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In the past month, I have thought a lot about my brand — my resume, my biography — every place that I talk about me. I listened to recordings and articles by trusted advisors, fellow speakers, and branding experts. I even went back and re-read that classic article “The Brand Called You” by Tom Peters. I read that article in Fast Company magazine back in 1997, and it inspired me to think about “my brand” in the first place.
I figured out something very important to me. My brand is about “a”, not “THE”. I figured something else out, which is even more important.
A good brand can be about “a” not “THE”. My brand is better with “a”, not “THE”.

A Little Background
I called myself “The Strategic Project Manager” a few years ago. I thought the title was a clever, unique way to brand myself. I had listened to branding experts who said, “Find your niche, then become THE leading expert in that niche. Whether it is a particular audience or a particular subject, become THE person in that niche.”
I looked at speakers and other experts that I knew and trusted. They were all “THE” something:

“The Million Dollar Consultant” (Alan Weiss)
“The Master Negotiator” (Greg Williams)
“The InfoGuru” (Robert Middleton)
“The Nametag Guy” (Scott Ginsberg)

Ironically, I have a “branding problem” now, because “Strategic Project Manager” does not really make sense with “THE” in front of it any more. It is a job title, and people are now recruiting for “Strategic Project Managers”. Some helpful people told me that I could still reclaim the title, “The Strategic Project Manager” — I just needed to write the book with that title.
I realize now, though, that I cringe a little whenever I think of myself as “THE” anything. I know I am special and unique, but let’s face it — there are a lot of people in this world who know something about strategy and something about project management. “The Strategic Project Manager” always felt like a boast, not a statement of fact.
“A” Brand, not “THE” Brand
When I re-read Tom Peters’ classic article on personal branding, I stopped at the first sentence of the last paragraph:
“It’s this simple: You are a brand.”
I realized something equally simple:
“You are ‘a’ brand. You are not ‘THE’ brand.”
Peters article on personal branding is full of humility and grace. He did talk about becoming “the expert”, but he tempered those statements with down-to-earth examples — an employee who volunteers to write the agenda for a business meeting or someone writing an opinion piece for their local paper. Peters was not just talking to “THE leading expert in the world”, but to all of us, even those of us who are just “an expert”, along with hundreds, thousands, or even millions of other people like us.
Great Marketers Value What The Customer Values, Even If It Is NOT Unique
Think about the great brands, the brands you associate with quality, the brands you trust, the brands you love.
Are any of them “THE only one” at what they do?
Nike is a shoe company. Coke is a soft drink. Coke may claim to be “The Real Thing”, but some of its most powerful branding messages were about what you could do with the whole world. Start the sentence, “I’d like to buy the world a Coke…” and millions of people in the world will say with you, “…and keep it company.”
That sentence is not about a unique selling proposition. You could “buy the world” any product and keep it company. That sentence is about a feeling of community and togetherness, and The Coca Cola Company successfully attached that feeling to their product’s name.
Happy To Be “A Project Leader” — Maybe Even “A Strategic Project Leader”
From now on, I will not call myself “The Strategic Project [...]