Hugh
MacLoed hits the nail on the head:

“As the Job-For-Life no
longer exists, as the value of the social "position" erodes and the
value of the "project" takes its place, personal brand development
becomes far more important to one’s career.”

Whether you work for a
large corporation, a small business, or you’re out on your own, you need to
develop and nurture your personal brand.  

Who are you? What do you stand for? When people think of you, what comes to mind?

What kind of work do they
associate with you?

What kind of quality?

The trick is that all of
these questions are not being asked of you – they’re being asked about
you.

As Al Ries points out in
the foreward of Catherine Kaputa’s book U
R a Brand, “To become successful you need to focus on … creating a positive
attitude in the minds of other people.”

If you haven’t guessed, I
just started reading this book today.

I’ll
let you know how it goes!