The dog days of August can be a good time to catch up on some reading. If you’re looking to build or improve your personal brand, here are some books worth a look: “Careergasm: Find Your Way to Feel-Good Work,” by Sarah Vermunt: For Vermunt, a speaker and founder of Careergasm.com, wants readers to get their passion back, even - actually, especially - if it means changing careers. Using real stories, it’s a how-to book to get out of a career rut written with humorous and the

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Authenticity takes work. Oscar Wilde made it sound easy, “Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.” However, as Adam Grant points out in his piece in the New York Times Sunday Review: Unless You’re Oprah, ‘Be Yourself’ Is Terrible Advice, being “too” authentic can backfire. Grant shares the story of A.J. Jacobs who spent some weeks trying to be completely authentic by blurting everything that came to his head – unfiltered. He ended up regretting much of what he said. Jaco

Life is complicated. Everyone knows that. The question, though, is how can we make life less complicated? Well, knowing your personal brand – what you stand for -- is one way. And managing your brand consistently can help you own your brand in an integrated, intuitive way. Let’s take a look at the way a corporation would manage its brands. This model is a systematic framework from the corporate realm that can be applied to our personal lives. Applying these principles might h

“Your Personal Brand: Find it. Own it. Live it.” We’ve arrived at the third leg of the LEAP battle cry. What you do with your brand is a true test of your commitment to yourself. You have a branding platform you believe in and you are putting it out there for the world to see. What’s next? What does it mean to live your brand? If you’ve mastered “owning” your brand, “living” it could come naturally. If you’re still in the process of learning to own your brand, you might need

How many times have you shrugged off setbacks and disappointment by saying “I shouldn’t take it personally”? Duncan Coombe's Managing Yourself column at hbr.org exposes the absurdity of this sentiment. The column's headline, 'Don’t Take It Personally' Is Terrible Work Advice, resonates for all of us on the LEAP team. And our approach -- Your Personal Brand - Find it. Own it. Live it. -- provides concrete tools for you to truly take things personally at work and in your life.

David Brooks’ recent OpEd piece at nytimes.com shows a fresh perspective on what happens when we hit midlife. This is a period of life that is normally labelled a ”crisis” but as Brooks argues, views on this important transitional period have changed. Turns out, important life transitions are opportunities to grow and redefine yourself. LEAP urges everyone to embrace where you are in life by articulating your personal brand. Follow our motto: Your Personal Brand: Find it. Ow