Personal Branding – “Who are you?” A poem by Oscar Wilde

Little white lie as I’m the poet and not Oscar Wilde. As we speak the Dublin City Council have a kango hammer removing his statue in Merrion Square to replace it with mine. Last week I reached for my quill and dipped it into the ink. A mist of inspiration and creativity descended and I started to write a poem. Ok enough of that – what actually inspired the poem? Dan Schawbel is a leading Personal Branding Expert in the US and he posted a discussion on LinkedIn – “Can you sum up your brand in 1-3 words?” I delivered my answer in poem format. You can read this masterpiece below and I will explain all later. (Don’t worry Fred & Facundo the poem is still classified as unique content for Google :-))

Paul Mullan (by Paul Mullan)

Challenge from Dan to communicate my brand in three
A simple task posing great difficulty for me
I don’t think three words can truly tell who we are
As my brand is complex like Pandora in the movie Avatar

I am passionate and energetic but my words could be lies
When you meet me these qualities will be hard to disguise
I am funny, I laugh and I love what I do
I’m about helping people be happy in work too

I am creative, risk taking, full of ideas on a plate
To help increase visibility and opportunity generate
I encourage, I guide and help overcome fears
To help you take action to land dream careers

My personality is part of what makes my brand unique
But its matched by knowledge which is both wide and deep
Dan’s not happy coz I overshot the word runway by miles
So my brand in three words “Generating Career Smiles”

This poem was me having a bit of fun but like all my fun there is a serious message too.

Personal Marketing (AKA Personal Branding) is important for everyone whether you are self-employed or an employee. How we market ourselves to others is a key ingredient for career success. Self Marketing effectiveness requires the ability to understand ourselves and communicate our message clearly and consistently. Most people can’t define their brand full stop never mind in 1-3 words. I found it hard to put “me” into three words and this is why I went for the poem. It is time that people started thinking about branding especially if you agree with my view “Permanent Jobs for Life – RIP”. It is important that we all do Dan’s exercise but perhaps without the tight word limit.

There was actually more to writing this poem than just answering Dan’s question. Writing the poem sums up my mantra “activity, creativity and visibility” and ensures that I walk what I talk. Opportunities present themselves to those who go after them.

As always your comments make the world go round and I would love to hear your thoughts and views. For those feeling a bit more risky and up for some fun I am offering you a soap box to tell other readers about you and your brand. It can be 3 words, a paragraph, a poem, a limerick or a story to tell us how you see your brand or more importantly how others to see your brand.