ARE YOU WHO YOU SAY YOU ARE — OR WHO OTHERS TRULY FEEL YOU ARE?

If someone had to define your personal brand in just three words, what would they be? And here’s the challenge: no pompous titles, no grandiose positions, no empty corporate jargon. I’m talking about what pulses inside you, what silently resonates in the people around you — even when you’re not trying to impress anyone.
Your personal brand is not that elegant phrase you put in your LinkedIn bio, nor the carefully chosen filter for your Instagram, nor the motivational post you share to fit the narrative of the moment. Your brand is the emotion you awaken, the impact you imprint, the trust you cultivate in those who cross your path.
But in a world saturated by so-called “performative authenticity,” where spectacle often outweighs essence, how can you ensure that your brand truly reflects who you are — and not just what the market expects you to be?
Imagine an executive who, on their profile, is the “visionary leader” everyone admires. Yet those who live with him know a different story: narcissistic, self-righteous, solitary decision-maker, closed doors, little listening. The aura of the “visionary” does not echo in his daily actions. Who is he really? What counts more: what he declares himself to be or what his presence communicates?
Think about that colleague who lives in the social media showcase — lives, catchy phrases, tips on “authenticity” and “purpose.” But when the work tightens, she disappears, ignores messages, and avoids confrontation. Is she the influencer of herself or a character built to be accepted?
Now, turn your gaze to the leader who does not need self-promotion. They don’t post, barely speak, but when they do, they transform tensions into trust and create an environment of safety. Who do you think leaves the most lasting mark?
In this article, I invite you to dive into the essence of personal branding — beyond the traps of appearance and empty rhetoric. We will explore the scientific foundations that support what remains in people’s memory, the philosophy that helps us understand being and being-in-the-world, and the practices of Cognitive Behavioral Development (CBD) to build what I call the Existential Authorship Brand.
With more than 27 years of experience integrating social psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, and agile leadership, I bring here an invitation to go beyond the surface: to question, reflect, and act so that your brand is as true as it is transformative.
Ready for this challenge? Let’s begin.

The Illusion of Superficial Authenticity
“Who are you?” — this question is not just an invitation but a challenge spanning millennia. Pindar said that “being is a becoming,” and Heraclitus provocatively stated that “you cannot step into the same river twice.” Being is flow, change, a constant dance where the rigidity of definitions dissolves.
But our era insists on freezing the self in static labels, digital armors, carefully sculpted characters for social spectacle. Nietzsche warned about the danger of the “homo imitans,” the imitating man who sacrifices authenticity for a social mask, becoming an empty replica.
The philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, little remembered in popular discourse, speaks of alterity — the other as the mirror of the self — and the ethical weight of recognizing that we are essentially responsible for who we are before the other. But if we do not dare to take this responsibility, if we hide behind what we think others expect, what remains of our being?
Here lies the cruel paradox of our modern “authenticity”: we have more tools than ever to express who we are, but less courage to confront the inner abyss provoked by the question “Who am I really?” The stage of social media has become a theater of appearances, where truth is suffocated by fear of judgment and the yearning for belonging.
Therefore, when someone asks you to be “authentic,” they are actually asking for a well-rehearsed piece, a “safe” version of yourself — a performance practiced to avoid the risk of true exposure.
But being authentic is not a trivial or comfortable act. It is a continuous exercise of unveiling, deconstructing, and reconstructing oneself. It is looking in the mirror and facing not only what shines but the shadows that dwell within you. It is recognizing that the “I” is not a solid core but a web of relationships, stories, desires, and fears that manifest in what we let show — or not.
Existential Exercise: Now, stop and question yourself:
When no one is looking, who am I truly?
What words define me when silence embraces me?
Take your phone, record a 1-minute audio. Speak without filters, without rehearsals, without expectations. Then, listen with the honesty only solitude allows.
This will be the genuine seed of your brand — the first step to leave the stage of masks and enter the terrain of authentic existence. By the way, this simple act may seem trivial — but in truth, it is a courageous leap inward. Exposing yourself, even to yourself, implies a profound level of vulnerability. It opens space to recognize that the “I” we present to the world is often a construction — a shield against fear of judgment and rejection. Psychologically, this exercise activates areas of the prefrontal cortex responsible for self-reflection and emotional regulation, as recent neuroscience studies show.
It is in this space of self-exposure that transformation occurs: when we allow ourselves to feel the tension between who we are and who we show, we create the opportunity to integrate these fragmented parts. It is the process through which genuine authenticity emerges — not as a static state, but as a continuous movement of self-acceptance and adjustment.
As the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard pointed out, authenticity requires facing existential “despair” — the recognition of our imperfection and finitude. It is in this confrontation that true growth germinates.
Therefore, more than a communication task, building a personal brand is an internal work, a journey to find coherence between felt essence and shown presence.
This is precisely why understanding that emotional coherence is what makes a personal brand memorable — and how neuroscience supports this view — is essential.

