We don't pretend to have coined this phrase, but we sure do agree with the sentiment behind it. In the business world, branding is very important, it tells the public as well as employees what the company is about, how to recognize it in a crowd, and what it stands for. This is necessary because despite any legal argument to the contrary, a company is not alive and cannot form anything on its own, it must be deliberate. That's not true for people, however.

People are, well, people! they shouldn't be deliberate about who they are, they should be who they are! This is the difference between Personal Branding and Authentic Voice, read more about it here.