Archives: September 2022

Coming November 1st

Tom’s new book, Tom Peters’ Compact Guide to Excellence, will be published November 1st! Tom partnered with iconic designer Nancye Green of Donovan/Green to create this leadership guidebook. They packed the strikingly designed little book with exhilarating quotes that will urge you to recognize what truly matters at work.

We look for people that are warm and caring and actually altruistic. We look for people who have a fun-loving attitude.”

Colleen Barrett, President Emeritus, Southwest Airlines

Being aware of yourself and how you affect everyone around you is what distinguishes a superior leader.”

Cindy Miller, with Edie Seashore, in Sally Helgesen’s “Masters of the Breakthrough Moment,” strategy + business

Better before cheaper. Revenue before cost. There are no other rules.”

Michael E. Raynor and Mumtaz Ahmed, The Three Rules: How Exceptional Companies Think

These are just a couple of quotes from the guidebook. Over the decades, Tom has gathered these gems of wisdom from those down in the trenches creating extraordinary places to work. The insights you’ll find in Tom Peters’ Compact Guide to Excellence will move you to action, to vigorously and passionately support our communities, provide products and services that stun your clientele with their excellence and verve, and serve our ailing planet. It’s not just the best path forward, it’s the path that can engender purpose and pride in all of us who perform the work.

Nancye designed the book for you, the reader, keeping in mind the most accessible and captivating way to absorb the wisdom. This book is meant to be picked up when you’re in need of inspiration. It provides you a framework for how to think about the way you act, the way you live, the way you govern your relationships with others.

We are all in need of some inspiration from time to time. Take this guidebook with you wherever you need to be reminded of excellence.

Pre-Order Now

How Personal Branding Can Heal Humanity

Tom’s iconic article “The Brand Called YOU” appeared in Fast Company 25 years ago. William Arruda, founder of Reach Personal Branding, said of the article, “After reading it, I put down the magazine and decided to walk away from my marketing position at IBM so that I could dedicate my career to personal branding.”

Today William Arruda published his interview with Tom in Forbes. It covers the anniversary of “The Brand Called YOU” and Tom’s latest book Excellence Now: Extreme Humanism (as well as a sneak preview of Tom’s next project). Here are some of our favorite quotes from Tom:

[Personal branding] is about doing incredibly good work, making friends, and being noticed for the good work.”

I’ve only been talking about one thing for 40 years, and that is “People First.” A people-first strategy works as much now as it did in the past. AI is not going to take over every job in the next 20 years.”

Extreme humanism says, “If we take care of people, if we educate people, if we produce products that are not aimed at making the climate warm up, we can live that way, we can be proud that way.”

Read the full interview for more.

Brand You – 25th Anniversary

This August marked the 25 year anniversary of Tom’s Fast Company cover story “The Brand Called You.” This article was a landmark, the start of the personal branding movement.

To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You. . . . Start by identifying the qualities or characteristics that make you distinctive from your competitors—or your colleagues.  .  .  . When you’re promoting brand You, everything you do—and everything you choose not to do—communicates the value and character of the brand. . . . If you want people to see you as a powerful brand, act like a credible leader.  .  .  . As long as you’re learning, growing, building relationships, and delivering great results, it’s good for you and it’s great for the company.” Tom Peters, “The Brand Called You,” Fast Company, August 1997

What Tom was noticing in 1997 was that the world of work was changing rapidly with the influence of the nascent Internet. He recognized that careers would no longer resemble that of his father, who worked for a Baltimore energy company for the entirety of his work life. It was time to focus not on excellence that would move you up vertically within a single organization, but to instead grow your network and build horizontal excellence. It was time to focus on the kind of excellence that your peers would recognize and desire for the short-term, gig work that is common today.

Many have misunderstood Tom’s Brand Called You message. Many have assumed that it’s all about superficial appearance, how the world sees you, and that it has resulted in the current phenomenon of social media influencers. For Tom, it’s always been about how you can bring value through your work to those around you, and to become a trusted part of making excellent products and services. Obviously this is a message that is just as valuable today as it was in 1997.

The good news—and it is largely good news—is that everyone has a chance to stand out. Everyone has a chance to learn, improve, and build up their skills. Everyone has a chance to be a brand worthy of remark.” Tom Peters, “The Brand Called You,” Fast Company, August 1997