Note: This is the third part of a three-part series on keys to building a personal brand, inspired by a blog post from Adii Pienaar titled “How to Build Your Personal Brand: The Next Step to Anything,” published August 18, 2013.
Of all the highly useful takeaways offered by Adii Pienaar in his article on building your personal brand, the suggestion with which I struggle most is accepting that my brand is a work-in-progress and as such it has imperfections and flaws that are exposed. To this end, Pienaar states:
“You’re not perfect today and as such your personal brand has imperfections. To be successful in personal branding though, you don’t sweep those imperfections underneath a rug. Instead you embrace them, work at them and use them to help shape the truest representation of who you are.”
In a world in which product brands obsess over every word in a press release or ad to make sure no embarrassment or negative feedback is experienced, we are being told by Pienaar to not worry about it.
Seek Forgiveness, not Perfection
The advice to embrace our imperfections or mistakes should make us feel liberated, freeing us from being paralyzed by the need that our brand always be perfect- on message, looking good, and building an ideal image. We can adapt the saying “Sometimes it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission” to our quest to build a personal brand by saying “Sometimes it is better to seek forgiveness than perfection.” Brands are on 24/7- they do not close or take time off like employees. Thus, it is inevitable that you will make mistakes or otherwise portray your brand in a way that falls short of the brand you wish to project to the world. You and I have to get over it- even the strongest brands will fail to live up to their brand ideal occasionally. But, we cannot let that likelihood stop us from doing the work we love and working to evolve our personal brand.
“Real (Brand) Artists Ship”
If you need another sign that it is OK to run the risk of showing weaknesses in your personal brand, reflect on the statement by Adii Pienaar that “real (brand) artists ship.” Is each book published by an author her new “best work ever?” Is each successive CD release by a band their new greatest release? Of course not. Although we would like to think the output of creative endeavors would represent a linear progression of better products and ideas, the reality is some works are not an improvement or are flawed in some way. The sooner we accept this characteristic about ourselves and our work, the sooner we can get out of our own way and strengthen our personal brand rather than obsessing over masking its imperfections.
It has been insightful for me to reflect on this article in my last three blog posts. If you have read one, two, or all three pieces I hope they have been of value as you manage your personal brand.
