Читать книгу A Guide to the Scientific Career - Группа авторов - Страница 132

What is a brand, and how can it relate to a person? Branding originated from cattle branding, which involved marking cattle with a distinctive symbol. These days a brand has come to mean how an entity is characterized in an audience's mind. It can relate to a person, a product, a service, a company, or any entity. In many cases, a personal brand does not have a symbolic logo, but the person's name or image represents who they are in peoples' minds. It may be synonymous with reputation; however, because reputation often has a connotation of something that is defended, rather than something that is actively built, reputation is not exactly synonymous. Personal branding is nothing more than an exercise in how you communicate who you are to the outside world, and is best achieved when your desired brand is authentic and honest.

For a researcher, clinician, or physician, personal branding is important to consider if one wants to advance either a career or a clinical practice. Physicians and researchers can benefit greatly by proactively working toward their own brand identity. Depending on a physician's specialty and practice, it may be about building a greater patient base or it may be about securing career promotions or tenure. It may also simply open doors to collaborations. Once a personal brand is built, a physician/researcher then has an audience who respects him/her and also one that is likely to notice new pursuits or interests to align with and support. Being unknown or uncharacterized might make building these alliances more difficult.

The concept of branding might seem promotional on the surface. But if you are authentic and simply want to ensure that you are clearly communicating who you are, there is nothing dubious about it.