The Brand You 50 by Tom Peters
Summary:
Notes:
1. Coping rests on your shoulders. Forget "they." This is your life. Period.
1a. When was the last time you asked "What do I want to be?"
2. You have no option. The white collar revolution is about to swallow me/you/us.
3. The answer: Becoming "Brand You"
3a. What if we had "market cap" - free-market evaluation of our economic worth, like ballplayers and actors more or less do?
4. Getting started now: Perform a Personal Brand Equity Evaluation. And: Create a Yellow Pages ad for … you.
4a. We need a snapshot: What does Brand You "look" like? "Feel" like? For starters: Consider icon woman. (And hear her roar.)
5. Forget "tasks." The new Brand You currency: Wow projects.
6. You - Brand You - are a "package"
7. "Inc" yourself mindset. I am a company.
8. Speak out. Brand You is about what you value.
9. No walk in the park; Brand You demands a rich diverse portfolio of skills.
9a. Brand You warriors wear at least Eight hats .. from sales to accounting to product development.
10. Learn to play the great game of business. You must master the Brand You economics basics.
11. Paint a compelling, Technicolor word picture of who you are.
12. Obsess on your … job title. (Yes, it is that important.)
13. BU: Walk the talk. ("We must become the change we want to see in the world" - Gandhi)
14. Brand Yous embrace the real world politics of implementation (or else.)
15. Turn crummy little tasks into hopelessly cool projects. (It cal always be done.)
15a. Work with what you've got. Make it a masterpiece.
16. Master bootstrapping. Learn to scrounge resources.
17. Make You are your portfolio. Thank quality of project portfolio.
17a. You are the Wow-ness of every project. So: score Wow-ness.
18. Focus.
19. You are your clients. Brand You - is defined by his/her clients. Who they are. Who they aren't.
20. You are your clients. So … listen to them. Connect with them.
21. You are your saleable competencies.: Brand You must be … stunningly good at something of value to your clients.
22. You are your rolodex: Brand You is a team sport.
22a. Loyalty: more important than ever.Brand You loyalty = rolodex royalty (not "logo loyalty.")
23. You are your rolodex: Breadth counts. Collect freaks.
24. Design matters … a lot … to BU. You are your "signage" : phone skills, writing style, letterhead etc.
25. Consider your "product line." Add to your product line … regularly. (Or else.)
26. Think b-i-g. As in big ideas. "Did it make me gasp when I first said it?" - adman David Ogilvy's Wow test.
27. Me Inc = Brand You mantra: Dare … daily.
28. Submit to the performance. Brand You is performance art.
29. Bosses: You got to - and ought to - love BU. (It's all about turning "employees" into Performance Maniacs.)
30. Identity: most cherished asset. Brand You: learn to think like Gillette or Saturn.
31. A brand is a "trust mark": Brand You rests upon bedrock called Credibility.
32. It may sound small. It ain't. Calling cards tell a large tale. (First things first.)
33. Build a website that wows. Now.
34. You are your own PR agency. For starters, join Toastmasters.
35. Work on your optimism. (Spreaders of doom and gloom rarely attract followers.)
36. Renewal = Job 1 for BU. Period.
37. A must: formal renewal investment plan.
38. Learn from … anyone. Anywhere. Any time. Become a sponge … for cool stuff. (Work on exposing yourself to cool stuff.)
39. You - Brand You - need a terrific board of directors. (No kidding.)
40. You - Brand You - need a "front line university." Message: stay in close touch with "real people."
41. Hunt for cool dudes / dudettes. All Brand You - youngest to oldest - are perpetually in the talent scout mode.
42. Create your own, cool organization … Me & Co … even if you are young, "unempowered," and on someone's payroll. (You are always a builder. If you are smart..)
43. Leadership is me … as Brand You .. at all times. ("Leadership" is independent of formal position. Period.)
44. Power matters. Stuff that matters - that gets done - demands superb political skills.
45. You - Brand You - need a formal marketing plan.
45a. Think hard. Do I really have a "product"? (This is no easy "test" to pass.)
46. Think: One man global powerhouse. (Seriously.)
47. Sell. Sell. Sell.
48. You - Brand You - gotta be a "closer." (Learn to "Ask for the business.")
49. Effective Brand Yous are dis-loyal (i.e. on a crusade that transcends "the corporation.")
50. Welcome to free agent nation.