Excessive focus on a personal brand is terrible.
Personal branding — assuming brand can even be applied to a complex human being in the same way it can to a commodity — is mostly a by-product of something else: making valuable and meaningful contributions in your areas of interest.
People who tirelessly and directly work on personal brand often do so at the expense of other activities that matter. And at the extreme end, there are some who go as far as fraud just to build a name for themselves. (See this list of fraudulent Forbes 30 under 30 candidates for example).
Paradoxically, and as this paper about the ‘Best-New-Artist Grammy Nomination Curse’ puts it, if you seek recognition directly, you probably won’t do your best work. That’s because people-pleasing antics and unrealistic versions of success are a distraction from what really matters. In contrast, if you care less about public opinion and awards, you may find yourself producing better and more original work.
For these reasons I’m not sold on the idea of spending lots of time on a “personal brand”, especially if it precedes any meaningful contributions from an individual. Attempts to establish a personal brand without genuine achievement are, at best, fruitless busy work and, at worst, delusional.
Only a select few can pull off a personal brand. It emerges in its strongest form after incredible achievement. Beyonce, Michael Jordan, Steve Jobs: each of these individuals has a great personal brand. But in all cases their mastery of craft preceded mastery of image.
Chances are, you won’t tread the same path as Bey, Mike, or Steve. That’s okay. It means you can skip the personal branding frenzy. Instead, focus on doing exceptional work and contribute meaningfully in your areas of interest. Your reputation will naturally grow and you won’t have to rely on a contrived personal image to open doors. Let the superstars have their personal branding. For the rest of us, there are more impactful ways to invest our time.