Ditch. Dare. Do!. William Arruda

world? Do you want to leave an enduring legacy? Do you want to do these things but can’t find the time or the vehicle? Or do you simply want to be fulfilled at work and happier in your life?

      We find that most executives relate to one or more of these questions, and sometimes their challenges are even more daunting. No matter your situation, we can tell you from coaching and training thousands of personal branding executive clients (including many in the Fortune 100) that the personal branding strategies in Ditch. Dare. Do! work.

       3D personal branding is the key—for you and your company!

      Branding boldly and practically, 3D-style, gives you permission to be yourself—your best self—to know that YOU are like no other (and to have your company know that, too!).

      In the words of Dr. Seuss, “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” You should trust that YOU are enough—that your particular combination of strengths, passions, and talents is exactly what is needed, and you build upon that—for yourself, your organization, and your teams. That’s why Ditch. Dare. Do! is subtitled 66 Ways to Become Influential, Indispensable, and Incredibly Happy at Work. Branded executives are fully and powerfully themselves, set firmly on a trajectory to ever more success and happiness at work (and in life and the world, too!).

      Before, the company brand was everything. Remember the “company man” of the not-too-distant past? Today, the individuals working in the company are the authentic face of the brand, not the reverse. Employees’ brands and their company’s brand are inextricably linked. The workforce itself is a part of the company’s marketplace strategy.

      The most successful companies recognize that employees are human brand assets. You need only view recent ad campaigns like GE’s “Pass the Wrench,” IBM’s “I’m an IBMer,” and Intel’s “Star” (featuring Ajay Bhatt) to see that these companies get it. All of these ads showcase employees as the brands’ greatest resources—the true value of the company.

      These companies know that when employees understand and apply their individual brands to the corporate mission, they create differentiation in the marketplace, build their constituencies’ trust, impact the bottom line, and win the game.

      In a white paper from the Economist Intelligence Unit and the IBM Institute for Business Value, Chris LeBlanc, corporate marketing manager at 3M Australia, asserts, “[We’ve entered] an era of collaboration and information-sharing and transparency, in which every employee has become a touch point. Everyone is responsible for communicating the company’s values, products and services. We are all messengers.”

       Your personal brand is that important!

      How to Use This Book

      The Ditch. Dare. Do! Guide

       We wrote Ditch. Dare. Do! with executives like you in mind.

      You know you can never stand still; you know you need to know more and be more to achieve and surpass your goals. You know you need to manage your career inside your organization as well as in your world—to build an internal brand that positions you for best-fit upward momentum that serves you and your organization. You know you need to be branded (or at least you’ve heard you should be), but your overloaded schedule makes “busy” seem like a vacation! You’re too busy working in your career to work on your career or your brand.

      We know your world—its triumphs and its troubles—because through the personal branding process, we’re granted entry into the worlds of our executive clients. We get to know them on a profound and trusted level—we know what they do, what they face, and what they want, and we’re privileged to witness how personal branding catalyzes their careers and their dreams.

      You’ll meet a number of our personal branding stars throughout this book—some by real name, others by pseudonym—and we hope their experiences will help you see that you, too, can “be a brand!” And we’ll share some of our own experiences in using personal branding to stand out. You’ll see that we practice what we preach.

      We purposely designed Ditch. Dare. Do! to be a bold and brief real-world instruction manual for continuously managing your career and achieving unstoppable momentum. Does it provide deeply specific, step-by-step instructions for all the nuances of branding? Nope. We wanted to give you a book you’d actually read, not one you’d avoid until you could fit it into your schedule.

      Ditch. Dare. Do! is deliberately succinct, designed to be read in one sitting or in brief bursts. But don’t let our brevity fool you—you’ll learn exactly what you need to do to know, show, and grow your brand. In fact, we’re so dedicated to maximizing your time while you’re building your brand that we even tell you how to start doing it in just nine minutes a day! (More on that later.)

      Our only caveat? No matter how eager you are to “dip in and do,” read the chapters in the order in which they are presented. Each chapter builds on the information and actions presented in previous chapters. It’s hard to be patient, but don’t let urgency inhibit understanding.

      We designed Ditch. Dare. Do! to be conversational, quick, and primed for action—to nurture new ideas and stimulate execution.

      Ditch. Dare. Do! is organized into three main sections—KNOW, SHOW, GROW—and a brief “take action” section, GO. Each covers a seminal aspect of the personal branding process.

      Part One, KNOW, is all about you. You’ll learn to become introspective. You’ll begin to understand what makes you, YOU, by looking inward and by seeking feedback about your professional reputation. But take courage in hand, because authenticity doesn’t come easily. Be patient, because before you get to the good stuff, like building loyal fans or getting that big promotion, you need to take the time and do the work to be clear about who you are and where you want to go. And bring your wellies: Discovering and refining your brand gets muddy before it gets clear.

      Once you’re clear, it’s on to Part Two, SHOW. In SHOW, it’s not about you anymore! Here, the focus shifts to others—the people who need to know you so you can reach your goals. You’ll identify them and develop leading-edge, branded communication materials you can use to inspire, engage, intrigue, influence, attract, and ______ (put YOUR preferred verb here!).

      Part Three, GROW, is about you and them. You’ll start to toot your own horn—without bragging—to go from invisible to ever-present. You’ll learn how to build your personal promotion plan and execute it in support of your goals. You’ll be real, you’ll be virtual, and you’ll be known online and offline. You’ll go from “Who?” to “Must know!” to “WOW!”

      Finally, to help keep you focused and turn learning into action, there’s Part Four, GO. GO outlines the most critical actions you must take to move your brand and career forward on the fast track or whatever the right track is for you.

       Here’s how it works:

      Each KNOW, SHOW, and GROW section starts with a QUICK QUIZ to assess the strength of your brand and then explores key concepts in six to eight action-inspiring chapters.

      Every chapter of every section contains three SNAPS—two-page, stand-alone executive brand topics designed to fit your schedule, spark your interest, and prime you for action—and they can be read in a “snap.”

      Each SNAP ends with a DITCH, a DARE, or a DO challenge:

      • A ditch replaces thinking and habits that aren’t helping you move forward.

      • A dare propels you to take new, exciting risks.

      • A do is a critical step you must execute to build your brand.

      Each