5 Ways To Rebrand Yourself After A Youthful Screw-Up
YOLO, they said. And so you YOLO’d your way through your teens and early 20s and now, 30 is knocking on your door and you have been branded “that guy”. You know, the one everyone invites to the beer fest but not to the boardroom.
Often, thoughts of the future are not a priority during your youthful days, and you do not quite care about the aftermath. However, a reckless youth can take a great toll on your personal brand. Remember that whether we like it or not society will judge us on our behaviors, how you treat others and how we responded to responsibilities.
After a particularly hectic work week, I was enjoying my favorite hot uji beverage, made from hand-ground sorghum and home-grown millet when I saw a familiar face. The face nagged at the edges of my memory but for the life of me I could not place it. I think the blank stare on my face made the stranger realize that I did not recognize him. So he came over and introduced himself as Siphiwe, an old classmate.
Let me just take a break to say “Wow.”
Why the break you ask? Because this same Siphiwe who used to be the bane of my existence in school, who got kicked out of school for bullying a senior in his freshman year and was known to have a serious partying problem; looked fresh, sharp and elegant in his tailor-made suit. He seemed to be doing well for himself. How had Siphiwe become a self-made sensation after he had literally been an outcast? I had to ask him.
“It was hard getting a job without a high school qualification, and I could not get anyone to sponsor me due to my ruined image,” he said with glazed over eyes as he remembered the past. “I was tempted to join a gang which robbed women and old folks in the village. I was desperate to make a living and I felt like the society owed it to me.”
“But you didn’t?” I probed.
“No I didn’t” he replied. “Reinventing your personal brand can be discouraging. Imagine trying to convince the same society you terrorized that you are a different person. But it can be done.”
Long story short, Siphiwe met some key people who showed him the errors of his ways and encouraged him that it was never too late to turn over a new leaf even if no one else accepts you. So how do you reinvent your personal brand to undo the rotten image of the past? Here are 5 ways to rebrand yourself after a youthful screw up:
Own up to Your Mistakes
Do not assume that the society will forgive you for the havoc you wrecked in the past, but it is still the right move to publicly apologize for any hurt you caused and make amends where necessary. Do not start out by asking for community support when in all honesty people have no reason to trust you. Just be sincere, apologize and regardless of the response, move on to being the new you.
Start Small
If you’ve already messed up on a large scale, do not try to conquer the world all in one go. Start by making amends with those closest to you. Then expand your territory slowly. When people see the renewed relationships with your small group, they will eventually start to buy in to your vision.
Find Out and Address the Image Issues
How does the community view you as a person? Do they believe you can change? What do they dislike most about you? Siphiwe chose to talk to his friends and parents in relation to his behavior. By doing so he was able to discover the biggest issues people had with him. As a result, rebranding his personal brand started with a knowledge of his perceived faults. Knowing how he was perceived guided him in developing a strategy to combat those now false views.
Stick with It
A decision to change your life requires resilience and patience. Remember your reasons for wanting to change and use them as motivation to keep redefining yourself in the face of resistance. No plan is 100% efficient. This means that you might fail in the process of reinventing your personal brand but new behaviors will require consistency to be credible, so stick with it.
Use Your Past
Siphiwe used his experience in the world of violence and drugs as a stepping stone to being a powerful anti-drug, anti-bullying and youth development activist with a reputable NGO in Africa. Because of his past he was able to offer hope to young people who, like him, had started out wrong. When people saw his sincerity, his past ceased to be a curse but a powerful story of change and hope.
The above steps are not only applicable for personal rebranding; but also for rebranding businesses or products that have been ruined in terms of bad publicity.
I will love to hear your opinions on how to reinvent a business or personal brand. Do you know anyone looking to rebrand their business or personal brand, share this with them.
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