Crossing the Bridge: My Take on Personal Branding
I don’t normally write about personal branding. Mostly I only talk about it, and only with people who know me. I limit my discussion on branding because my thoughts and opinions are heavily shaped by my own personal experiences. Moreover, people who know me can map my thoughts to what they know of me.
But since yesterday, I'm taking a workshop on personal branding at a Mumbai based education institute and I had a great conversation with the students there where I shared with them my framework around personal branding. And it all revolves around a single question:
What bridge do you need to cross?
First - The Metaphor
Here's the means by which I used to impart it to customers when I accomplished more brand work.
Envision you get to a riverbank. You frantically need to cross the waterway. To such an extent, that without considering, you venture into it and begin strolling crosswise over it. However, soon you get in so deep, you turn back. You attempt another time, this time swimming over. Yet, rapidly you understand that the pace of the waterway is much speedier than your abilities can withstand. So you turn back. Yet, you can't help yourself. You need to cross that waterway. Better stated, you have to cross the stream. So you offer a boatman to get you over. Be that as it may, he takes your cash and abandons you stranded. Having attempted three circumstances, yet unwilling to be beat, you begin strolling down the riverbank. What's more, six miles later, by possibility, you discover the bridge to get you over the stream.
Now, understanding the metaphor
I hear many people discuss personal branding and they bounce straight into your enthusiasm. They request that you make sense of your own enthusiasm. They request that you make intense statements that characterise you. When I approach the idea, I begin from a better place. I begin from a place that says, "Look, you can't resist the urge to be you. Know what I mean? So we should go looking in your past." When I investigate your past, you know what I'll discover? An extension. A bridge that removed practically everything from you to discover and cross. In any case, you couldn't help yourself. You simply needed to. Also, that is the bridge that is vital to know your brand. Since you'll never quit being you. Also, your image ought to come not from a marketing writer but rather from inside you and your own understanding and experiences.
Your Personal Brand
I can’t help myself. I’m going to create something from nothing. I’m going to build a team. And I’m going to release products. I’ll do it one way or another. But I’ll do it.
And you have your own river. And your own bridge. And like me, you’ve figured some things out. While others are still at the banks of the river, you’ve found the bridge and figured out how to cross it – maybe several times. And that’s where you can be the truest you – where you can lead from your own experience without pretension. That’s what makes articulating your brand value proposition easy – because you can’t help but do what you do.
And now, out of all that experience, you can help others. Never forget that. The journey is more fun when you do it together. And since you know where the bridge is, others will look to you.
Best, Yash Merchant