I hate the term "branding yourself." Is there anything more fake then that? Making yourself into a product that is to be sold on some market. I hate it. And I hear it all the time. At work, at school, in some off the wall networking class that I'm forced to take now that I have a management position. What happened to, being yourself? I know we have an underlying corporate culture in this country, but this too corporate.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised though. After all, we have terms like "what have you done for me lately," or "it's not what you know, it's who you know." So its fitting that one needs to now make themselves into a product and get packaged up real nice like a product off the shelf.
I know I haven't been in Corporate America too long, but has it always been like this? Did they actually teach "How to Network at an Event" in the 80's? To me, this stuff seems to be intuitive or at least taught to me by my father. Like, "When you go to a conference and meet someone new, it is a good idea to clearly articulate your name and shake the person's hand." Really? Is that what you do? Thanks, I had no idea. Here's a good one, I had to take the "Networking" course at work and the instructor told us ways of getting out of a conversation that will not help you in your networking efforts, like "oh, I need to get a refill of my drink will yo please excuse me." Or, and this was my favorite, "I'm sorry, but I planned on meeting 15 new people tonight and if I keep talking to you, I'm afraid I won't achieve my goal." I'm serious, they had it on a slide and everything.
I'm all about keeping it real;) Joking aside though, I really think that being yourself and not treating yourself as some brand is much better and more honest. And the real relationships you will form are the ones that will be more beneficial and fruitful in the end.
It sounds to me like you are one of the lucky ones, for whom simple banter with new people comes easy. Unfortunately I know it can be a struggle for some. Especially these days with the constantly developing ways to network and get out there and make an impression. Now, I agree some of those things you learned in your class are rather ridiculous and most likely common sense. But, I think some people do need a little guidance or encouragement. Maybe it helps keep them focused or calm and thus better able to “be themselves.” I don’t know… Well, I had a goal to make 15 blog comments today and if I keep writing I fear I’ll never reach that goal.. so, I’m out! ;-)
ReplyDeleteTypically ways of getting out of a conversation is a way to come off rude. If you don't think a conversation is going to go somewhere, why start it? Look at the person's name tag and role.
ReplyDeleteAs far as branding yourself, i would not advise it. The burns will leave a raised scar that can look cool if you twisted the metal properly, but most don't and it looks ridiculous. The best brands are those done by other people.
Now from a packaging perspective, branding is a buzz word that means nothing. It is about sincerity and being you as you pointed out. Setting goals for achieving quantifiable contacts is poor. Quality contacts with quality contacts of their own are the ones to be sought and that has to be earned through real conversation.
Zaid - I agree with a lot of that. I just wish that we could ditch the corporate-speak of 'the brand called you' and just discuss how to stand out, to differentiate yourself, etc.
ReplyDeleteReading all your thinking on the branding oneself it made me remember my interview experience where I have "followed" all the rules of the elevator speech and such. Doing all that I tried really hard to concentrate on not messing up my shpiel and after all of that was done I was left with a feeling of NOW WHAT???
ReplyDeleteNeedless to say I didn't get that job, but the job that I did land was the one where on my first interview I told the employer about ME and what I wanted them to know about me and where I was from, since she asked, and guess what, she wanted to hear more...
So the point is that I think no matter how hard we try to differentiate ourselves through standardization eventually we all become one big blur to a potential employer.