unbrand yourself

vinay kamat

Try this one. How about getting yourself a brand manager? If companies have them, why can’t people? If the idea still sounds far-fetched, it’s because we think we can easily manage ourselves. So, we try to shore up strengths that we think are right. Well, they may be the wrong ones.
Simple idea. Too tough to implement. It’s been around though in many avatars. Maverick management guru, Tom Peters, popularised the concept of Brand You and Me Inc. What he said was attention-grabbing. Since then, converts have marketed themselves in their organisations by showcasing — or showcausing — their pluses. They have stopped being human resources. Instead, they have become human brands. They have realised that peer perception is as important as individual excellence.
The idea of self-branding was given a new spin by a CXO (a chief something, or everything, officer) I met last week, who has used it to climb up, and across, hierarchical ladders. His formula may sound like journalist Naomi Klein’s argument against an over-branded world; it’s actually a product extension of Jack Welch’s famous rule: Control your destiny or someone else will.
The CXO’s tried and tested mantra: Unbrand You. As you’ll see, it’s a deeper look at yourself.
Debrand yourself: “Companies get locked into the brands they create; individuals should not. Sony can never make cars, for instance. But you and I can change our careers if we want to. And, in an era where careers are shortening, how can you create Brand You around one career? You need to be as flexible as possible in positioning yourself just as you need to diversify your skill-set.”
Think community: “The future of pharma is generics; the future of technology is open source. Why can’t the future of careers be communities? As work increasingly gets outsourced, the individual’s ability to fit into virtual teams will be the biggest plus. A community chain, unlike a value chain, is based on personal relationships. Here, your ability to communicate laterally, not vertically, creates a feeling of oneness.”
Get yourself a brand manager: “If you can have your own financial planner and medical counsellor, why can’t you have your own brand manager. It’s not to create a brand but to help you not to create one. The best place to find a brand manager is your organisation. Your colleague could be the best choice: he would know where your shoe screeches or why your ring-tone affects sensibilities. By conducting a daily performance appraisal, he can tell you why you are making zero-impact in the corner room. He can even give you an indication of your internal and external market values, map your next career move, and conduct informal peer surveys to gauge your popularity. And if you still want to tag yourself, he would position you as a Walmart rather than a Prada. For, accessibility, not attitude, is the key to Unbrand You.”
“An eye is a new way of viewing something old,” says fashion designer Vera Wang, in Newsweek. Perhaps the CXO’s eye is an attempt to view careers in a new way. It’s an attempt to present oneself without using PowerPoint. It’s a nice way to be different.