Paul McCartney is clearly one of the most recognized names in the world. His legacy in music, and beyond, is immense, perhaps unmatched.
Earlier this month, finally, I was lucky enough to see him perform at the brand new Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. It was a stunning show: three hours of familiar songs that are the soundtrack of my life. Yours too?
As my co-author and I are finishing the writing for our forthcoming book on personal branding, The Road to Recognition, I got to thinking about how Sir Paul achieved such success. Was it his talent? Certainly, that's a big part of the equation. A commitment to making records for 55 years? Yes.
My thoughts, however, gravitated elsewhere. See, in my mind, McCartney delivers the ultimate proof of the power of collaboration. It seems he knew from get-go what often takes personal branders too long to discover: you can't go it alone. You accelerate your success "with a little help from your friends."
Paul's collaboration is legendary, right? Lennon/McCartney. Though co-songwriting credits, I think, only once included Harrison, McCartney's insane success had everything to do with his collaboration with John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and the great George Martin. BTW, his set list included a tribute to John (a song about their relationship) and George (a ukulele-based version of "Something.")
McCartney continued collaborating with other artists after The Beatles... with Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Elvis Costello, Brian Wilson... It's a long list. He even co-wrote and performed the 2015 hit "FourFiveSeconds" with hit-makers Kanye West and Rihanna.
Collaboration is one of the stronger themes in my book. In fact, in the chapter "I is Influencers," my friend Lee Odden, CEO of TopRank Marketing and a highly influential digital marketing expert, contributes his ideas about creating content collaboratively.
"When brands want to become more credible and extend their reach, they find people who already have influence and partner with them to create content," writes Lee. "The same approach works for individuals. If being more influential in a certain area is important to your success, find people who have the trust, respect and audience you want."
Thank you Lee for that great advice.
The complete title of the book is, The Road to Recognition: The A-to-Z Guide to Personal Branding for Accelerating Your Professional Success in the Age of Digital Media. It stresses that there are no shortcuts. The road is long and winding. Thanks Paul. And if being recognized as an expert in your field is one of your career goals, there are quite a few things you can do to accelerate the process.
Here they are...