Over the weekend I had the opportunity to be speaking in Rochester, New York to a group called Rochester Asian Networking, which is a getting together of Asian employees from the principal employers in the city – namely Xerox, ITT, Kodak and Bausch & Lomb.
There was an enthusiastic turnout on a Saturday morning and the day created quite a buzz. The message of using personal branding to manage your career in a corporate setting was well received. In particular several of us had an interesting discussion around this approach for a culture that typically might be considered more conformist than individual.
The emphasis of authenticity was particularly welcomed, there is always a discomfort in the expectation of having to be someone you are not – the right approach to personal branding is certainly not all about pizazz and no substance – quite the opposite.