Relational Maturity, Behavioral Intelligence, and the Language That Transforms
Why do some people remain engraved in the emotional memory of others, while others, despite their titles and impeccable speeches, pass by like fleeting shadows? The answer lies in something that transcends words: the integrated coherence between thought, emotion, and behavior — what we call relational maturity and behavioral intelligence.
Antonio Damasio, one of the great names in the neuroscience of emotions, shows that the limbic system — our emotional brain — decisively influences our memory and decisions, far more than pure reason. We are deeply affected by how we feel in the presence of others, and this emotional experience is built not only by what is said but by the entire communication package: tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, rhythm, and even silence.
It is in this space that behavioral language gains unquestionable protagonism. Ludwig Wittgenstein once said: “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” In the relational context, this means that the way we express our values, beliefs, and purposes — not just the content of our speech — defines the space we occupy in people’s minds and hearts. Our verbal and nonverbal language is the code through which our personal brand is decoded.
Relational maturity is the ability to regulate our emotions and sensitively perceive the emotions of others. This includes the capacity to respond with authenticity and assertiveness, even under pressure. I have no doubt that emotional intelligence makes it clear that this relational competence is more predictive of success and influence than technical or cognitive skills.
In the Cognitive Behavioral Development (CBD) model, the Existential Authorship Brand is the highest expression of this integration: it is the invisible signature that coherence between what one thinks, feels, and does imprints on relationships, decisions, and silences. This signature does not depend on daily posts, follower counts, or slogans; it resides in the deep authenticity reflected in everyday microinteractions.
Consider the leader who, in a critical meeting, not only listens to words but perceives tone, posture, and rhythm of the interlocutor. When responding, their voice conveys security and their expression, empathy. This leader creates a neuro-affective space that activates the prefrontal cortex and regulates the limbic system of all present, generating states of trust and mental openness.
This ability to generate relational resonance — a term integrating social neuroscience and psychology — is what allows people to seek you out in moments of crisis, not only for what you say but for what you express with your whole being.
More than a brand, this presence is an ethical and existential act, which dialogues with Heidegger’s philosophy: “Being-in-the-world” is being in relation, in connection, in authenticity. Your personal brand, in this sense, is the way you inhabit the world of others, leaving an emotional and cognitive trace that resonates beyond time.

The Greatest Risk of Contemporary Society and the Awakening of the True Personal Brand
I always like to remind that we live today in the Society of the Spectacle, as Guy Debord denounced. But he did not say it today or yesterday—it was in the mid-20th century, and apparently few paid attention. In other words, we remain on an incessant stage where image, appearance, and the manufactured repetition of reality dominate our senses. Our eyes are hypnotized by the reflection of what we supposedly should be, in an infinite loop of empty representations. Authenticity becomes a product for sale, presence a spectacle to be exhibited.
In this noise- and performance-saturated scenario, communication no longer dialogues — it shouts, echoes, multiplies into indistinguishable clones. We are bombarded by a noise so constant and homogeneous that the singularity of the human voice risks being swallowed. Among the crowd of standardized voices, who dares to truly be heard?
Byung-Chul Han warns of the “Society of Exhaustion”: a time in which the pressure to be productive, connected, and “authentic” wears us out. This exhaustion is not only physical, it is ontological. A fatigue that corrodes the soul and reduces being to mere repetition of predefined social codes. In this dynamic, the greatest risk is not just exhaustion, but the normalization of being — the standardization of identity, thought, and feeling. We become edited, calibrated, and calibrating versions of what is expected of us.
But what is the price of this? Losing the singularity that gives meaning to existence, erasing the unique mark we leave in the world. The personal brand ceases to be a profound expression and becomes just another noise in the collective spectacle.
Here lies the most urgent invitation I can make to you: stop everything you are doing right now and ask yourself — who am I beyond what society expects me to be?
The fact is that what I write today is no longer a list of tips to “build a brand.” It is a call to break free from normalization, to challenge the logic of spectacle and superficiality, to reclaim the Existential Authority of your presence — that invisible, non-transferable mark born from the courage to be whole, imperfect, and absolutely yourself.
If, as we have seen, the true personal brand is not reduced to appearances or superficial posts but resides in the depth of emotional connections and in the coherence between who you are and what you communicate, the question arises: how to know if you are truly building this authentic and relevant presence? How to measure the real impact of your brand, far beyond empty numbers and metrics?
To answer this, in Cognitive Behavioral Development (CBD), I always practice a fundamental exercise with my clients — three powerful questions that serve as a compass to calibrate your personal brand. They challenge common sense and point to what really transforms and makes a difference in the lives of people around you.
Let’s get to them:
The Three Questions Worth More Than 10,000 Followers
In an era where superficial metrics dominate our perception of success — likes, followers, connections — in Cognitive Behavioral Development (CBD) we teach that building an authentic and lasting personal brand is born from questions that go to the root of your real impact in the world.
These questions are doors to deep and transformative reflection, challenging common sense and inviting you to look beyond the digital spectacle:
1. Who has changed course because of what you shared?
The true reach of your communication is not in quantity, but in the quality and effect it generates. If you cannot recall anyone whose perspective was altered, decision influenced, or path transformed by your words or actions, it’s time to rethink your message. A powerful personal brand is one that provokes concrete changes — small or large, visible or silent — in the world of the people it touches.
2. What real problem does your knowledge solve?
Authenticity without utility is mere noise. In CBD, we rigorously map your strengths to align them with the concrete needs of the world around you. Your brand must be clear about the value it delivers. If you are a manager who transforms conflicts into bridges of understanding, this clarity must be the foundation of what you communicate, far beyond clichés and empty jargon that flood the networks.
3. Who would trust you in a moment of vulnerability?
This is the ultimate measure of your personal brand. In moments of crisis or uncertainty, what counts are not titles, positions, or numbers, but the trust you have cultivated — the executive presence that demonstrates coherence, security, and empathy. This trust arises from the alignment between what you say, what you do, and who you are, especially when no one is watching.
These questions are not a checklist for personal marketing; they are an invitation to meet yourself. To build an Existential Authorship Brand — that invisible signature that emerges from the courage to be whole, vulnerable, and faithful to your values, even when the world demands masks and performativity.
Are you ready to answer these questions with radical honesty?

