Who are you...

My manicurist/nail tech once said to me, “I can’t imagine you getting angry.” HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Anyone who knows me from my days as a senior tech PR person would be incredulous. A cheerful, mellow Lisa Poulson? Impossible!
When I had my last day job, at a big multinational PR agency serving a big multinational enterprise technology company, there was almost never a moment when I was NOT angry.

But now, I have my own business as a communications coach serving clients I love. The work is rewarding. I have a great team around me. What’s there to be mad about? I even wrote an essay about the nicer me: Leaving the Bitch Behind.

But did I change? Or did I just extricate myself from the weight that was squashing my heart and my humanity to find the real me underneath? Dunno.

What I do know is that we all tell ourselves stories about who we are. When I was in my big job, it was easier to be scary, because then fewer people asked me for things and I maintained more control. I didn’t have to spend that much time defending my perimeter.

But maintaining a dark personal brand had consequences beyond work. I learned that the hard way.
What is your personal brand in our chaotic world? What do you want it to be?

Every choice you make builds your personal brand – whether you are zen-like or raging at the customer service agent at the airport, how you handle a team member resigning, how you respond when your CEO brings you yet another intractable business problem and expects you to solve it.

Whatever brand you choose, do it on purpose.