The Brand You 50 : Or : Fifty Ways to Transform Yourself from an 'Employee' into a Brand That Shouts Distinction, Commitment, and Passion! [Hardcover]

Tom Peters (Author)

Book Description

Series: Reinventing Work | Publication Date: September 21, 1999

Michael Goldhaber, writing in Wired, said, "If there is nothing very special about your work, no matter how hard you apply yourself you won't get noticed and that increasingly means you won't get paid much either. In times past you could be obscure yet secure -- now that's much harder."

Again: the white collar job as now configured is doomed. Soon. ("Downsizing" in the nineties will look like small change.) So what's the trick? There's only one: distinction. Or as we call it, turning yourself into a brand . . . Brand You.

A brand is nothing more than a sign of distinction. Right? Nike. Starbucks. Martha Stewart. The point (again): that's not the way we've thought about white collar workers--ourselves--over the past century. The "bureaucrat" on the finance staff is de facto faceless, plugging away, passing papers.

But now, in our view, she is born again, transformed from bureaucrat to the new star. She works in a professional service firm and works on projects that she'll be able to brag about years from now.

I call her/him the New American Professional, CEO of Me Inc. (even if Me Inc. is currently on someone's payroll) and, of course, of Brand You.

Step #1 in the model was the organization . . .a department turned into PSF 1.0.  Step #2 is the individual . . .reborn as Brand You.

In 50 essential points, Tom Peters shows how to be committed to your craft, choose the right projects, how to improve networking, why you need to think fun is cool, and why it's important to piss some people off. He will enable you to turn yourself into an important and distinctive commodity. In short, he will show you how to turn yourself into . . . Brand You.


See also the other 50List titles in the Reinventing Work series by Tom Peters -- The Project50 and The Professional Service Firm50 -- for additional information on how to make an impact in the professional world.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If Dilbert and Tom Peters ever attended the same party, they'd probably find themselves in opposite corners. The cynical cartoon character would have a hard time in Peters's upbeat, high-energy world of "Cool-Beyond-Belief." The Brand You50 is Peters's manifesto for today's knowledge workers. It joins his Reinventing Work series, which includes The Projects50 and The Professional Service Firm50.

In The Brand You50, Peters sees a new kind of corporate citizen who believes that surviving means not blending in but standing out. He believes that "90+ percent of White Collar Jobs will be totally reinvented/reconceived in the next decade" and that job security means developing marketable skills, making yourself distinct and memorable, and developing your network ability. His list-filled prescriptions cover everything; for example, "You are Your Rolodex I: BRAND YOU IS A TEAM" (no. 22), "Consider your 'product line'" (no. 25), "Work on your Optimism" (no. 35), "Sell. SELL. SELL!!!" (no. 47). While the book is overwhelming at times--its hyperactive typography pretty much shouts at you--any baby boomer thinking about his or her career will find much to consider. --Harry C. Edwards

Review

Technology is changing almost everything. Management guru Tom Peters argues it's also going to change the entire landscape of work. In his set of self-help books for professionals, the Reinventing Work series, he declares that "90-plus percent of white-collar jobs will disappear."

Downsizing ain't over, but Peters claims he can help you through it.

The employment landscape is going to be full of "free agents," he says, and if these newly "freed" individuals want to succeed, they'll need a new approach to their jobs. One way is by approaching work as a set of projects. Find out what's most interesting about each project and thrive on that, Peters advises.

In his latest publishing project, Peters urges readers to forget about loyalty to a particular company and replace it with a self-motivated dedication to the work at hand.

The entire book series has the feel of something transcribed from one of Peters' motivational speeches; his use of bold letters, ellipses, exclamation points and oversize type is perhaps a better fit with the lecture circuit than the publishing world.

Knopf plans five books in the Reinventing Work series, but for now, there are three: The Brand You, The Project and The Professional Service Firm.

Each of the pocket-size hardbacks starts with a description of an unemployed, Dilbert-ized landscape, followed by 50 ways to sidestep such a fate. In The Brand You, the list of 50 ideas includes a chapter titled "'Inc.' Yourself." After a comment on the concept, Peters launches into The Nub, his plan for making the affirmations take flight. The idea is to visualize yourself as a company - with departments, goals, bottom lines, branding. The chapters close with a Thing to Do section. In this case, it's two things: adding an "Inc." to your name, and treating every to-do list like you're preparing for the next quarterly board meeting.

By turning everyday work into interesting and inspiring projects, Peters believes workers will become self-motivated, completed projects will become more innovative and companies will become less stagnant.

Peters constantly reassures readers that they are worthy of independence. Anyone can follow the path to success, he encourages, although he tempers his enthusiasm with comments like, "I'm not living in dreamland. I know not everyone can be a superstar."

