Executive Presence, Second Edition: The Art of Commanding Respect Like a CEO, 2nd Edition

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Self-Branding Is No Longer a Choice

Strategies to Make Your Personal Brand Stand Out

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WE LIVE IN a society that defines itself through branding. We rarely describe our favorite jeans by color or style; we identify them—and their place in the social pecking order—by their brand. We do the same thing with our preferred coffee shops, cars, bars, computers, ketchup, peanut butter, phones, golf balls, restaurants, and even hospitals. Our grandfathers divided themselves into “Ford men” and “Chevy men,” which is nothing more than branding manifesting itself as a middle-class colloquialism. Such groups still exist: You’re into Macs or PCs, and rarely will the twain meet.

This reliance on branding to fuel our self-image—and ...