In Reality Check, and in this post, Guy Kawasaki points out that the most important branding lesson is served up by Tams Art Gallery. There they specialize in making “chops,” or seals. It’s all they do. So, what’s the lesson?

Do one thing well.

Upon reading this, it occurred to me that while lots of us can do many things, it’s the one thing we do that sets apart and is the foundation for our success. Yet, often that one thing is intertwined with who we are, and central to living a fulfilled life. Indeed, the secret to life as revealed by Curly Washburn, in City Slickers, is finding that one thing.

Takes effort, but it’s well worth it.

One of the interviews in Guy Kawasaki’s Reality Check is with Chip and Dan Heath, authors of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. In the interview they lay out six principles that are true of all sticky ideas, though not all ideas will necessarily have all six. The principles are summed up in the acronym SUCCESS; from their website excerpts, they are:   

• Simplicity: The idea is memorable; it is both simple and profound. 
  

• Unexpectedness: The idea is counterintuitive; it violates people’s expectations thereby engaging.

• Concreteness: The idea is expressed in specific, concrete statements or images, not abstractions.

• Credibility: The idea has credentials because it’s endorsed by an authority or offers a way for people to test the idea via their own experience.

• Emotions: The idea is able to establish an emotional connection, and get people to care.

•  Stories: The idea is shared via story.

In a short-hand summary, the authors note that an idea is sticky because it is a Simple Unexpected Concrete Credentialed Emotional Story.

Think this could apply to your success? I do. So, this book is definitely on my reading list (and it's about time!).

Sometimes it's what don't say that shows what really matters - and makes the emotional connection. So, if you think your brand is what you say about yourself, take a look at this.

In his excellent and rich, Personality Not Included, Rohit Bhargava, discusses why corporations need to move beyond facelessness, and develop a personality to make an emotional connection with customers. As he discusses how to define your organization's personality, he lays out the importance of the backstory:

A backstory is the history behind the organization and how it became what it is today. It is not a timeline of accomplishments or the boilerplate history that can often be found on company Web sites. The backstory is something more meaningful. It has real characters and a believable tale of how these characters had to evolve and overcome challenges in order to make their business successful.

While reading this book, it occurred to me that there are a lot of faceless professionals. They are people who expect their title and resume will speak for them. They don’t really get the need to show real personality in their communications – especially their LinkedIn profile. This is unfortunate.

In a world awash in qualified people, your title and timeline of accomplishments simply aren’t enough.  You need to establish the arc of your career, going beyond what you can do to highlight the pivotal experiences, events, conflicts, and insights. You need to tell people where you came from and where you’re headed. It makes you human, creates an emotional connection, and makes you more attractive.

In short, you too need a backstory. So, what’s yours?

This weekend, I set aside time to ready two short books on storytelling. One book was on the relation story to personal brand, the other on story as a driver in careers.  While one was a somewhat frustrating read, the second had the virtue of actually providing real stories from real people as examples. Still, I was not wholly satisfied.

Just as I was ready to call it a day, I read an excellent post by my friend and colleague Carol Ross, "What's Your Story?" In it, Carol shares a learning from her Lift Off retreat Pamela Slim and Charlie Gilkey. After explaining why "What you give to others, you cannot give to yourself," She outlines several principles of story that truly resonate: 

• Story not only transforms the listener. It transforms the story-teller. 
• Story becomes a neon green marker in our memories.
• Story is empowering.
• Your story evolves, as you evolve.

Now, go read Carol’s post. It’s a great story!

This morning, I read an opinion that argued the futility of “the unemployed” cultivating an online brand. After reading, I thought the author was demonstrating a certain intellectual arrogance. Subsequently, I decided there was also a certain relentlessness in the piece, probably because the author took more than a thousand words to say what could have been said in…oh…perhaps six hundred.

Sure, this kind of writing offers a certain entertainment value, and probably should be taken in that light. Still, to ignore the fact that 79 percent of recruiters source candidates on the web, and suggest there’s no point in cultivating an online presence seems irresponsible.  But hey! That’s my opinion!

By the way, in case you’re wondering about the need to cultivate an online presence, consider these statistics:

• 79% of US hiring managers and recruiters reviewed online information about job applicants. (Microsoft, 2009)
• 70% of US hiring managers rejected candidates based on what they found. (Microsoft, 2009)
• 45% of employers use social networking sites to research job candidates, a big jump from 22 percent last year. Another 11 percent plan to start using social networking sites for screening. (Career Builder, 2009)
• 76% of executives expect companies and recruiters to conduct a search of their name online during the hiring process, yet 22% have never entered their own name into a search engine to determine what personal or professional information is uncovered. (Execunet, 2007)

 Yes, it’s just like Woody Allen says, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.”

In his excellent book, Linchpin: Are You Indispensible?, Seth Godin references a challenge from corporate coach, Deanna Vogt. It's to fill in the blanks in the following sentence:

I could be more __________, if only __________.

Frankly, I think this is a tough question. And part of the problem, at least for me, is that the specifics can change over time. Today, this is my response:

I could be more focused and productive, if only there weren't so many interesting distractions.

What's yours?