The free-agent concept applies particularly well to the online industry, where companies must grow quickly to have more than a slim chance of succeeding. In a free-agent world, workers aren't disappointed when their company tanks, but instead move on to the next project. In fact, the rampant job-hopping in the Internet Economy has been one of the original drivers of the free-agent workforce. Establishing a reputation, networking and positioning one's easily digestible brand: That's perfect for the Net.

If you're looking for rose-colored lenses for your job, Peters has what you need. This self-help series is mostly about making work fun, which isn't a bad idea, after all.

- Laura Rich -- From The Industry Standard

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 1 edition (September 21, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375407723
• ISBN-13: 978-0375407727
• Product Dimensions: 4.4 x 1 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #66,831 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

125 of 131 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars My ears hurt!!!!!!, August 26, 2000

By 

Gene Bromberg - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Brand You 50 : Or : Fifty Ways to Transform Yourself from an 'Employee' into a Brand That Shouts Distinction, Commitment, and Passion! (Hardcover)

I remember an anecdote about a young writer who sent a manuscript to a famous author asking for criticism and advice (I forget who the famous author was. Faulkner?). The author graciously sent back a long, detailed reply which contained a nugget that I remember to this day. The author said, "You should be more judicious in your use of exclaimation points. A writer only gets to use three of them in his career." Meaning, of course, that if you overemphasize every other sentence, how to you get the reader to understand the importance of something that really needs the emphasis? If you have to use italics and caps and exclamation points to get your point across, you're choosing the wrong words.

Which brings us to Mr. Peters. If you're looking for some interesting and useful advice on how to market yourself and your career, this book is quite good. Peters does drive me up the wall a bit with his relentlessly energetic and optimistic tone, but he does give good advice. I don't think Tom takes into account how resistant some workplaces are to people who behave like he tells us to, and his irritating call to make everything you work on a "WOW" project makes me wonder if he knows what it's like to man the front-line trenches of corporate America. But again, what he writes is worth reading.

What I find fault with is the how Peters says it. He can't write a sentence without words in ALL CAPITALS and italics (which, alas, I can't show you in an Amazon review). And, of course, Peters loves exclamation points!!!! In fact the logo of his company is an exclamation point!!! He uses enough exclamation points that there is NO WAY to tell what is just ROUTINE INFORMATION and what is VERY, VERY IMPORTANT. See how INCREDIBLY IRRITATION this is??!!! Read "The Brand You 50" and you find all sorts of good info, but you'll have to hack through an ENTIRE BOOK that is written LIKE THIS!!!!!!!

37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a dangerous book..., January 23, 2000

By 

David E. Rogers (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Brand You 50 : Or : Fifty Ways to Transform Yourself from an 'Employee' into a Brand That Shouts Distinction, Commitment, and Passion! (Hardcover)

...if you're serious about personal and professional growth. In his typically no-holds-barred style, Tom Peters scores with 50 (plus) strategies for breaking the shackles of faceless employee-dom and turning you into a rock 'em, sock 'em mini-firm --complete with personal "brand" and a passion for constant renewal.

...if you feel discouraged in today's business culture. With down-to-earth, "I can do that" tactical suggestions, Peters relentlessy lifts your hopes and revives the dreams long suppressed by "corporate." Like his "live" lectures, you'll feel like you just attended a revival meeting.

...if you're looking for more than your job offers. The 50 strategies get your juices flowing, help you diagnose your current position, and plan for the future. The chapters may be bite-sized, but they provide more than enough food for thought and reflection. Read it with savor.

...because it can change your life! This book played a key role helping me decide to quit my job and reach for what I really want to do. Read at your own risk!

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just read it, November 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Brand You 50 : Or : Fifty Ways to Transform Yourself from an 'Employee' into a Brand That Shouts Distinction, Commitment, and Passion! (Hardcover)

Ever since he first blew my mind with "in Search of Excellence", Tom Peters has been on my "must read" list. He combines the utterly brilliant with the utterly obvious, fusing the two into the most powerful, most compelling vision of the possibilities of business I have ever encountered. I want to live in Tom's world, a world where work has meaning, purpose, passion and joy. "The brand you 50", is the latest chapter in this ongoing quest. If you have read his previous books, you will find no surprises, if you haven't, then read this book drunk, because he is going to scare the hell out of you. (and -maybe- set you free). In the book, Mr. Peters gives a list of things that an individual can do to thrive in the new economy. This is the Tom Peters vision of the world boiled down to its most pragmatic form. The author's views on what it takes to succeed has changed radically since "In Search of Excellence", but his absolute love for the topic burns hotter than ever. The only thing he could have done better would have been to combine "The Brand You 50", "The Project 50", and the "Professional Service Firm 50" into one book, instead of making me make three (expensive) trips to the bookstore.