I get that personal branding is important and is a way for people to take the complexities of the individual and summarize that in a simple way. That is the nature of the world today where most people don’t have time to waste and will only give you seconds to minutes to make an impression.
Maybe it is just me but I cringe when people say they are a brand because I want to get to know people not a brand. I know the need but can’t get behind the deed. For me I am who I am for better or worse. I fall, I fail, I sometimes even succeed but I am not trying to be anything but that.
A person that is a brand is putting a laser focus on what they do best and that becomes their point of difference in a crowded mediascape. When you dig past the superficial nature of a brand a person is still a person and it is not easy to separate the two nor should they be. Branding is not an identity, it isn’t a personality although that is a part of it. For personal branding it is the act of simplifying and striping away who you are and packaging it up for people to understand.
In the end though I want to know people as people, a person who is willing to be who they are, irreverence, passion and quirks that make them feel less packaged and more real is better than a personal brand any day of the week for me.