“Is your hair part of your brand, or your personality?” was a recent question asked by Teenage Daughter to My Lovely and Gracious Wife (MLGW). For those who have never been graced by her presence, MLGW has long hair that ends somewhere between mid-back and her waist, depending on when she’s most recently had it cut. It’s something that makes her easily identifiable most of the time, and she’s had long hair since before I met her back in our college days.
I thought it was an interesting question. In an age where a lot of professional advice revolves around knowing/building “your personal brand”, what is the difference between brand and personality? More importantly, why does drawing a line between the two even matter?
To my mind, the big difference between brand and personality is that brand is mostly about perception and control. Brand is how others perceive you, and is something that you have a large (but not total) influence over. Personality is about how you act and react. Some of that might move into being part of your brand, but it’s also not something that can be changed easily. Personality is also more subtle than brand.
For example, part of my “brand” is that I’m a Harley-Davidson motorcycle riding, marathon running, software developer. Middle-aged, straight, white, male software developers are only slightly less common than dirt in my professional world. Software devs who show up riding motorcycles and take their weekends to go run marathons are significantly less common. Some of that is obviously marketing, but the idea is that if some of my peers are referencing me but don’t know my name, “that guy with the Harley who runs marathons” will probably suffice, at least in local circles.
The thing is, I could trade my Harley for a used Camaro tomorrow and quit running marathons in favor of becoming a top tier War Thunder player. I’d still have something memorable to be known by. Personality, though, I can’t change so easily. I’m driven, an introvert, loyal, and maybe perceived as a little aloof because of the whole introvert thing. I can work on faking some level of extrovert when I’m out in public and maybe change people’s perceptions of my personality a bit, but at my core, that’s not changing much, and really hasn’t for a very long time.
Why does any of this matter? Because your brand can change, and not always by choice. What if part of my brand is being a software engineer, and then suddenly, I’m not one anymore? Or I suddenly find that my marathon days are over, not by choice, but by physical necessity? That changes my brand, it doesn’t change who I am at my core.
To use a recent corporate example, Bud Light tried and failed to change their brand and appeal to a different audience. They didn’t change anything about what’s inside the can. Crack open a cold Bud Light today and it’s the same mediocre, barely above average macro brew that it’s always been.
Have a brand, and define your brand in a way that suits you. As Maxim 16 from The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries says: “Your name is in the mouth of others: be sure it has teeth.” Just don’t let your personal brand define you