Take the Brand Challenge

"Adults are always asking little kids what they want to be when they grow up because they are trying to get ideas." -- Paula Poundstone

It's my first meeting with Mickey Drexler, CEO of the Gap, and I am a bit nervous. We talk on the phone about the Gap brand and a new brand at the time, Old Navy. Mr. Drexler strongly supports Old Navy, but there is some concern about cannibalizing Gap stores.

After about five minutes, Dr. Mark - always the politician - drops a bomb with his first big question: "Mr. Drexler, what if the Gap disappeared tomorrow? Who other than your employees would really care? I mean, why is the Gap important? What does it really stand for?"

The phone call ends a minute or two later. It is to be my last conversation with Mr. Drexler. My fault. If I had waited to ask that question today, I know Mr. Drexler would be the first CEO with a response. In the future, Dr. Mark, listen and wait for the right time and place.

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it." -- Yogi Berra

I believe that true leadership begins by answering one simple question: Why are we here? Out of the 100,000 or so hours we invest in a career
(that is, after deducting the thousands of hours we spend rebooting Windows), how do we know that our precious time was spent doing important things?

Good leaders must regularly ask themselves that question -- and help their people answer it, too. As Nietzsche once said, "Those who have a why can endure any how." So I need to ask myself the same question: Why am I writing this column for Fast Company? Yes, I do happen to be a big fan of the magazine. And yes, the founding editors are cool guys.

But the real answer is simple: To build a brand. My brand is called "Making a Life, Making a Living®" -- "ML2" in shorthand. The name signifies the mission of my brand: to guide others in making a life while making a living.

Writers do write to find out about themselves. And this column is the perfect turf for my personal brand-building journey. A brand unique to me, a brand that stands for what I believe in, a brand that I hope offers value to others. What naturally follows, then, is the big question:

Why are you building that brand?

"Life may have no meaning. Or even worse, it may have a meaning of which I disapprove." -- Ashleigh Brilliant

The most obvious answer is to make a living. But even more important is the underlying reason: to make a life. That is, to build a brand that represents the values and ideals I want my work life to stand for.

Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel made his fortune by inventing dynamite and licensing his formula to governments. When his brother, Ludwig, died, a prominent newspaper mistakenly ran Alfred's obituary. It said he had made a fortune by helping international armies more efficiently wreak death and destruction.

Nobel had the unique opportunity to read his own obituary -- to see what his lasting imprint would be. Shocked and disgusted by his perceived legacy, Nobel decided to devote his fortune to humanitarian purposes. He established the Nobel Prize in the arts and sciences.

"I once thought that if I could ask God one question, I would ask how the universe began, because once I knew that, all the rest is simply equations. But as I got older I became less concerned with how the universe began. Rather, I would want to know why he started the universe. For once I knew that answer, then I would know the purpose of my own life." -- Albert Einstein

I spent several years in the 1980s as a "branding expert" at Harvard Business School. Back then, it was about products and companies, not people. Today we talk about branding people. What is that all about?

The answer is what this column, this career section is all about. How do you stand up and stand out? How do you find your place in the marketplace? How do you turn your values into market value? And, most important, how do you come to understand first why you chose a particular "brand called you."