Stories for Work

Chapter 9 Stories that work for your personal brand

Whether you realise it or not, you have a personal brand. Your personal brand is unique, it is you — what you do, how you do it, what you value, and how you communicate that.

These are all very important things to consider in business, especially if you’re a leader or in a position of authority. Stories can help you keep ‘on brand’ when you’re communicating — either in person or online.

So what do we really mean by ‘personal brand’? Tom Peters, business management expert and best-selling author of The Brand You 50, coined the term ‘personal brand’. He said, ‘“Brand You” is a pragmatic, commercial idea. It’s how to survive as the shit-hits-the-white-collar fan. But it’s also about opportunity. And liberation’.

Author and speaker Ron Deal says your brand ‘tells the world what you stand for, what your values are, what your expertise is, and ultimately why the world should even care’. Whereas Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, summarises your brand as ‘what people say about you after you leave the room’.

I agree with all of these ideas but, when it comes to storytelling, I believe your brand is the stories people share about you when you are not there. This is obviously influenced by the stories you share with them.

Remember, every story you share will affect your brand. That’s what you have to be most aware of and why you need to select the right stories in the right situations (which you will know how to do by the end of this ...