So it seems January hails a year of austerity.

The Christmas socks and diamante earrings are put away for another year as  the diet and the gym beckon.

How did the party season go for you?

For me there are two types of social gathering.

There are the ones that you go to that are easy and you know lots of people and you laugh and let your hair down.

And there’s the other type.

These are the ones where the conversation often revolves around what you do for a living. I guess its our quick way to suss each other out and categorise each other by association.

As you struggle for conversation when thrust together with strangers and abandoned by your plate spinning host, it’s a lot easier to ask, “What do you do?” than ask something that might give you a little more meaningful information about the person you are addressing.

But then I suppose, “Who are you?” or “What do you stand for?” might be considered odd…

It’s a shame.

Personal Branding

When it comes to personal branding a lot of people seem to think it’s all about what’s on your cv and how loudly you shout about it.

For me that’s the icing on the cake.

A personal brand, for me, starts with who you are when everything is stripped away.

If you were a stick of rock what would be written through your core in bright pink shiny letters?

These days as people are losing and changing their jobs what lies beneath your simple job identification?

If we can answer fundamental questions about who we are and what we stand for then anything we turn our hand to will be a reflection of our personal brand.

Tornado Down

In the following extract from his book “Tornado Down”, RAF Flight Lieutenant John Peters talks about how he always wanted to fly. Not how he always wanted to be a Flight Lieutenant in the RAF.

One is what he is – a flier.

The other is what he does to enable him to be what he is.

It’s a subtle difference but an important one.

I had a dirty, grubby, nasty little war. I don’t have any pride in my war. I can’t say I did a marvellous job in the war but it is an attitude of mind and I think I’ve won because I’ve got back and they haven’t damn well affected my life. They have taken nothing away from me. Within two weeks of getting back from back from the gulf I put fifteen kilograms on.

Chocolate cake mmm…thanks very much. Steak – thank you, MacDonalds – thank you I’ll have four Big Macs. You know, I would just eat and eat and eat and you just can’t stop.

Within six weeks of getting back from the gulf I was back in my cockpit doing my job.

Why? Because that is my life.

I’ve always wanted to fly since I’ve been five. I don’t know why – I have no military background – but that is what I want to do. That’s what I want to do with my life – fly these jets and fly around the world and they’re damn well not taking that away from me.

British Tornado Bomber, John Peters was shot down during Operation Desert Storm. He was captured and held prisoner in Iraq. Where he was tortured and beaten. They told him he would never see his wife and children again, that he would be killed. In January 1991 bruised and battered, he was forced to appear on television and his image immediately became a symbol of the war.

So my question I wish I had asked the strangers over the smoked salmon bilinis  and champagne cocktails is,

What is it that you are?

Maybe next year…