Be Your Own Brand: A Breakthrough Formula for Standing Out from the Crowd

by David McNally

In this second edition of their classic book on personal brand David McNally and Karl Speak show that developing a personal brand is not about constructing a contrived image. Rather, it is a process of discovering who you really are and what you aspire to be. The hallmark insight of this new edition is that the best way to establish a strong and memorable brand is to make a positive difference in the lives of others through making lasting impressions that build trusting relationships.

McNally and Speak take you through the process of identifying the key components of your brand, conveying that brand to the world, checking how closely your brand aligns with important relationships in your life—particularly your employer—and assessing your progress along the way. This thoroughly revised and updated edition features new material on how to use social media to build a powerful personal brand and case studies of individuals whose personal brands have changed the world.

"Squarely delivers where other books have left off by creating a genuine self-understanding and a strong picture of the person you are and want to become to create real sustainable personal change.”
--Stephen Weiss, Former President EDMC Online Higher Education and Former President and COO Capella Education Company

“A strong personal brand is paramount for effective leadership. Be Your Own Brand is a powerful and practical guide for building deep and meaningful relationships.”
--Perry Cantarutti, Senior Vice President, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Delta Air Lines

“Be Your Own Brand, when applied within a business organization, has the power to accelerate the pace of organizational brand development tremendously.”
--Taras K. Rebet, President, West Europe, Otto Bock HealthCare GmbH

“From this book you’ll experience deep introspection and discover your own brand which will surely ignite personal and professional growth.”
--Heather Backstrom, Employee Development Manager, Moog, Inc. – Aircraft Group
 

Genres: Business, Buisness, Self Help, Personal Development, Nonfiction, Professional Development

168 pages, Paperback

First published March 4, 2002

Reviews

[Rizal Fahmi]

awesome

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

"This may seem like an unusual book to review, but again, this was an exercise for work and the leadership development program of which I am a participant. In one of our sessions, we had touched on what is a personal brand and even started the exercise to create one. Unfortunately, I didn t get it. I didn t understand how someone could create their own brand when a brand is how others perceive you. I left the session that day more confused and uncertain than I was when I started the day. I was confused about how I was going to go about writing my personal brand and uncertain that I had anything special to offer people as part of my brand.[return][return]Thankfully, I took the time to read this book, and I got it. The exercises spread throughout the book, as well as the case studies presented for each exercise, helped me understand just what I was trying to accomplish. As for my own personal traits, through previous personal development exercises, I was able to finally see where my strengths lie and what make me special and unique. In fact, I finished the book with a fairly decent completed personal brand. It still needs some fine-tuning, but overall, when I started with nothing, I m pretty satisfied with the results.[return][return]Overall, developing a personal brand is an intensely personal exercise. Even though the book was instrumental in helping me write one, I m not certain I would have been half as successful at it had I not been spending the previous twelve months doing other personal development exercises. To me, this book was the culmination of all those exercises, where I was finally able to combine everything I learned into one document or one exercise. In the end, the personal brand helped me focus on the message I want to present to the world about who I am and how I can help them. It s a level of self-awareness I ve never had before. To say that this self-awareness is empowering is definitely an understatement.[return][return]If you are into personal development and self-help books, I would definitely recommend taking a look at Be Your Own Brand. It s geared towards employees and the workplace, but as the authors mention, the relationships affected by your personal brand are not just in the workplace but are spread throughout every aspect of your life. Knowledge is power, and knowing as much as you can about who you are, what excites you, what is of vital importance to you, and so forth can only help you improve those relationships."

[Tara · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wasn't a big help in my life towards anything, but I would kind of like to read it a couple times over as I do my own thinking and writing. It introduced a new idea to me: Brands.
What exactly is a Brand?
If I think about the movie "Roots" or the book "Surrender" by Pamela Clare, people were often branded with fiery hot iron rods. It just makes me think about what a brand must be. ( I enjoy reducing thoughts down to nothing. I'm aware what a brand is.)
A Brand is something you're stuck with: a marking you have to live with. A brand has a meaning. It says something about you.
With celebrities, a brand is their whole project. This includes their stage name and their perceived character.
Shakespeare said "All of life is a stage".
A book like this is good for a younger person to read or anyone discovering themselves, even though it was written for people trying to find a job.
You always carry your Brand with you. It is you. This book mentions authenticity being an important part of having your own Brand and everybody has one-even if they don't know they have a Brand.
When I was taking this "get a job class" or whatever kind of class it was, I looked at this book and said "What. Ev." It was just some boring book. Now I desire to come back to it. It fascinates me now.
I guess that's because its a resource and there are so many times now in my own life where I just want to start again (not that I can. Maybe I'm branded. Or maybe not. I don't know if there's a way or not. I haven't thought about starting again recently, but maybe a few months to a year ago, I revisited and reread this book on my own thinking how I could reconstruct my brand.)
First that would start with getting a suitable job. Then while on that suitable job, I could repair my brand.
But I think books like this matter because it's important to take the pieces apart and be a scientist about your life. Examine each piece and put them back together so they work effectively for you.
That's why people should read books like this, if not this book its self.

[Robyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read, I found this book a helpful way of bringing order to concepts I know from business, from the HR discipline and intuition. It provided a model for organizing 360 feedback I recently received so I have an objective way of measuring the strength of my brand. The book also creates a provocation about whether your personal brand aligns with your company and challenges you to decide whether you want to "sign up or sign out". I think that is a good provocation to apply to any relationship - not just the employee/employer relationship.

[Booklist54321 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this quick read a great mix of marketing, psychology of personality, and personal development. Rather than focusing on products or services, this book focuses on how to ponder, develop, market, and maintain personal values and characteristics. While the book was focused mainly on business environments, a large amount of the personality traits and skills are useful outside of work too. Personalities aside, this book certainly isn't an all around solution to marketing, but the topics and techniques can lead to enhanced and individualized mentalities and perspectives.

[Azamat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Книга интересная, но не для всех. В первую очередь, ее можно рекомендовать маркетологам, рекламщикам, эсемемщикам и предпринимателям. Рассказывается о том, как важно иметь качественный бренд, что это такое, как его поддерживать и тд. Каких-то суперсекретов успеха я не увидел, но будет полезно для перечитывания, чтобы не забывать, что вам нужно делать а, б, в... Книжка — нормуль.

[Steven · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even though the book has been updated it feels old. Like they thought they should add social media references in but didn't completely overhaul the whole book. Far better books out there.

[Gabriela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, with some useful thoughts. I liked the part about managing the perceptions of other about the self.

[Amelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty good guide lacked anticipated relevance. come back to later

[Abdulaziz Alzain · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read it. Not bad! But it's a good start reading a book about promoting yourself

[Xavier Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the concept and it helped me focus on areas of my personal business model in a way I had not thought about before!
It was practical and very easy to implement and track!

[Lori Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read book on personal branding as you manage your career.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about more than just "branding" - it's about (re)aligning your work with your core values - great read!

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the fact that the book very quickly helps you discover somewhat who you are and your simpler, more common beliefs. It's like psych 101 for those who never took it.

[R Yogie]

great

[Theodore Kinni · Rating 3 out of 5]

A framework and guide to understanding and articulating your personal brand

[April]

good so far

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bravo - the prescription to being all you are meant to be.