The Person to See

Some Words Of Wisdom From The Best

I was listening to an interview with burgeoning NBA star Tyson Chandler of the New Orleans Hornets.  He recounted a conversation he had with Michael Jordan when Jordan was President of the Washington Wizards.  The Wizards were thinking of drafting Chandler so he and Jordan Met one-on-one.

According to Chandler Jordan told him...

"The game will give you back what ever you give it.  What you do in the dark when no one is watching will determine what you get when the lights go on."

Young Chandler apparently took Jordan to heart.  Today much like Jordan used to do, Chandler works out everyday, including game days.  Sometimes twice a day.

Are you putting in the hours when no one is watching?

The Man With No Brand Finds His Brands In Defeat

For many in America Governor Mitt Romney's personal brand remained elusive.  The Las Vegas Review Journal even ran a poll asking people" What top three words come to mind when you think of the leading presidential candidates?"

While Hillary Clinton registered as a Feminist, John McCain a Military Hero and Barack Obama Hope believe it or not the phrase that came to mind with Mitt Romney was "I don't know."  No doubt Romney has struggled mightily with this issue throughout his campaign but I think he finally found his footing.  Ironically, it happened when he bowed out of the race yesterday.

In Romney's own words "I joined this race because I love my country and it is because I love my country that I now withdraw from the race" (Not an exact quote but close enough).

My wife summed up Romney's personal brand best, A True Gentleman.

Now if only Mike Huckabee would get a clue.  Talk about a guy loving the sound of his own voice. 

Great Personal Brands Aren't Made Over Night

I'm not a big fan of reality TV shows.  But one recently caught my eye. America's Got Talent.  It is very much akin to American Idol with one big difference.  The act include more than just singers.  There are dancers, magicians, acrobats, impersonators, etc.  The winner wins $1million dollars.

This Tuesday they will announce the winner. There are four finalists.  Three pure singers and one ventriloquist.  They are all extraordinarily talented.  The ventriloquist however is the personal brand which caught my eye and won my heart and ultimately my vote (although I didn't actually vote).  His name is Terry Fator.

You see two years ago he did a one man show and only one person showed up.  One!  He was going to quit but something inside told him to persevere.  Last Tuesday millions of people watched him perform. He is on the verge of winning $1million dollars.

The message is pretty clear.  Don't give up. You can have all the talent in the world but if no one knows who you are it doesn't matter how good you are.  And it takes a lot of hard work to get known.  Most people just don't have the fortitude to stay in the game.  Than again that is why there are so few great personal brands out there..

Sycophants are Bad for Our Personal Brands

If you are smart, as your personal brand becomes more and more attractive you will make sure to surround yourself with people who continue to help you stay grounded rather than vacuous sycophants who laud your every word and deed because they are desperate for your approval.

So often as we become more and more successful (i.e. make more and more money) we have a tendency to intentionally isolate ourselves from the advice of others who may have important constructive feedback for us.  Instead, we surround ourselves with people who tell us what we want to hear as opposed to what we need to hear.  Don't make this mistake.

I once asked four term Governor of New York George Pataki how he was able to get elected to an unprecedented four terms.  His answer was, "Because I never believed my own baloney.  I always surrounded my self with people who had the freedom to tell me the way it was even if it involved my behavior."

The perfect example of this misguided philosophy is Barry Bonds.  Believe it or not there are actually apologists out there for this guy.  Check out these Beverly Hills bozos.  Are they for real?  You have to wonder how guys so out of touch with reality could build financial empires.

Bad Personal Brand's are Dragging Down Professional Sports

Thank God the Commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell, finally mustered the guts to tell some of these thugs in the league "Enough is enough. No more!"  The suspensions of the Tennessee Titans' Pacman Jones for one year without pay for engaging in criminal behavior and the eight game suspension of Chris Henry of the Cincinnati Bengals for the same reason are long overdue.

Had they not been reigned in, these jerks were well on their way to doing irreparable harm to the NFL's, the game's and their teammates brands.  The criminal behavior has actually gotten so bad that there is a site devoted to tracking it!  It is called NFL Crimes.com

Even NFL Player's Union President Gene Upshaw who is usually a shill for the players essentially said, you gotta do what you gotta do.

