He exhorted his audiences to cultivate loyalty only to the quality of their work. Each of us has qualities that, if we buffed them up and pushed them forward, could constitute our own unique selling proposition. Hearing of Mr. Peters's argument, Fast Company editor Alan Webber, himself no slouch at recognizing a concept that resonates with the zeitgeist, invited him to flesh out the slogan. Since then, I seem to see it everywhere. And you can't argue that he hasn't thrived since then.
Corporate loyalty is dead.
Internet startups no longer seem like a path to easy millions, or even a steady job. Those who give heart and soul to a company are intensely vulnerable. It builds on the strengths of the current job market without falling prey to its weaknesses. If it works the way I think it will, then the Brand Called You is, at its heart, a poor way to invest in a career. It's almost structurally guaranteed to pay off for a few early experimenters, while frustrating the rest.