The Philosophy of Freedom in Brand Building
“Man is condemned to be free,” said Sartre — and perhaps this condemnation is more suffocating today than ever. Not for lack of options, but because of an excess of available masks. We live surrounded by ready-made narratives, success formulas, edited personas that invite us, day after day, to be anything — except who we really are. The freedom we were given, now hijacked by algorithms, has become a jungle of carefully rehearsed performances.
Being authentic in this scenario is no longer a philosophical luxury — it is an act of resistance. Because true authenticity demands a brutal confrontation with one’s own shadow. It demands asking: Who am I when no one is watching? Who do I keep being when the world applauds me for being what I am not? Your personal brand is born in this liminal space — between what you show and what you silently sustain. Between the image you project and the impact you truly leave.
The Existential Authorship Brand here is more than present — not one built just with words, but with choices. It is a brand that carries not only what you know or do, but what you dare to be. It does not impose itself with slogans but emerges from the ethical consistency between your discourse and your presence. As Kierkegaard said, “truth is what we are willing to die for” — and your brand, if true, must contain something of that depth.
To sustain this freedom with integrity requires much more than good intentions. It requires a disciplined dive into self-knowledge. In CBD, we integrate, for example, approaches such as Cognitive Behavioral Psychology, Social Psychology, and Logotherapy, combined with tools from ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), to unveil the distortions that sabotage your presence in the world.
Because the truth is many leaders live disguised as themselves. Conditioned by corporate expectations, trapped by fear of appearing fragile, they mask their strengths with armors that no longer fit. They try to be infallible but lose connection. They try to be respected but cease to be human. Performance imposes itself — and the bond, where true leadership is born, crumbles.
One example I lived and never forgot: a brilliant executive, impeccable technically, with impeccable results — but whose team perceived him as absent, distant, opaque. When we began the process of building his personal brand from the CBD perspective, the paralyzing fear of showing any vulnerability emerged. He had learned that “leading is not faltering.” But by recognizing and sharing his challenges — not as weakness, but as a narrative of overcoming — something deep changed. His communication aligned with his essence. He stopped “appearing strong” and started inspiring trust. And that is transformative presence.
As Nietzsche said, “Become who you are” — not as an invitation to self-indulgence, but as a cry of lucidity. You can only build a powerful personal brand if you are willing to be whole. And wholeness, contrary to what many think, is not perfection — it is coherence lived with courage.
Building an authentic brand is a path for few. It is easy to repeat phrases about values. Difficult is sustaining them when they cost visibility, approval, or comfort. It is easy to appear true — difficult is to be faithful to your own truth when it doesn’t fit the standards of the digital showcase. That is why each time you choose to be who you are, instead of being what is expected, you not only strengthen your brand — you return to freedom its noblest meaning: the responsibility to choose your own presence in the world.
And, in the end, that is what personal branding is about: not self-promotion, but conscious self-realization. Your brand is the intersection between what you chose to be, what you were able to sustain — and what the world feels when you enter a room, physical or symbolic. If your presence does not resonate confidence, clarity, and humanity, no title will compensate.

