Tom Peters (me) and Alan Webber, co-founder of Fast Company, congratulate Time and welcome Time‘s “Person of the Year” … “You.” As co-inventors of the “Brand You” notion, over a decade ago, we are delighted to see the world catching up and, more important, waking up!
The “Brand You life” is damned hard work … and so, so, so satisfying compared to “your father’s world” as, likely, a Dilbertian “cubicle slave.” Talk about liberating! As Time says, it’s all about self-control. Nothing cooler! And nothing more daunting, because, of course, self-control only works, on the Web or off, age 19 or 69, with its disciplined mate, self-responsibility, at its side.
(To be sure, Time‘s “You,”circa 2006, is a bit less restrictive than our “Brand You.” While we were celebrating, as does Time, the newfound possibilities of self-control/self-management … we were also erecting defenses for your or my “career” against the incursion of microprocessors and lower-wage offshore substitutes. Nonetheless, “You” or “Brand You” … we, too, salute you and your year and your potential.)
[Tom’s photo above: Amsterdam canal. See more at Flickr.]