Are you thinking about how to develop a personal brand for yourself on the social web?  Here’s a tip.  Start by remembering what Plato taught us long ago: know thyself.

Gaining a clear understanding of who we are is a critical first step in developing a online content strategy for use on blogs, social network profiles and even in the tweets we publish.  For years, good brand communication companies have been doing significant research on their clients, simplifying the brand message as much as possible, before ever amplifying it to the marketplace.

So why would people brands be developed any differently than company brands?  Think about it – do you really know who you are?  When was the last time you did some due diligence on you?

An Idea I Used
When I was routing out the foundation of my self-brand, I spent some time learning what it was that made me tick. One of the tools I used was developed by Katherine Cooks Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Meyers, just after WWII.  The MBTI, or Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator is based on the typological theories developed by Carl Jung in his 1921 book, Psychological Types.

Widely respected by most psychology gurus, this assessment tool asks a series of questions designed to classify an individual’s personality into one of 16 different types, using a combination of four pairs of “dichotomies” – introversion and extroversion, sensing and intuition, thinking and feeling, judging and perceiving.

You can take this assessment for free here, or there’s also options available where you can have a certified professional deliver the test.  Regardless of where your score on the grid, read your description and take it to heart.

Taking the MBTI helped me to discover that I was a passionate communicator who relies heavily on intuition, and someone who has a strong human need for relationships.  The information provided some much needed focus, which has influenced what I write about here, as well as some of the personal and professionals goals I am shooting for.  So, go ahead.  Give it a try.  I hope this helps you as much as it helped me.

Have you taken the MBTI?  What did you learn about yourself?

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