Valued reader, every word you utter about yourself is a strong statement, a clear stage direction to indicate how others should perceive you, think about you and talk about you. All signals have an effect. They spread explosively, virally, irrepressibly and - because they are informal - extremely effectively. Every word. Word for word. Throughout the world. Whenever people pick up on these words, your reputation and your influence, as well as those of your business, become traded currency.

Every instance of communication, whether by email, text, blog or tweet, letter or card, phone call or conversation, feeds a state into which everything flows: the words, the attitude, the mood, the intention.Greatness, foresight, expertise but also complicated interactions, confusion, aloofness, dependence and powerlessness are imperceptibly absorbed with the words. When influential and successful people talk about you, these emotional associations are passed on directly.

There is no competition for you in your field, there are positive bonds. There is no market, there is your unique ambition that others can see. There is no comparison, there is your purpose that makes you unmistakable and attractive. Your greatness is to be lived, resonating well with other great personalities.

You send out so many signals, every day you answer dozens of emails, write letters and cards. What are you expressing about yourself? Do you ALWAYS use impressive words that others can pass on? Is it EASY for others to pass on these impressive words?

Can others recognize unconditionally how you exert influence, what you achieve and what drives and moves you simply from what you say about yourself?

Almost nothing is as difficult as consistently transmitting positive signals about your own greatness and that of others. You move in a demanding environment, every word, every nuance is significant. Everything is seen in context and needs to be consistent and congruent. That's a given in your everyday life. You're familiar with this approach in terms of your output, but not necessarily in relation to your personality.

Your personality reveals itself in how appreciatively you speak about others, whether you denigrate anyone, what surprises you, who impresses you, which invitations you accept and which you decline, what presents you give and to whom, what greetings cards you buy, who you sit with on a panel, to whom you grant an interview and about what, how you treat recruitment consultants and so on. This is how you signal your greatness. Everything you post, write or say leads 1:1 back to your personality without any kind of intellectual distortion. That's how it should be.

Contrast this with the negative effect of job seekers who give the impression they are more interested in the benefits of the job than the demands it will make. Or if, instead of the very best, a top manager presents inexpensive chocolates to congratulate someone on winning a quality award. Or if top managers, when thanking someone in a speech, subtly trivialize the achievements for which thanks are due, or neglect to introduce themselves or to explain the relationship between the current subject and their own major concerns. These too establish the brand.


This is how your brand evolves, constantly extending its reach within the company, in your relevant community or in public, too, as a great reputation.

Dorothea Assig: Outstanding careers. Dorothee Echter: Top management. Expertise. Worldwide. Your brand is the means of interpreting your accomplishments. It is the framework for your achievements, your power to achieve. Only then can others interpret the facts. Without this framework, the numbers are just numbers, success isn't perceived. Your brand directs. Your brand characterizes in bold terms the essence of who you are, what you are capable of and what you wish to achieve in the world, the principles underlying your actions, where your ambition is leading you. A clear perspective. Naturally. Self-assured.

Because the internal dynamics governing success are just as sub-concious as putting the brakes on it, formulating one's own brand is impossible. Companies who tried having an in-house branding department have found this out the hard way. A competent external vision is required.

An effective brand is

• substantial, original, succinct and pithy,

• completely positive, beyond compare, unique,

• recognizably signals the topic,

• stretches into the future strategically and with perspective,

• elevated and idealized, without trivializing and minimizing,

• with a strong affinity to the relevant community, in this case, to top management.