Today saw the launch of Ford Nation’s own TV channel on You Tube. Rob Ford is giving you a lesson in personal branding. By now I cannot believe that Rob Ford needs any introduction. In the last few months he has become a top joke line on nearly all US late night shows, made numerous front pages and generally has been at the centre of controversy after blunder. But the… Read More »What Rob Ford Can Teach You About Personal Branding
Probably one of the most recognised political personal leadership brands, Margaret Thatcher, passed away recently. I grew up in the UK at the time she rose to power and changed the perception of Britain both domestically and internationally. Not universally loved for sure, she may not have been everyone’s favourite person, but she certainly lived up to the key aspects of a strong personal brand; Clarity – even though originally she… Read More »How Strong is Your Leadership – As Strong as The Iron Lady?
“Even if I don’t finish, we need others to continue. It’s got to keep going without me.” Terry Fox He firmly believed in his vision and made it a mission of the Terry Fox run to allow anyone to run without registering, or having to pay fees or raise minimum amounts. "When I started this run, I said that if we all gave one dollar, we’d have $22 million… Read More »How strong is your vision?
Athlete……Survivor…..Philanthropist……Cheat? Sadly, unless there is a definitive answer, that final attribute will now always be associated with Lance Armstrong's personal brand. But always with a question. We all know him through those first three attributes, the question is can we ever not think of him without the last one? Both sides were always too far apart for this to be concluded with anything other than the wrong result. Witnesses and experts on… Read More »Why Lance’s Personal Brand Will Continue to Live Strong
Given the plethora of TV shows – everybody's got talent. One of the fun activities at our recent family camp was 'Talent Night'. Whilst it is generally arranged for the children to participate, we could not resist. We ended up delivering a re-worked version of LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem" based on the camp. We managed to stay on stage! But will not be threatening LMFAO's status anytime soon! They certainly have… Read More »Everybody’s Got Talent – Are people noticing yours?
Through my wife's business I have had the opportunity to be connected to Keith Kochner at Mentorfish.com for the last few months and have found his teaching exactly what we need in the 21st century. Lots of great content, he is prolific with new insights and learnings – even for someone like me who tends to explore and read a lot! Keith is coming to Toronto next week to hold… Read More »What is holding you back from your personal brand?
This weekend see's the induction of Guns & Roses in to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland – minus Axl Rose. In fact his long running dispute with some of the original band members seems to be continuing to the point where he has asked not to be included in to the induction. With very lawyer type language and a very impersonal letter to "the hall, band… Read More »Why having an Axl to grind damages your personal brand
Okay, I admit it, he got me – April Fool. One of my favourite business people Sir Richard Branson announced that due to the uncertainty over currency fluctuations for vacationers he was launching his own currency within Virgin Holidays. Of course the launch was the morning of April 1st! What made it such a good April fool trick was that given his personal brand this actually could be the kind of… Read More »Who are you fooling with your personal brand?
My trip last weekend to keynote at Ball State University took me in to the heart of basketball country. Everywhere you looked there was connection to the game. Coupled with this has been the meteoric rise of Jeremy Lin over the past two weeks. A social media personal branding sensation. It was a case of basketball, basketball, basketball! It truly has been LINsanity (he has just applied to trademark that… Read More »Is Your Personal Brand LINtastic?
Do you love YOU enough? How often do you take time to reflect on your strengths? I would quite confidently suggest very little. In my work with leaders and employees in Fortune 500 Companies the most under leveraged part of their personal brands are their core strengths. Your core strengths are the things that you do so naturally and so well that you perform them almost sub-consciously. When I… Read More »What’s Love Gotta Do With It? – Your Personal Brand That Is!