At GROUP1201, we give every employee a pile of reading when they come on board. Included in it is a great article written by Tom Peters titled The Brand Called You. In it, Peters writes about the power of developing your individual business personality and cultivating an identity for yourself as a professional.

The central argument is that, by developing a strong personal brand, an individual builds trust in those whom they work for and with, which in turns creates the necessary latitude to allow for the type of risk taking required to truly move business forward under said employee's stewardship. Beyond simply building on success, an individual must also cultivate a unique business personality and become known for something invaluable to the entire enterprise. It's down and dirty separating from the herd kind of stuff, but frequently overlooked.

Read the article here: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/10/brandyou.html

... And who better to exemplify the power of personal brands than The Godfather of Soul, The Hardest Working Man In Show Business ... the one, the only ... Mr. James Brown. Seriously, anyone who's Wikipedia profilehas a subsection and four paragraphs dedicated to their legal issues, yet remained beloved and worshiped throughout life knows a thing or two about personal branding. He had more than a great voice and cool moves. He had a vibe. When you watched James Brown, you knew what to expect, but were always surprised when he took your expectations one level higher.

James Brown never veered from his personal brand. He just kept improving it. Watch these videos and tell us you don't feel instantly better about your day. Personal branding at its best.