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Sanders typecast himself as a Kentucky colonel, complete with black string tie and white linen suit. You know rest.
The point is: Not only should you accept typecasting, you should embrace it. When Jack Welch became CEO at GE, he got rid of 100,000 employees to streamline corporate giant’s bureaucracy. That earned him name “Neutron Jack,” which refers to neutron bomb, a device that kills people but leaves buildings untouched.
Warren Buffett is known as “Oracle of Omaha,” and is often referred to as “most successful individual investor of all time.” These titles recognized Buffett’s skill at picking stocks, like Coca-Cola and Gillette. But they ignore fact that Buffett generated most of his billions by assembling and maintaining his mighty conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway, and not through stock picking.
Sam Walton possessed one of sharpest and most ruthless retailing minds of 20th century. Yet he is usually depicted as kindly “Mr. Sam,” dog-loving, pickup-driving bubba who just happened to launch Wal-Mart.
Did Welch, Buffett and Walton reject their typecasting? Of course not. They understood what every PR Rainmaker understands: Typecasting is only path to a singular identity.
When typecasting is combined with a powerful reputation, result is sort of corporate prestige that separates Jack Welches, Warren Buffetts and Sam Waltons from rest of nation’s CEOs.
Copyright by W.O. Cawley Jr.
Rusty Cawley is a 20-year veteran journalist who now coaches executives, entrepreneurs and professionals on using the news media to attract customers and to advance ideas. For your free copy of the ebook “PR Rainmaker,” please visit www.prrainmaker.com right now.