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Bernie Madoff NewYorker Magazine, originally uploaded by Hajj Flemings.

America Made Madoff.  Bernie Madoff gets sentenced 150 years in jail for stealing $50B (up to $160B) of people’s life savings. The U.S. financial system is build on a house of cards which allowed him to do what he was doing for years. If he wasn’t so over the top when would this have ended? We are taught to live the American dream (purchase cars from bankrupt U.S. Automakers (Ford is the exception right @ScottMonty), purchase homes that are overvalued, and work a job until death do you part for a company that will downsize you before you get that gold watch). One of the problems that I see is that we make people icons that are bigger than life that at some point they will never be able to live up to those expectations.

What price are you willing to pay for financial success? Are you willing to live your dreams at any cost? As a personal brand if you show me a person with no character I will show you a failure waiting to happen.

The most important attributes in personal development are the things that people don’t want to work on, like Character. To often we chase things that sacrifice who we are for the pursuit of fame and fortune.

I will leave you with this point. The Most Important Personal Branding Tip is Character Development. PEROID. I understand you would rather work on a Facebook profile or add followers in Twitter, but strongly consider the words of this post.

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Developing a successful personal brand must be build authentically. Character is the fundamental cornerstone that every personal brand must be built upon, over time it will reveal who you really are. There is a lot of talk about reputation and how important it is to build. This blog post is about the great debate of character vs. reputation.

Character vs. Reputation

Reputation is an external assessment by others, which can be accurate or inaccurate.
The problem with focusing on reputation versus character is that it is an external perception and doesn’t get to the core of your personal brand.

What is character? Character is defined as the stable and distinctive set of internal qualities or moral attributes build into an individual’s life, which will determine his/her attitudes and behaviors in life’s circumstance. Simply put it is who we really are and how we act when no one is watching. The beautiful thing about character is that it is a learned behavior that can be developed.

Your personal brand mandates that you have high moral character, live according to a defined set of values, and dedicate yourself to a meaningful purpose. By understanding and embracing these qualities, you can position your personal brand to be respected and sought after.

Reputation is a by-product of character. You can have a great reputation and poor character and over time your personal brand will deteriorate regardless of the external assessment of others. Having great character with a distorted external perception of who you are, you can still build a good reputation. Poor character tarnishes good reputation and great accomplishments. Roger Clemens one of the greatest pitchers of modern history is linked with extramarital affairs and steroids allegations which have tarnished his reputation. Almost daily we read about politicians, businessman, and athletes with undeveloped character that impacts their personal brand negatively.

In developing good character thing about four things:

1. Think before you commit.
2. Realize that everything that you do will come to light.
3. Understand that character is a learned behavior that can be developed.
4. Realize that character not reputation is the true essence of who you are.

Remember the sustainability of your personal brand long-term is directly linked to your commitment to developing good character.