When he found out the hard way that he was branded “the merchant of death”, it was a shocking revelation. Alfred Nobel‘s brother had just died and the newspapers had mistaken him for his brother. In the obituary Alfred was described as “the merchant of death” because his invention, the dynamite, was being used in wars throughout the world. Alfred had good intentions and developed the dynamite for peaceful purposes such as for construction or mining. He had no idea that it was going to be used in war. Regardless, the media decided to brand him with the ugly use of his invention.
In one of Dan Schawbel’s posts, the concept of personal branding is described as your reputation and what you are known for. The post also adds that if you don’t define your brand others will do that for you. Nobel had not defined who he wanted to be known for, and instead others made that determination for him. It made him very sad that this is how he would be remembered if he had died on that day.
He made it his mission for the rest of his life to figure out how he would change his personal brand for posterity. Nobel left his vast fortune to the creation of the Nobel Prize and foundation. He came up with the five yearly prizes, the criteria for how these would be selected, who would be making the decision and the rest is history. I was surprised at how effective he was at turning around his personal brand. In December, it will be over 112 years since he died. I just read online that Will Smith and his wife are going to host the Nobel Peace Concert in December. After learning more about Alfred Nobel, I have great respect for him as a person.
Selected Accomplishments
- Learned to speak over 5 languages fluently.
- Was considered a world citizen who lived in Russia, France, Italy, Sweden and the US.
- Invested and launched numerous companies with the right leadership becoming the richest self made industrialist of his time.
- Wrote novels in various languages and had an extensive knowledge of literature.
- Continued to work on inventions at his lab at home until the last day of his life.
- Assisted numerous strangers who asked for help, especially those who could not afford an education on their own.
Your insights and thoughts
- Is there someone today who has been effective at changing his/her personal brand to a level that is sustainable?
- In your opinion, what is the most effective way to change a negative personal brand?
Photo Credits, mathrong
