Love this John. As an academic and a Brit, personal branding is the cringiest of cringe but I know now how important it is. I honestly learn so much from your posts, not only through the meticulousness of your research but the generosity of your lived experience and the confidence with which you have to stand in your own truth. 🙏
Regarding the topic of the article, your insights on personal brand as a differentiator in a AI-first world are truly perceptive. How do you envision this evolving for educational systems or labor policies to support more people, beyond those with direct strategic guidance?
Thanks so much! So glad the post some to your experience. As for the question, it’s a very good one. Salman Khan from Khan Academy has some interesting perspective, articulated in his book Brave New Words. Relative to the larger question around the labor market, I think much remains to be understand as the second and third order effect of this technological period are felt and what new industries will be created are better understood. That said, I would strongly expect that this period of our history will also require changes in the scope and function of our governments. Hope that helps! Big questions very much appreciated!
I’m learning this in real time too. Experience only creates leverage when it’s visible, articulated, and contextualized in a way that people connect with it and understand it. Quiet competence isn’t enough anymore. Or was it ever?
Side note: this isn’t just a creator-world truth. Inside organizations, leaders need a leader brand as well. A clear, lived definition of what you stand for, how you think, and what people can expect from you. If your team can’t describe your leadership in a sentence, you’re effectively invisible there too.
A great leader I had the privilege of learning from once told me, "Visibility isn’t ego. It’s responsibility."
This: “ I’m no longer hired to do the work that the company owner doesn’t want to be bothered with or doesn’t fully understand. I’m hired for my perspective. None of this was possible when I was just another LinkedIn resume.” PERSPECTIVE IS IT! Thanks for the read and reminder, John. 👍
This is great, John. What will be the true differentiator is one's uniqueness, one's POV, and one's own insights in one's voice. To do so, one needs to have developed taste, which is something that can erode with AI over time. It is those that cultivate their taste that will rise to the top. So glad that you are advising and learning from these participants in the program.
"The brutal truth? In 2-3 years, invisible professionals will be unemployable. Not because they lack skills, but because they’ll be indistinguishable from AI outputs."
The thoughts presented here John are invaluable, and the quote I pulled provided me with a real new way of looking at the way forward. What you are writing makes total sense, and we pay for what we value, which tends to be things where demand is greater than supply. AI is rapidly changing the supply of certain things, which is why demand is quickly changing.
Love this John. As an academic and a Brit, personal branding is the cringiest of cringe but I know now how important it is. I honestly learn so much from your posts, not only through the meticulousness of your research but the generosity of your lived experience and the confidence with which you have to stand in your own truth. 🙏
Thank you, Dr Sam. Personal branding feels awkward until it becomes service.
I hear you Sam. American by birth, European by heritage and choice, I also find it’s challenging to get over these beliefs .
Regarding the topic of the article, your insights on personal brand as a differentiator in a AI-first world are truly perceptive. How do you envision this evolving for educational systems or labor policies to support more people, beyond those with direct strategic guidance?
Thanks so much! So glad the post some to your experience. As for the question, it’s a very good one. Salman Khan from Khan Academy has some interesting perspective, articulated in his book Brave New Words. Relative to the larger question around the labor market, I think much remains to be understand as the second and third order effect of this technological period are felt and what new industries will be created are better understood. That said, I would strongly expect that this period of our history will also require changes in the scope and function of our governments. Hope that helps! Big questions very much appreciated!
I’m learning this in real time too. Experience only creates leverage when it’s visible, articulated, and contextualized in a way that people connect with it and understand it. Quiet competence isn’t enough anymore. Or was it ever?
Side note: this isn’t just a creator-world truth. Inside organizations, leaders need a leader brand as well. A clear, lived definition of what you stand for, how you think, and what people can expect from you. If your team can’t describe your leadership in a sentence, you’re effectively invisible there too.
A great leader I had the privilege of learning from once told me, "Visibility isn’t ego. It’s responsibility."
This: “ I’m no longer hired to do the work that the company owner doesn’t want to be bothered with or doesn’t fully understand. I’m hired for my perspective. None of this was possible when I was just another LinkedIn resume.” PERSPECTIVE IS IT! Thanks for the read and reminder, John. 👍
This shift changes who actually pulls you into the room.
YEP agree 110%!
💯💯💯🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
This is great, John. What will be the true differentiator is one's uniqueness, one's POV, and one's own insights in one's voice. To do so, one needs to have developed taste, which is something that can erode with AI over time. It is those that cultivate their taste that will rise to the top. So glad that you are advising and learning from these participants in the program.
Voice comes from judgment built over time, not tools.
When skills and credentials flatten, what remains is judgment, taste, and trust
Nailed it. Nailed it. Nailed.
Per usual. Per usual. Per usual.
Couldn’t agree more. We’re all entrepreneurs of the self now. Your personal brand is your greatest career asset!
Owning yourself is the real long-term asset.
Brand 💯 is a sustainable moat
"The brutal truth? In 2-3 years, invisible professionals will be unemployable. Not because they lack skills, but because they’ll be indistinguishable from AI outputs."
The thoughts presented here John are invaluable, and the quote I pulled provided me with a real new way of looking at the way forward. What you are writing makes total sense, and we pay for what we value, which tends to be things where demand is greater than supply. AI is rapidly changing the supply of certain things, which is why demand is quickly changing.
Thanks for this post.