Imagine if you will, a whole field full of red poppies swaying in the breeze being kissed by the sun. Now imagine that same field with the red poppies, but this time there is one purple poppy. How quickly did that purple poppy get your attention? Pretty quickly I would think.
If we subscribe to the scientific notion that Homo sapiens are constantly evolving, then as we get older we are learning more and more to trust our instincts. In the blink of eye (less than 4 seconds) people/others are making decisions about us, and if we are to make a favourable, lasting and memorable impression as a personal brand we had better learn to do this to the best of our ability thus use it to our advantage. The best way to do that is to become a Powerful *Purple Poppy.
Purple Poppy’s (not to be confused with Tall Poppy’s) are those very people that we remember, that leave a long and lasting impression on us, are the people who are spheres of influence, they seem to know everyone, they appear to be powerful and very confident, they are a source of knowledge and inspiration, they are generous with their time and share their networks, they are the people that are relevant to us and the people we admire and we want to do business with them. They always seem to be everywhere, you always seem to read about them, or you hear about them in the press, their name always seems to be bandied around, everybody seems to know them, and if they don’t know them, they want to. They seem to have effortless success, always sought after by the media and have an immaculate dress style. Everybody wants a piece of the Purple Poppy’s. They seem to have endless energy, they are excited about who they are what they do and they always seem to make us feel special wanted and appreciated and we trust them.
If you don’t brand yourself, who will?
First impressions matter … whether we like it or not, as we (as humans) are incapable of not judging. We have less than 4 seconds in which to make that first impression. FOUR seconds!!! People will; look, take us in, absorb, dissect, analyse, judge and consider whether we are worthy of their time, or not. 4 seconds to do all of that, to let their “gut” instinct tell them this person is; trustworthy, intelligent, interesting, worthwhile, boring, maverick (out there), conservative, competent, creative, dynamic, friendly, professional, approachable and so on and on. Within that blink of an eye, we are ‘worked out’/defined. But are we really? In our minds, we have, and that’s the point, who is branding who?. Personal branding is all about perception, your perception of others and their perception of you. Personal branding is something you can control and project, it’s what you stand for, it’s ‘there’ when you walk into a room, it is something that no matter what you offer and who you are, is something that is developed and refined/moulded, then communicated to the world, something that is instantly recognised.
From the moment people first encounter us, we are being judged. From the clothes we wear, to the brand of phone we carry, to the way we hold ourselves, to the car we drive, to the condition of our shoes, to the colour of our hair, to our body shape and height, and we haven’t even opened our mouths yet!! These are all things that make up the picture of your personal brand, and it is this that people take away and they say to themselves, “this person looks confident, this person looks professional, this person looks like someone I want to do business with.”
How many times have you seen a man at a business function whose shirttail is hanging out of his pants, he hasn’t bothered to shave, his tie is a little bit squiff (and has a drop of coffee on it), his hair isn’t combed right, and his shoes aren’t polished, (funny thing that; people notice shoes). What do you think? You can’t help yourself, you are probably thinking something like; he is sloppy, unorganised, harried, lacking in self respect (which equates to not respecting others), and just not ‘together’. You may not consciously realise that you are thinking this at that time but you will quite likely be less inclined to want to talk with him (and quite possibly not do business with him). The sad thing is, we judge someone by their personal brand and they may never get a chance to offer us some benefits or introduce us to wonderful people.
Example. I was at an event and it was one of those situations where you are given a coloured dot to wear on your lapel. You are then told to seek people out with the same coloured dot. The really good thing about this exercise it forces you to mix with people you wouldn’t normally consider talking to. I came face to face with the oddest of looking characters, a bit frayed around the edges, smelling of mothballs, teeth that needed a dentist and rather dishevelled, lets call him ‘Mr Strangeone’. This was a person one wouldn’t normally give a second thought to, however I’m glad I was given the opportunity to and did. This person took a shining to me for some unknown reason and insisted I contact one of his associates who was currently developing a new company. A number of agencies had pitched for this new company account but the company weren’t too impressed with what they had seen. So Mr Strangeone introduced me to the company and we where invited to pitch for the account, for which we were successful in our efforts. Had I taken him on face value (which is what we tend to do) I would have missed out on not only some fantastic contacts, but new business as well.
People notice details, yet most of the time they don’t realise it and subconsciously they are gathering data and building a mental picture of you. It is for that very reason that we need to ensure we have a powerful, polished personal brand to present.
As a human race, we are utterly incapable of not judging, its in our DNA, we simply can’t help ourselves. It’s not something we do consciously, its something that comes from the gut; instinct. From the beginning of time our very survival depended on our **reptilian part of the brain that is responsible for sharp instincts, and even though we are not being chased by people munching animals and no longer need to hunt and gather food, we still use our instincts but in very different ways.
Today, we are using our instincts in business, for the purpose of building relationships. What is the foundation of relationships? – Trust. Have you ever been in a situation where you were in the process of negotiations, perhaps wanting to bring a new client on board, pitch for a new account or possibly engaging a new employee? Something didn’t quite feel right, maybe there were quiet alarm bells in the back of the head and the stomach was a little unsettled. Perhaps these sensations were confused with excitement, and easy to pass off as venturing into unexplored territory. Only to find out later they were our instincts, talking to us, though not quite as loud and as clear as we would have liked them to. We ignored them (at our peril) and low and behold, it comes back to bite us in the bottom!
So are YOU ready to become a Purple Poppy? YOU can be a Purple Poppy, and you have come to the right place. This book will coach you on going from a being a red poppy to blossoming into a Powerful Purple Poppy.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Love the name… was it inspired by the song?
Hi Ashley
I love your analogy with the purple poppy! What a wonderful way to explain personal branding. Purple is also my favourite colour.
You’ve made some terrific points in this post, including how we (in general) tend to judge others, often without realising that we are doing so. Of course, there are those that are blatantly obvious in their judging of others (I’m sure most people can give their own examples of witnessing this for themselves).
In fact, an example that comes to mind right now is that of Susan Boyle and her first performance on “Britain’s Got Talent”. The looks on the faces of not only the judges, but on some of the audience made me want to shake them for being so blatantly rude and judgmental. Well, we all know who had the last laugh there, don’t we? Well done Susan!!
I believe that we should all listen to our intuition whether in our business or personal life. If something doesn’t quite feel right, and that niggling little voice or feeling just won’t go away, then listen to it! It’s happening for a reason and the sooner you can tune into and trust your intuition, the better off you’ll be.
“You can’t judge a book by its cover” is one of those adages that is right on the money, so to speak, with your example of “Mr Strangeone”. Not only that, but you don’t know who knows who AND you don’t always know who you are talking to!
I thoroughly enjoyed this post, Ashley (aka Purple Poppy
).
~ Kylie ~
.-= Kylie Doak´s last blog ..Are You Focusing on What You Can’t Do, Rather Than What You Can? =-.
Thanks so much Kylie. It is really important to ‘stand out in a crowd’. How we look, our stature, what we say ….
Dear Graham
Pardon my tardy response, but we havent actually launched the site officially yet and I only learnt today how to go in, read the comments, make changes etc (so exciiiiiting!) and saw your comment.
So to answer your question, what song? Purple is a powerful colour, royal, rich and spiritual. Brand it Purple is a metaphor for staning out in a crowd, you may want to have a read of my book, Brand it Purple. A new paypal button was developed this week, but I havent worked out how to do overseas postage yet! If you do want a book I can certainly arrange a ‘signed’ copy for you, if you like
Thanks again – kind regards,
Ashley