You don’t create a brand through advertising; you create a brand through behavior, reflected back at you through the eyes of others. I have been told I’m funny. In my manic moments, I have been known to be very funny – quick with a pithy one liner or a side-splitting story, poking fun at myself just as readily as at members of my family, friends or even strangers, mostly without harm or offense. In creative sessions at work, some of my ideas are shared just for the laugh because I know they will never, ever see the light of day.

But I’m not funny because I say I’m funny. You won’t see me describing myself as funny in any biographical sketch. It doesn’t mention ‘funny’ anywhere on my resume.

Over time, feedback from all kinds of people has reinforced this self-awareness of one of my dominant characteristics. If they were reflecting something I didn’t like and didn’t want to be known for, I would probably work hard to change it.

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