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perceive you. If others perceive you differently from who you actually believe you are inside, you’re probably not communicating the brand you want.

      Think: On the one hand, branding is a fairly rational exercise, so our brains have a lot to do with how we think about brands. There are logical reasons why we choose one brand over another. The same holds true in leadership personal branding—what do others think about you?

      Feel: On the other hand, branding is also an emotional process. Earlier in the chapter, you thought about brands that have earned your loyalty over the years. Stop and reflect on one of those brands right now. What is the feeling you have about that brand? Trust? Admiration? Gratitude? We establish connections with brands, and these connections go far beyond what the products actually do for us. We’re loyal to these brands based on emotional connections—and it’s the same with leadership personal branding. The way people feel about you has a profound influence on your success. The stronger the connections you create with others, the more powerful your individual brand will be.

      Colleagues’ Brands at Work

      Still don’t believe the average person has a brand? Think of someone in your current job who is enjoyable to be around—the kind of person you look forward to seeing and speaking with every morning. Stop for a moment and consider: How do you perceive this person? What do you think about this individual? How does he or she make you feel?

      Now, consider a different person you work with who—let’s be honest—you really don’t enjoy working with all that much. It’s that one person who seems to cause you problems and tie your stomach in knots. How do you perceive him or her? What do you think about this individual? How does this person make you feel?

      Can you see how these two people have very different “brands”? And their brands have nothing to do with who they think they are. Their brands exist in your mind, based on how you perceive, think, and feel about them. And if they haven’t taken the time to define their best possible leadership personal brands, they may be seriously limiting their success by presenting themselves in a way that is different from how they want to be seen.

      The Experience of YOU™

      As a brand passionista, I enjoy finding analogies between corporate brands and personal brands. With that in mind, here’s a favorite that absolutely speaks to the importance of creating a powerful leadership personal brand. (See how long it takes you to figure out which corporate brand I’m describing.)

      •If you had invested $10,000 in this company when it first went public in 1992, it would be worth more than $1,000,000 today.

      •According to an article on Forbes.com, this brand currently has approximately 18,000 stores located in over 50 countries.

      •If you haven’t guessed it yet, this should help: Every morning, millions of people start their days by visiting one of this company’s outlets for their favorite cup of java.

      Yes, indeed, I’m talking about Starbucks.

      Now, a lot (and I mean a lot) has been talked about, written about, and discussed about the Starbucks brand—and for good reason. Starbucks became the game-changer for the centuries-old, staid coffee industry.

      But what can Starbucks’ branding success teach you about your own brand? What follows is an analogy originally based on a Brandweek magazine article (with updated statistics to reflect today’s prices):

      •Coffee, when it is in its natural bean state, is a commodity that sells for about 3 to 5 cents per cup.

      •Add packaging and a brand name to that coffee, place it on a grocery store shelf, and the price rises to 10 to 50 cents per cup.

      •That same coffee offered up with service and a smile (say, at a Dunkin’ Donuts) increases the price to about $1-$2 per cup.

      •Then there’s Starbucks, which sells its coffee worldwide for anywhere from $4 to $8 per cup. Imagine—people flock there by the millions to spend four times more for a cup of coffee than anywhere else.

      How does Starbucks get us to spend so much more of our hard-earned cash—and feel good about it while we’re doing it? Because it offers its consumers so much more than just a good cup of coffee; it provides a rewarding coffee experience. At Starbucks, we’re paying for the pleasure of taking a break during the day—watching the skilled baristas concoct our favorite choca-locca-mocha-frocha (I can never get those names right) and enjoy a relaxing chat with friends after a night out.

      That’s what differentiates Starbucks from the dozens of other coffee brands out there and what has built such strong brand loyalty through the years, despite its higher price tag. So, what does this demonstrate?

      People will pay more for a superior experience.

      Applying this truth to your own brand as a leader means that if you want to earn more money, advance in your career, and rise to positions of greater responsibility, you must think about the experience you offer on the job. Think about it … would you want to work with you? What would it be like to be your colleague, your peer, your boss, or your direct report? What would that experience be like? Again, it’s all about the way key people perceive, think, and feel about YOU™.

      Taking Control of YOU™

      As I said earlier, you already have a leadership personal brand, even if you didn’t think you needed or wanted one. Your brand may be out there doing its thing, creating perceptions about YOU™ without you even being aware of it. People may be thinking and feeling about you in ways that aren’t at all how you want to be perceived, just like Alfred Nobel. Most people I’ve met find this idea intriguing … and a little bit scary. They don’t like the idea that their personal brands may be running amuck without knowing what to do about it.

      The leadership personal branding system in this book will help you uncover and eliminate any disconnect between how others see your brand and how you want to be seen. Some of the questions you will answer as you move through the steps of the system are:

      •How do you take control of your leadership brand if it exists in the minds of others?

      •What can you do to make sure your brand as a leader is what you want it to be?

      •How do you want others to perceive, think, and feel about you?

      •How can you make your leadership personal brand something that is definable and that you own?

      •How do you communicate your brand effectively?

      Your Leadership Personal Brand Triangle™

      Take a look at the Leadership Personal Brand Triangle™ in the graphic below. This is a concept I developed to help you understand how well your current brand is aligned with your desired brand.

      For your brand to be strong, all of the descriptions at the three points of your triangle should be the same. How do you get a crystal clear and consistent grip on what those three points stand for right now? Do what I call “The Five Words Exercise”:

      Step 1. Sit down and ask yourself: “What five adjectives would I use to describe myself as a leader at work?” Don’t overthink it, but do think in both positive and negative terms. An example might be: Strategic, hardworking, intelligent, team player, impatient. Write down your five words right now.

      Step 2. Ask: “What five adjectives would I like others to use to describe me as a leader at work?” This is the foundation of your desired leadership personal brand. Write down those five words as well. How similar or different are they from the first set of words?

      Step 3. Next, recruit someone you trust to be your “brand ambassador.” Give that person the names of five to ten individuals to interview

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