Hopefully, NBA Commissioner David Stern and MLB Commissioner Bud Selig will wake up and get a hold of their sports as well.   

Great Personal Brands Always Keep Their Cool

Screaming at someone with whom you have a disagreement is never a good way to add to your personal brand equity, even when you have the facts on your side.

Just take a look at Bill O'Reilly going at it with Geraldo Rivera on O'Reilly's The Factor.  O'Reilly is certainly arguing on behalf of a noble cause (i.e.had Alfredo Ramos who is an illegal immigrant with a prior drunk driving conviction been deported he would not have driven drunk and killed two young girls in Virginia this past week).

However, O'Reilly comes across as a lunatic and in the end undermines his own personal brand credibility as well as detracts from the credibility of his otherwise substantial point of view.

The message here: Always keep your cool.  If you do, people may not agree with your point of view, but they will almost always respect you for your class.   

Real Reform Includes Both Sides of the Aisle

The 2007 National Conference on Media Reform which was held in Memphis was little more than a far left love fest.  Headlined by such mainstream, open-minded, nationally recognized personal brands as Bill Moyers, Jesse Jackson and the always compromising Senator Bernie Sanders the only reform the participants were interested in was that which was aligned with their own narrow minded philosophies.

Conspicuously absent were any critical thinkers on the right: Bill O'Reilly, Laura Ingraham, Thomas Sowell, Larry Elder, Fred Barnes, etc.

What in God's name are these people afraid of?  It is like they live in a world isolated from reality. Don't they ever get tired of hosting these self-satisfying orgies (e.g. the Oscars, etc.)?

It is so obvious why all of their media programs are an abject failure (Jesse Jackson's radio & TV shows, every program on Air America, etc.)

NBA Players fight for the Right to Cry During the Game

As I post week after week on the personal brands of today's newsmakers I repeatedly find myself coming back to the importance of self-awareness.  Something the NBA Players Association ironically seems to be unaware of lately.

The NBA Front Office's latest rule prohibiting players this year from yelling and abusing the referees when they disagree with the ref's call has been met with a lawsuit from the Players Association.  Presumably, the jist of the suit is that players are angry that they are no longer able cry and complain like two year old spoiled brats when things don't go their way.

Note to the Players and their reps.  The rule is designed to protect you!  Your immature antics are alienating the fans not to mention degrading the quality of the game.

Stern was smart to nip this anti-social behavior in the bud.  Otherwise, the NBA was likely to return to the inglorious years of the 70's when the inmates were running the asylum and the league was teetering on the edge of irrelevancy.       

The Couric effect is having impact

In 1998 Katie Couric lost her husband, Jay Monahan to colon cancer.  Vowing to do her part to raise awareness of this potentially life threatening disease, Katie underwent a colonoscopy on live TV before her Today Show audience.  As a result of Katie's selfless act, colonoscopies went up 20% that year.  This came to be known as the Couric effect.

We have seen the Couric effect at work once again this week.  On September 5th Katie took over the anchor spot on CBS' Evening News.  The results are in for the first week: Katie was number one in the ratings every night.

As to Katie's long-term success the jury will have to wait.  Is the spike in the ratings temporary?  And more importantly, is Katie's personal brand appeal enough to stop the erosion of the mainstream media's viewership numbers?

Popularity amongst the big three evening news programs is what is interesting in the short-run.  Overall viewership market-share is what will determine whether Katie is worth her 15 million dollar salary (Are more people watching the CBS Evening News than before Katie came on board?)

I don't think so.  But I've been wrong before.  

Predictability of Republican mouthpieces undermines their credibility

Rush Limbaugh's and Sean Hannity's predictability renders them all but irrelevant when it comes to serious debate of the important issues of the day.  Regardless of the issue I always know what Limbaugh's and Hannity's position will be: partisan.

If you want to build personal brand equity as a critical thinker on the important issues of the day then I suggest you look for opportunities to surprise people every now and again on where you stand on a particular issue.  It is especially credible when you speak out against those on your own team.

Whenever Limbaugh and Hannity start spouting the party line in an attempt to defend fellow Republicans who are guilty of legal or moral transgressions I tune them out.  To me, intellectual dishonesty in the name of partisanship is a lot of blah, blah, blah.

Don't you agree?