Your authentic personal brand

24th November 2025 |   Professor Laura Chamberlain

Moving beyond the personal branding noise.

Personal brand has earned its place in 2025’s buzzword bingo. The term triggers something different in everyone. For some, it’s an eyeroll; for others, it’s anxiety about keeping up. Some people are energised by it. My friend Anna hates it altogether because she refuses to be pigeonholed or put in a box.

Your personal brand is authentic, rooted in who you actually are rather than who you think you should be.

Personal brand has also become the darling of some LinkedIn gurus, each offering their fool-proof formula for building your presence. “Post at this time.” “Share this type of content.” “Follow this template.” “Spend a very specific number of minutes every day commenting on posts in a meaningful way.” It’s tempting to think there’s a one-size-fits-all approach, especially when you’re watching competitors apparently nail it while you’re still figuring out if you even want to play this game.

However, treating personal brand like a checklist is precisely what makes it feel fake. There’s a lot of noise about personal brand right now, but very little clarity about what it actually means for someone in sales who just wants to do good work and build genuine relationships.