The phrase "personal brand" has been circulating through the business press for nearly three decades now, ever since Tom Peters wrote his famous Fast Company essay in 1997, and it has never quite lost its capacity to make people squirm — even as they assiduously cultivate one.

A new report from Fast Company revisits the territory with the kind of enthusiasm the subject seems to inspire in a certain type of publication, offering what it calls "148 ideas and insights" for professionals seeking to manage how they are perceived. The advice comes from the usual assortment of chief executives, consultants, and investors, all of whom have presumably spent considerable time thinking about how they come across.

The piece centers on Ryan DiLazio, a social media strategist who was working at a global advertising agency in 2022, handling accounts for Mondelēz International brands including Sour Patch Kids and Nutter Butter. Mr. DiLazio's work on TikTok was, by his account, generating millions of views and praise from the client's president. He was also, by his account, placed on a performance improvement plan — the human-resources mechanism that often precedes a termination.

"I have been plucked from the internet for my tone of voice, for noticing things others don't, and for a willingness to try new things," Mr. DiLazio told Fast Company. "Each factor can so easily become a double-edged sword."

(One imagines the swords piling up in a corner somewhere, all of them double-edged, none of them single.)

Mr. DiLazio has since become a partner at his own creative agency, Loudmouth, and managing editor of a newsletter called Silence, Brand! — a trajectory that will be familiar to anyone who has watched a generation of social media practitioners conclude that the safest client is oneself.

The Fast Company report promises guidance on when to draw boundaries, how to balance personal branding with full-time employment, and something called a "vibe-coded 'Personal Brand Command Centre,'" which is not explained further in the excerpt provided.

For those keeping score, this makes roughly the 4,000th article on personal branding since Mr. Peters started the clock. The 5,000th should arrive by autumn.

Original story published in Fast Company: "Overcoming personal branding's biggest challenges: 148 ideas and insights to take control of how people think about you"