Pastor Steven Furtick

Whether you’re a church leader, a marketplace professional, or a high school sophomore, you need to spend some time defining your personal brand.
Most people understand the importance of brand development for products and businesses.
But how many individuals or families think of themselves as a brand?
Quite the opposite, lots of Christians are turned off by this application of “secular” thinking.

Here’s the reality:
When people think of you, a certain image or connotation comes to mind.
That’s your brand.
And whether you accept it or reject it, you are building your brand every day…
with every encounter, every decision, every contribution.

Compassionate is brand.  Generous is a brand.  So is unreliable.  So is sloppy.

If you want to define your brand, start with this exercise:
List 10 or 20 of the adjectives that you hope people identify with your life/ministry.
Then (without showing them your list) ask some of the people closest to you to what words or phrases they most closely associate with their interaction with you.  (They won’t be completely honest, but you’ll get some good ideas.)

After you’ve compared the two lists, you’ll notice the disparity between what you want to be known for and what you’re actually known for.
This is called a brand violation, and it must be corrected.

Now, you can get to work building your brand…