How to Build an Existential Authorship Brand
You cannot build an authentic brand with ready-made molds. Neither with clichés, nor with personal marketing strategies based on canned formulas. Building an Existential Authorship Brand requires a deep dive — not into what you show, but into what you move.
Your brand is born in the invisible territory between what you feel and what others perceive. It pulses in the quality of your listening, in the maturity of your behavioral language, in the way your body communicates values even before your mouth speaks. It reveals itself in relational intelligence — that rare ability to calibrate presence, intention, and impact with ethical and emotional precision.
And that is exactly why, in Cognitive Behavioral Development (DCC), we do not treat personal branding as a product, but as a living expression of your coherent existence. A psychic and relational signature, aligned with your purpose and your capacity to provoke real transformations.
Here is the roadmap to initiate it — not as a formula, but as a conscious provocation:
1. Map your strengths with ethical depth, not just technical skill
Identify what in you is singular. Not what pleases, but what transforms. To do this, use advanced behavioral tools, but also listen to the silence between feedback: what do people entrust to you without asking? What spaces do you occupy without needing to announce it? This is your real strength. As Nietzsche said, “becoming who you are” requires courage to name your own potency — even when it does not fit what the market values.
2. Align your potency to the wounds of the world
The true brand is not built solely from what you do well, but from what you do that heals, alleviates, and solves. This demands systemic vision and strategic empathy. Talent disconnected from reality is mere vanity. Your brand only gains relevance when it becomes a response. When your knowledge meets a real suffering, a gap of meaning, a collective need — it becomes legacy.
3. Communicate with ontological coherence — before aesthetics
It’s not about being beautiful, eloquent, or charismatic. It’s about being integral. Your communication begins in your body, passes through your gaze, and projects itself in the subtext of what you don’t say. Study your language patterns, but go further: refine your intention. Mature relational language demands affective presence and clarity without ego. As we teach in DCC, every effective communication is an act of emotional responsibility: you are responsible for what the other person feels when you speak — even if they say nothing.
4. Measure your impact by transformation, not visibility
The metric of your brand is not reach, but reverberation. In DCC, we use the concept of “transformational bond”: how many lives have been realigned, strengthened, or awakened through your presence? It doesn’t matter if it was 10,000 likes or a single soul reconnecting with its own worth. Impact is not measured on a screen but in testimony. As Clarice Lispector said, “there are moments when all we need is someone to return us to ourselves.” This is your true measure.
5. Become the living reflection of what you advocate
Here lies the root of everything: live what you communicate. Your brand is who you are when no one is watching. It settles in the collective unconscious of those who have passed through you and remember what they felt. For that, emotional congruence, psychic integrity, and courage to sustain your own truth are necessary — even when it is uncomfortable. In DCC, we say: “your authority begins when your truth finds the maturity to be offered to others not by imposition, but with presence.”
Building an Existential Authorship Brand is not a task for those seeking applause. It is a journey for those who wish to leave trails of consciousness, not footprints of vanity. It is for those who understand that, in a world of voices shouting for attention, true power lies in becoming someone whose presence silences — because it touches.
Are you ready to live the brand that transforms — before trying to promote it?

What Your Presence Leaves When You Leave
In many moments in life, the weight of the journey makes us question if we are walking in the right direction. But the real question was never happiness as a goal to be reached, but how much we are willing to learn from the experiences that shape us — especially those that hurt us. As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry reminds us: “no one passes through our life without leaving something and taking something away.” In every encounter, every relationship, we leave a piece of ourselves and also take a piece of the other. Some leave little and take much. Others, paradoxically, take much but leave almost nothing.
True value lies in those who — with presence and awareness — know how to leave much and take much. Because genuine happiness does not reside in what is retained, but in what is shared with wholeness and generosity.
It lies in living with radical presence.
It lies in being whole in exchanges.
It lies in touching and letting yourself be touched — with humanity.
And more: it reveals itself in the understanding that life’s greatest marks do not arise in moments of tranquility, but in the darkest crossings, where pain, failure, and silence traverse us and reveal us.
It is in these moments that our real mark is shaped — not as performance, but as testimony.
That is why your Existential Authorship Brand is not about visibility, but about truth.
It is not about convincing, but about moving.
It is not about being followed, but about being remembered — not by the aesthetics of image, but by the ethics of impact.
So, may you leave this text with fewer certainties and more questions:
• What in me is irreducibly mine — and yet, capable of transforming the other?
• What part of my presence continues to exist when I am no longer around?
• What marks am I leaving — and what scars also constitute me?
Because, in the end, your personal brand is what remains when everything else falls silent.
It is what pulses in those who were touched by your presence — even when you are no longer visible.
And that, no one can copy.