I hope everyone is enjoying this personal brand stereotype series. I think a lot of encounters we have with others go unnoticed and some of the ways we react to physical appearance can either hurt or help another person. The funny thing with personal branding is that sometimes you have little to no control over how you look (height, glasses), while other times you are in full control (mohawk, hippie, pink shirts).
I really like the comment David LaPlante had on my last blog post, where he explained how a mohawk is a “social filter.” In some ways I feel like this “social filter” applies to blogging in general. By blogging on a topic, you are going to attract certain people, while repel others. The one’s that come to you may comment, email or subscribe. They share similar interests, thus they are part of your target market and friendship may just occur.
What I’ve posted about so far:
- #1 – Tall people are basketball players
- #2 – Glasses make you look smart
- #3 – Men who wear pink are homosexual
- #4 – The hippie phenomenon
- #5 – Only punks wear mohawks
Ageism is a stereotype targeted at someones age. This occurs mostly with the youth. Older generations feel that gen-y is too young to manage them and that they do not have the leadership potential. They think that we have to pay our dues like they had to and they force us into their hierarchies. From associate to CEO, gen-y’ers are told they have to wait for each promotion and that they don’t have enough experience at each level. They fail to recognize something way more important than age. The term “value” is the key word that will make some brands win, and others lose. The common trend I’ve seen is the older thought pattern “she is only a kid, what does she know.” The big stereotype is that if you’re young, you’re clueless.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DqbJOWi2Y8]
Note: In this video I say it’s #5, but it’s really #6.
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Analysis
Value counts for more than age. If someone in gen-y delivers more value than their manager and has more leadership abilities, why can’t they switch roles? Just because someone has spent more years in a company, do you feel they should earn higher wages and automatically be a manager? I’m obviously against this but I’m coming from the gen-y angle. Do we really have to start are own businesses in order to prove ourselves? I don’t think companies are ready for gen-y and even more so, I think that colleges don’t prepare us for the workforce.
