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Posts Tagged ‘career management’

Personal Branding and Your Career / Business

Tuesday, December 18th, 2007

What’s your brand? How do you set yourself apart from your colleagues and competitors? What makes you unique? And how do you share your differentiating qualities with your colleagues, clients, and those you encounter and engage?

While the concept of personal branding has been around for a while, it’s gained lots of attention in recent years and is being promoted as a highly effective way of managing one’s career and/or building one’s business.

Ten years ago, FastCompany.com’s article “The Brand Called You” drew useful parallels between one’s personal brand and that of big name organizations and offered a method of discovering the essence of one’s own brand.

Last month, A Brand New You, held a day-long summit on personal branding featuring presentations by many leaders in the field. While I was unable to participate, I was happy to see that the presentations were recorded and are available for download or to listen to online or via podcast.

And, last week I participated in a teleclass on personal branding, featuring William Aruda and Kirsten Dixon, co-authors of a new book on the subject: Career Distinction: Stand Out By Building Your Brand. The team talked about the importance of taking ownership of your career and responsibility for your career development. Through their book, they offer strategies for using personal branding to do so. While I haven’t read the book, I have added to my reading list. Once I do read it, I’ll be sure to provide a review.

What I liked about the branding concept is that it isn’t about packaging. It’s about you … getting really clear on who you are, what’s most important to you and understanding how to leverage those things to enhance and manage your career and/or business. It’s about discovering your unique talents and sharing them with those who need to know about them.

Have you developed your personal brand? If so, I ‘d love to hear about your experience in doing so and how it has impacted your career or business.

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Posted in Career, Entrepreneurship | No Comments »

Career Management and the Holidays

Tuesday, November 27th, 2007

The weather is turning cooler, more seasonal, and holiday decorations pepper the landscape. As we sail into the holiday season, people are shifting from intimate social gatherings with close friends and family to socially engaging winter holiday activities: holiday shopping, volunteering, attending parties and celebrations, etc.

And, while lots of people slow down and disconnect a bit from their work lives as the year draws to a close, it can be a wonderful time to create new connections and fruitful relationships as you begin a new year.

Whether a new job or career is on the forefront, (and especially if one is), here are a few tips for connecting during holiday festivities:

  1. Keep personal ‘business’ cards on hand
    Even if you are gainfully employed, a card with your contact information and area of expertise can help facilitate new connections (no fumbling for pen and paper, no risk of misspellings or difficult to read handwriting). Don’t have any? Order some for free at vistaprint.com.
  2. Be able to describe what you do in a compelling way in a minute or two (over a platter of veggies and dip!)
    Instead of reciting a job title when someone asks what you do, think about how you help people and/or organizations and then talk about it in a way the creates interest and intrigue. What problems do you solve and how do those that you help benefit? Ex: I help people connect with and honor what’s most important to them and live more balanced and fulfilling lives as a result … (life coach)
  3. Forget about the traditional concept of networking and get curious
    Take genuine interest in those around you. Get really curious about who they are and what they do. Engaging based on curiosity and mutual interests creates an fertile environment for personal and/or professional relationships to flourish. Along the way, you may find out that your sister’s new boyfriend’s cousin has a contact at that company you’ve been scoping out!
  4. Ask for what you want
    If you meet someone who might be a useful ally in your career or job change, ask for what you want. Interested in learning more about their organization? Ask for an informational interview or a tour. Do they have a friend at the organization you’ve been researching? As for an introduction. Feel a sense of connection? Ask for a lunch or coffee date.
  5. Consider how you can help those you meet
    Do you know of a person your new contact really needs to meet? A great book you read recently that they’d enjoy? An event they might like to attend? Sharing information of interest to others is a great ways to connect (and reconnect after your initial meeting).

Whether attending the festivities of family, friends, your employer, your spouse/partner’s employer, professional associations, etc., you never know who you’ll meet and where that new connection might lead.

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Posted in Career, Life, Networking | No Comments »

Work/Life Balance Not a Priority?

Wednesday, November 7th, 2007

That seems to be the finding of a new survey by Monster.com, which found that workers and employers see the importance of work/life balance initiatives quite differently. According to the findings, the outlook is grim for employees who place a high priority on initiatives and benefits designed to support work/life balance. Employers just don’t seem to appreciate the value that such programs hold for employees, despite the volumes of information available to suggest otherwise. The survey finds that the likelihood of improvements over today’s offerings is slightly better than your chances of getting heads in the flip of a coin – 56%, to be precise.

So, what’s an employee to do? Get really clear on what’s most important to you and how you honor it in your life.

What’s your definition of work/life balance? Go on, get specific… What’s the maximum number of hours you’re willing to work each day/week? How far are you willing to commute? How accessible are you willing to be outside of work hours? How would you prefer to handle things when your kids get sick? Are you willing to travel? If so, how often? Where are you willing to compromise, or not?

Being really clear about your own definition of work/life balance and where you are willing to bend (or not) enables you to make empowered decisions. When you know what you are looking for, evaluating potential employers, job offers, or careers, or making decisions post maternity/paternity leave, becomes much easier. You’ll have a framework for decision-making.

When you’re faced with a decision, make it from this place of increased self-awareness and clarity. You’ll be making a decision in conscious choice based on what you value most, rather than insecurity, scarity, fear and the like.

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Posted in Career, Choice, Work / Life Integration | No Comments »