Personal Branding Blog – Dan Schawbel

Today, I interview Rabbi Levi Brackman about what Judaism can teach us about personal branding and how to become more successful in business.  We talk about how “spiritual entrepreneurship” and how you can take concepts in the Torah and apply them to real life business situations.  I also asked him questions about perception and Jewish stereotypes.

A lot of people stereotype Jews (I’m a Jew) about being rich, greedy and smart business people. How would you respond to this criticism/compliment?

Clearly not all Jews are rich, smart or greedy. Any type of stereotype is unhelpful and very often stems from or leads to racism. This stereotype of Jews being rich or greedy is no different and it very often leads to or stems from anti-Semitism.

Nonetheless, it is undeniable that Jewish people have really made their mark as savvy business people and the statistics point to the fact that Jews have been disproportionately successful in areas related to business and finance.

For example: Jewish people make up less than one half of one percent of the world’s population. But they make up more than ten percent of the Forbes 400 list of the world’s wealthiest people. So the statistics indicate that Jewish people are disproportionately successful in business and finance in a way that far outweighs their numbers. This is not a stereotype it is a fact. But it is far from saying that ALL Jews are rich, greedy or smart.

What can the Torah reveal about conquering fear, dealing with failure and harvesting the power of positivity?

• Conquering Fear: In order to conquer fear you must be aware when fear based responses are manifesting themselves in your thinking and then stop them from dictating your actions.
• Dealing with Failure: The response that a person has to perceived failure will dictate their future success. In short the best way to deal with failure is not to see setbacks as failure, rather one must see the silver lining and opportunities inherent in any situation no matter how negative it may seem.

The power of positivity is the concept of ensuring that one is constantly only attracting the things that one really wants to attract. The way to do this is through positive thoughts, speech and action. Action being the important thing to also keep in mind. Affirmations, visualizations and other tools for attracting positive outcomes can only work is they come hand in hand with positive actions.

Can you give an example of a non-jew and a jew that have used sacred Jewish texts for their own business success?

The ideas found within the Torah and other ancient texts relate directly into successful business practices. Since Jewish people have spent thousands of years studying the Torah they have over the generations imbibed and absorbed its wisdom teachings. These teachings have then helped them become successful in business.

This is also true for many secular Jews who have absorbed Torah teachings in the form of wisdom lessons they heard growing up from parents, grandparents uncles and aunts. They may not have been aware that many of those teachings have roots in the teachings of the Torah.

What do you mean by using “spiritual entrepreneurship”? Why is it effective?

Even successful business people have the need to feel fulfillment from their work. Even successful people are sometimes feel unhappy and unfulfilled with their work.

“Spiritual entrepreneurship is the concept of working hard in order to make money but at the same time doing it for a higher purpose.”

This eliminates what we call “Rich Guilt” and allows people to feel fulfilled and spiritually content with the money making process. More about spiritual entrepreneurship in chapter seven of “Jewish Wisdom for Business Success”.

What have you learned about your personal brand, from being a rabbi to a business book author? How do you feel you’re judged on a daily basis by others?

That’s a great question. In “Jewish Wisdom for Business Success” we talk about the need for each individual to be aware of their own unique traits, talents and abilities. Each person has something unique that they are obligated to contribute to the Divine plan for the universe.

In today’s world through the Internet one is able to connect with clients and potential business associates or friends anywhere around our globe. This enables us to be ourselves and attract business that is unique to us. For me the most important thing is to be authentically true to who I am. Therefore I have never really tried to brand myself. Rather I just am who I am and do what I love. If that then becomes a personal brand then so be it.

As far as how I am being judged by others—I have learned that no two people will see the same thing and come away with the same opinion of it. Inevitably some people will love what I have to say and do while others will not. Some will see it as positive others will judge it harshly. It goes with the territory. The main thing is that we are authentic and when we are we will find others who will appreciate what we uniquely have to offer them and the world.

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Rabbi Levi Brackman is a Judaic scholar, teacher, writer and religious leader who has been active in both England and the United States and whose writings are featured regularly in Jewish publications internationally and on the Internet. Brackman’s weekly column, which is distributed over the Internet to thousands globally, is also published on Israeli daily Yedioth Achronoth’s English-language website “YNetNews.com”.

Brackman is also a founding member of The Movement for a Tolerant World, an organization that offers young people in Asia, the Middle East and other parts of the globe, a positive and tolerant ideology that provides them with the opportunity to make real and positive changes in their community and the world.