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Beyond Personal Brand to Character

September 14, 2009 by Kami Huyse

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I think that we might be losing our way.

 

Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.
Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln's Own Stories
16th president of US (1809 – 1865)

 

Public relations and social media tools are powerful ways to communicate character. The character of a company or an individual. But it seems that more and more people are trying to use these tools to manipulate the shadows of brand and reputation.

 

Stalking SM

Venn diagram by Steven Leckert

 

It is one of the reasons I am so uncomfortable with a focus on personal branding since it leads to an undue focus on the self rather than developing and communicating character.

It is sending the wrong message about what matters.

In a survey of 1,068 college students by SDSU Psychology Professor Jean Twenge and Youth Pulse 57 percent agreed that their generation are self-promoting, narcissistic, overconfident and attention-seeking and 40 percent agree that being so is helpful for “succeeding in a competitive world.”

The youth of America are looking at each other and us and determining that the only way to get ahead is by navel gazing.

A better model is for the company (or individual) to develop strong values that they can live into and put all of their focus on that. Instead we seem to focus on our BRAND or REPUTATION — which should instead be evident through living out our values.

I recently heard someone make the point that your values are what make you unique.

I couldn't agree more.

By authentically living these values “out loud” you can differentiate yourself in the marketplace.

We need to stop manipulating the shadows and start working on the tree.

How can we live our values out loud online? What does that look like to you?

(via Mashable)

Filed Under: Industry Trends, Online Ethics, Zoetica Talks DNA

About Kami Huyse

Kami Watson Huyse, CEO of Zoetica, is passionate about great communication. Working in Public Relations since 1994, and blogging since 2005, she has seen trends come and go, but one thing has stayed the same – people are looking for ways to authentically connect. She loves to connect with readers, so leave a comment or follow @kamichat on Twitter and connect there.

Comments

  1. Rocky says

    January 12, 2016 at 10:42 am

    Thanks guys, I just about lost it lokniog for this.

  2. Anonymous says

    April 28, 2016 at 7:33 pm

    We could’ve done with that insight early on.

Trackbacks

  1. I Don’t Have Time to Google You: Micro Fame Breeds Arrogance - Zoetica Media says:
    November 25, 2014 at 10:17 am

    […] relatively recent focus on personal branding is making this worse. I have written about my view of the personal brand, and how I feel that building character and connections are so much more essential than building a […]

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Zoetica Swish SmallWelcome to Zoetica! We are an experienced team of communicators led by Kami Huyse who are dedicated to teaching you how to bring your communication to life with sound strategy, community building and solid success measures. Check out our blog, Zoetica Talks, browse our Resources, and check out our Sevices.We can't wait to get to know you better.

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