this zone, we will not progress or learn new skills. We need to take on small challenges, decide to experience new situations and expand the boundaries of that comfort zone. This determines our personal development. If we dare to take the plunge, we will be more prepared to face challenges and better at dealing with the changes that await us in the future. Hyper-connectivity has once again highlighted moral values and principles that should not become obsolete: generosity, honesty, the importance of being genuine, recognising others, awareness of humility in our contributions, being kind in our actions, giving back regardless of status, having an optimistic attitude etc. These are the virtues that define the personal brand of those who have a full digital life. These are the digital evangelists, the new preachers, believers in the benefits of the new economy and the new digital society. Of these values, perhaps the most interesting one to explain because of its relationship to self-awareness is Magnanimity: Magnanimity is a disposition to go beyond what is considered normal, to devote yourself to the end, to start without fear, to move forward despite adversity. In the fourth book of Nicomachean Ethics , Aristotle deals with the virtue megalopsychia or magnanimity. This is the greatness of the soul (psyche) and requires self-awareness. Greatness of the soul means greatness with respect to each of the different virtues (courage, temperance, generosity, openness, etc.). A magnanimous person has to be virtuous in general, halfway between the fainthearted (showing feeblemindedness and lacking courage to take action) and the pretentious (condescending and unfounded airs). Video Do you dare to dream? - 17 - Chapter 2 How to create your personal brand? Back to summary How to create your personal brand? Chapter 2 - 18 - Chapter 2 How to create your personal brand? Back to summary We saw in the previous chapter that before creating your brand, you should ask yourself who you identify with, who you want to be and where you want to be in five or ten years. What remains in us is our identity, which moves along planes that run in intertwined dimensions. Our identities are not parallel universes, like in science fiction, but sometimes they do seem to be. We can examine how our identity passes from the physical to the digital. The digital society marks our bodies and our visual and graphic language. Today we see the phenomenon of body art , which aims to represent the body as the place where our deepest self, our identity, is found. A paradigmatic example is the artist Spencer Tunick and his famous installations. The people taking part in them do it under the slogan “now we make art, together”. Although many interpretations can be made of this artist’s work, we want to stay with that related to the search and reconstruction of the identity of the postmodern man or woman. In the body, matter and spirit are united. Collectively and publicly expressing ourselves with our bodies connects us with the most intimate aspects of being human. Tunick’s photographs create a sense of community. - 19 - Chapter 2 How to create your personal brand? Back to summary Tattoos are another physical expression of our identity. In the past, they were restricted to the minority and mostly limited to men. Today however, many young people have tattoos. If we are consistent with the approach of this personal branding course, we cannot come down for or against tattoos. However, we do advise you to be cautious. Today, when the loss of a sense of identity has become one of our biggest problems, the expansion of digital photography supports the individuality that differentiates each person. The search for our identity concerns us as individuals. Somehow, the selfie phenomenon continues the body art collective art project. Halfway between narcissism and vanity, the construction of the ego and our identity, selfies have taken over the collective imagination. They have reached the pinnacle of power (Pope Francis, Obama, Queen Elizabeth, etc.). Tattoo tabu Although they are becoming more common, there are still many prejudices to overcome regarding tattoos. Many employers consider that a people with a tattoo or a piercing gives off an unprofessional image, as revealed in this article Do you have a tattoo or do you know someone who has one? Most personal branding experts are very cautious about this topic. Tattoos express independence, creativity and individualism. Just what the experts recommend for personal branding. However, having a visible tattoo is still deemed unwise when working for a company. Have you thought about the pros and cons of having a visible tattoo at work? Think about it! Video Identity - 20 - Chapter 2 How to create your personal brand? Back to summary Our legal identity is that recorded on our identity card. Most people consider it set in stone. However, this is not always the case. In Spain you can change your name and since 2007, also your sex in the Spanish Civil Registry. Another case is that of some foreigners who have to change their name in order to become citizens. For example, somebody with the name Lenin, which is a common name in Central America, cannot be registered under that name in Spain because of its political connotations. Similarly, women who take the name of their husband (as often happens in the Slavic countries, for example) must change it for that of their father and mother. Imagine the difficulties and problems they face when they need to translate documents. The legal identity is intertwined with the physical identity. This issue becomes more complex with the Internet. Our digital identity is recorded, checked and made tangible: the digital is real. Our presence on Google can bring us more than a surprise. Paraphrasing Alfredo Vela, your personal brand can end up being what appears on Google when you type your name in. With the explosion of social networks in everyday life, almost without realising it we have gone from needing a username to register on websites (usually an email address) to customising our profile. In the infancy of the Internet, pioneers used impersonal pseudonyms to identify themselves (a recourse recently used by trolls ). Now, as we incorporate the networks into our daily lives, our nickname and avatar are becoming increasingly real. Inadvertently, our nickname becomes our second name. It defines our identity through our aspirations and desire for originality. In social networks, the user name helps shape our identity and, of course, influence the image we project. In today’s world our physical and digital identities are visually configured. Photography as a medium of expression and images as a support (mainly emojis and emoticons) are the means by which we express ourselves more easily. Writing belongs to the Gutenberg era and, in this time of postmodern transition, the audio- visual has not yet conquered the minds of people. Will we soon reach The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus?