How many former high-fliers at Lehman, AIG, and Merrill Lynch are regretting not having published their personal branding book before their companies blew up? This is your wake up call!

 “Even if you are called a full-time employee, you’re becoming less of an employee of an organization than you are a seller of your services to particular customers and clients, under the organization’s brand name. Accordingly, your income will depend on how much those buyers are willing to pay for your serves, and the reputation of the [your] brand that attracts them to you.” So notes Robert Reich, secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton in his book "The Future Of Success" (Vintage Books/Random House, NY NY).

He explains that, “Large companies are ripping out entire bureaucracies—using computer software to streamline all billing, procurement and inventory; shifting customer service to Internet; renting space and equipment instead of buying them’ and relying on Internet auctions to subcontract almost everything to the lowest reliable bidder. Forget the old pyramid-shaped organization. If the current trend continues, tomorrow’s enterprise will be little more than a chain of contracts, with an auction at each link designed to get the best deal for each business customer along the way.”

This is the argument for why ambitious individuals must establish their personal brand and their importance outside of a corporate or institutional setting.   You are on your own now, and we have all become free-lancers, regardless of what corporate logo may be on your current business card. One look at this week’s headlines and you have to wonder how many fomer high fliers at Lehman or AIG or Merrill Lynch are regretting having put off writing that book which was going to explain their personal philosophy and approach to wealth creation.  The time to begin your book is now.
 

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