The career ladder is dead, professional life is a series of projects, opportunities to build your brand. However, building your personal brand involves more than re-packaging yourself and stamping a logo on your resume. The brand mindset requires making a promise and delivering with every chance you get. This presentation was initially shared at a University of Calgary Graduating this Year Workshop. Read more at http://www.andrew-turnbull.com

1. Building your personal brand.

2. Personal branding is an uncomfortable topic.

3. Personal branding is an uncomfortable topic.
“...a description of the process whereby people and their careers are marked as
brands. It has been noted that while previous self-help management techniques
were about self-improvement, the personal branding concept suggests instead that
success comes from self-packaging.” -Wikipedia

4. But it’s an important one.

5. Supply is up.
70% of high school
graduates continued onto a
post-secondary institution.
US Bureau of Labour Statistics, 2009

6. Demand is down.

7. So how do you stand out?

8. Find your competitive advantage!

9. Your competitive advantage:
http://sethgodin.typepad.com

10. Your competitive advantage:
Are you going to succeed because you return emails a few minutes faster, tweet
a bit more often and stay at work an hour longer than anyone else?
http://sethgodin.typepad.com

11. Your competitive advantage:
Are you going to succeed because you return emails a few minutes faster, tweet
a bit more often and stay at work an hour longer than anyone else?
I think that’s unlikely. When you push to turn intellectual work into factory work
(which means more showing up and more following instructions) you’re racing
to the bottom.
http://sethgodin.typepad.com

12. Your competitive advantage:
Are you going to succeed because you return emails a few minutes faster, tweet
a bit more often and stay at work an hour longer than anyone else?
I think that’s unlikely. When you push to turn intellectual work into factory work
(which means more showing up and more following instructions) you’re racing
to the bottom.
It seems to me that you will succeed because you confronted and overcame
anxiety and the lizard brain better than anyone else. Perhaps because you
overcame inertia and actually got significantly better at your craft, even when it
was uncomfortable because you were risking failure. When you increase your
discernment, maximize your awareness of the available options and then go
ahead and ship work that scares others... that’s when you succeed.
http://sethgodin.typepad.com

13. Your competitive advantage:
Are you going to succeed because you return emails a few minutes faster, tweet
a bit more often and stay at work an hour longer than anyone else?
I think that’s unlikely. When you push to turn intellectual work into factory work
(which means more showing up and more following instructions) you’re racing
to the bottom.
It seems to me that you will succeed because you confronted and overcame
anxiety and the lizard brain better than anyone else. Perhaps because you
overcame inertia and actually got significantly better at your craft, even when it
was uncomfortable because you were risking failure. When you increase your
discernment, maximize your awareness of the available options and then go
ahead and ship work that scares others... that’s when you succeed.
More time on the problem isn’t the way. More guts is. When you expose
yourself to the opportunities that scare you, you create something scarce,
something others won’t do.
http://sethgodin.typepad.com

14. Discussion: The brand called you.
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/10/brandyou.html

15. Discussion: The brand called you.
• What changes are driving the rise in personal branding?
• At its most basic, what is a brand? What is the approach
marketers take to proving this?
• How has the mentality of climbing the corporate ladder
changed? Why is loyalty still important?
• What are some ways you can go about enhancing your
profile? In other words, how do you market your brand
(i.e. increase visibility)?
• According to Peters, what is the key to any personal
branding campaign?
• Should company’s be worried about hiring “free agents?”
• How is personal branding different now compared to when
this article was written?
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/10/brandyou.html

16. In “project world,” reputation is everything.
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/10/brandyou.html

17. In “project world,” reputation is everything.
First, you’ve got to be a great teammate
and a supportive colleague.
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/10/brandyou.html

18. In “project world,” reputation is everything.
First, you’ve got to be a great teammate
and a supportive colleague.
Second, you’ve got to be an exceptional
expert at something that has real value.
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/10/brandyou.html

