To have or not to have: a personal brand

Straight, dodgy, secretive, open, charming offensive articulate, struggling, positive, evasive and many more. These are all words that describe what people perceive about a person. These are the impressions that emit from your personality. These are the signals your behaviour manifests. This may be by design or default.

The fact of the matter is that each person is forming an image whether you are aware or not aware about it. Many people debate about whether we should have a personal brand or not.

The debate should not be about whether we should or not, as each action or word that you utter is forming impressions about you. The real debate is whether the image that you are creating is your reality image or the one you want to have. If you are not happy about what people think or say about you, that means that your personal brand, behaviour, its presentation, its values need a revisit.

The problem today is that personal branding has become an obsessive exercise that is so far removed from reality that it has become an exercise of “fake it till you make it”. In today’s world we see the young trying to look and behave like old and the old using filters and reels to act young and perky. Instagram is the short cut to building up a brand these days.

Aside from products, people are also using this forum to look, behave, talk in a manner that fulfills their personal brand aspirations. However, the fact that you can tweak your looks, words, behaviour has put a huge question mark on the types of personal branding pressures that it creates. Instagram users try to create superior images constantly looking for external impetus.

Many users engaging in digital status seeking (looking for popularity online) and social comparison (evaluating oneself in relation to others) tend to experience negative psychological outcomes.

Such behaviors have been linked to increases in depressive symptoms, social anxiety, and body image concerns across age groups, as well as decreases in self-esteem (Sherlock, M., & Wagstaff, D. L., Psychology of Popular Media). This comparison and mental pressure to develop a personal brand creates a huge disconnect between the actual and the virtual and is the real bane of personal branding disasters. This obsessive compulsive urge to be a certain, age, look, act and behaviour has actually brought a lot of negative smears on the process of developing personal brands. What we need is to rationalize this process to make a choice of going for it or not. Let us first look at what the personal branding should “NOT” be before we say what it should be:

1. A sum of the greatest number of “likes”— Yes the personal brand should make you likeable to your important stakeholders. No, the likability should not be determined from the number of likes you get on the social media. The pressure to have followers and likes on click is a recipe for creating personas that are not YOU. The race to reach your first hundred, thousand, million completely overshadows the quality of the brand that truly is you.

2. A promise that cannot be delivered— Another problem with creating a showpiece personal brand that is very eye catching is that it builds expectation in the minds of the viewers. The trend these days is to hire PR specialists who do the brand building for you. Nothing wrong with that.

However, the PR specialist in her or his race to prove how effective they are at their job then create stories, quotes, promises that are not realistic and feasible. This may get you attention in the beginning but prove very damaging if the same people find out the reality.

For example, in a pursuit to make you sound and look intellectual they create and pose literary stuff on you that makes the intellectuals sort you out. But if the interactions with these intellectuals reveal that what is being written and your conversations have a disconnect, it may totally break down personal trust.

3. A selfie narcissism— The “Selfie” is the true me, myself and I obsession. Many professionals go overboard in trying to create a brand of being everywhere, doing everything in every conference, every meeting and every family interaction. Yes the comments that come on the multiple selfie moments are cute and encouraging, but it also shows a brand desperation that does not create a classy professional impression.

Branding, be it of a product or a person has some foundational principles. Without these foundations, anything you build will in the long run crack and crumble. Some of these principles are:

1. Authenticity over duplicity- The filters hide marks on the face but they cannot hide marks on the personality. Your personal brand needs to find out what is that you are, what is that you do that is unique, and, what is that you represent. If you are giving advice on how to eat healthy, base it on your experience, your expertise, your journey. If your story is based on what people wanting to hear to get their approval, you will end up living on the edge if it is not truly what you represent. Nothing breaks the brand trust if a person is found to be hollow, fake or overhyped.

2. Discover your niche- The answer to “why” needs to be sought within you. Why should people respect you? Why should people hire you? What is that you have to offer that others cannot do? A brand has to have an appeal. What is that personal appeal that you can develop? What is the unique value that makes you distinct?

3. Have a holistic approach- Consulting an expert always helps. If you are lucky to have such expertise, build up a holistic plan for making your brand matter. Do not think that being on social media, Instagram or LinkedIn is the “fast forward” way. They are great forums to exhibit your personality. But the real game is to have a plan that puts together your personal values in alignment with your plan. Do not forget the fundamentals—work on your area of expertise, meet the right people, form the right communities, upgrade your skills, and keep digging to understand yourself and what you can offer.

At the end of the day, what you are, speaks louder than your Instagram posts, your reel snippets, and your one liner quotes. If the core of your personal brand has substance, if your core values shine through your actions, you will earn the trust and the respect that enables a person to become a true brand.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025