19. In “project world,” reputation is everything.
First, you’ve got to be a great teammate
and a supportive colleague.
Second, you’ve got to be an exceptional
expert at something that has real value.
Third, you’ve got to be a broad-gauged
visionary -- a leader, a teacher, a
farsighted “imagineer.”
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/10/brandyou.html

20. In “project world,” reputation is everything.
First, you’ve got to be a great teammate
and a supportive colleague.
Second, you’ve got to be an exceptional
expert at something that has real value.
Third, you’ve got to be a broad-gauged
visionary -- a leader, a teacher, a
farsighted “imagineer.”
Fourth, you’ve got to be a businessperson -
you’ve got to be obsessed with pragmatic
outcomes.
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/10/brandyou.html

21. In “project world,” reputation is everything.
First, you’ve got to be a great teammate
and a supportive colleague.
Second, you’ve got to be an exceptional
expert at something that has real value.
Third, you’ve got to be a broad-gauged
visionary -- a leader, a teacher, a
farsighted “imagineer.”
Fourth, you’ve got to be a businessperson -
you’ve got to be obsessed with pragmatic
outcomes.
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/10/brandyou.html

22. What is a brand?
http://www.slideshare.net/coolstuff/the-brand-gap

23. What is a brand?
THERE ARE 1,349 CAMEREAS ON THE MARKET.
HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHICH ONE TO BUY?
http://www.slideshare.net/coolstuff/the-brand-gap

24. What is a brand?
TRUST.
THERE ARE 1,349 CAMEREAS ON THE MARKET.
HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHICH ONE TO BUY?
http://www.slideshare.net/coolstuff/the-brand-gap

25. Brand Development 101
1. Brand Identity
2. Brand Promise
3. Brand Mindset

26. Step One: Brand Identity
“the story you tell yourself defines you”
Arlene Dickinson, CEO Venture Communications

27. How do you describe yourself?
• Driven. Committed. Inspired. Real.
• Punctual. Generous. Humble. Kind.
• Confident. Ambitious. Independent.
• Curious. Inquisitive. Good-natured.

28. How do you describe yourself?
• Driven. Committed. Inspired. Real.
• Punctual. Generous. Humble. Kind.
• Confident. Ambitious. Independent.
• Curious. Inquisitive. Good-natured.

29. Exercise: Discovering your personality type
Four temperaments, sixteen character types:
THE THE THE THE
GUARDIANS: RATIONALS: IDEALISTS: ARTISANS:
• Supervisor (ESTJ) • Fieldmarshal (ENTJ) • Teacher (ENFJ) • Promoter (ESTP)
• Inspector (ISTJ) • Mastermind (INTJ) • Counselor (INFJ) • Crafter (ISTP)
• Provider (ESFJ) • Inventor (ENTP) • Champion (ENFP) • Performer (ESFP)
• Protector (ISFJ) • Architect (INTP) • Healer (INFP) • Composer (ISFP)
http://www.keirsey.com

30. Step Two: Brand Promise
• The ultimate driving machine
• Technology that “just works”
• Inspire moments of optimism
• Provide access to the world’s information
• Fun, family entertainment
• Revitalize body and mind

31. The ultimate driving machine.

32. Technology that “just works.”

33. Step Three: Brand Mindset
Approach each new project
as an opportunity to deliver
on your brand promise.
When the right project
comes along, over-deliver.

34. TL;DR

35. TL;DR
Focus on doing one thing really, really well.

36. TL;DR
Focus on doing one thing really, really well.

37. TL;DR
Focus on doing one thing really, really well.
Be responsible. Give yourself permission to fail.

38. TL;DR
Focus on doing one thing really, really well.
Be responsible. Give yourself permission to fail.

39. TL;DR
Focus on doing one thing really, really well.
Be responsible. Give yourself permission to fail.
Continuously improve your craft.

40. TL;DR
Focus on doing one thing really, really well.
Be responsible. Give yourself permission to fail.
Continuously improve your craft.

41. Assignment #1: Make a Killer Resume

42. Assignment #2: Create an Online Presence

43. Assignment #2: Create an Online Presence
(Or Don’t. Your call.)

44. Thank You.
andrewt@criticalmass.com