We all have a personal brand. It’s how people perceive us. What they think about our work – what we do and how we do it. It’s what others talk about when we aren’t in the room. We may not want to have a personal brand. We may not like the one we have. Or we may want...
One dimension of our personal brand value is our influence. Understanding if others look to us for advice and knowledge. We can get a feel for our influence at work based on interactions. Online, knowing our influence with people we don’t know is more challenging. For...
What do you want to be known for? The more seasoned we become in our career, the more challenging this question can become. Our list of knowledge, skills, and experience grows. We don’t want to be pigeonholed into just one thing. Yet, if we share everything, our...
There is a great Jane Austin quote that speaks to our identity: “It isn’t what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.” – Jane Austin Recently, I heard someone adding the idea of joining as a dimension of “doing”. Join a group with similar interests –...
We each have a special sauce. The things that make our blend of humanness unique from anyone else. The way we manage our time. The value we bring to a project. The goals we have in life. The approach we take to building relationships. The list goes on and on. Knowing...
The concept of becoming a MeEO is appealing. A life where we are in control and satisfied with all 8 dimensions of wellbeing. We have a clear vision for our career, solid relationships, and activities that energize us. This is a great vision, but what can we do to...
When we meet someone new, we are often asked “what do you do?”. Many of us respond with our title and the company we work for. What if we had to answer that question without our title or employer? We might find that the answer is more about who we are than the other...
Strengths. We all have them. Yet do we really understand them? What if we dug in a little more. Defined what makes us unique. Get underneath how our education and our natural tendencies create something special. What emerges when we mash together our disparate...
I love spring. Longer days. Warmer weather. The world is turning back to color. Every year, I take photos of the flowers and flowering trees. I have so many. They make me happy. Yesterday, I noticed something else about these beautiful flowering pops of color. They...
Our personal brand is all about how we are perceived by others. What do they say when we aren’t around? How do our skills, actions, and attitudes align? What message do we communicate. Sometimes we can tie ourselves in knots trying to figure out how to express our...
Back in the mid-2000s, I read the book “Lovemarks”. This book shaped how I considered brand positioning, and the phases customers go through as they develop a relationship with the brand. The three levels I developed from the insights in the book were respect, trust,...
Have you heard of Kintsugi? This is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer mixed with gold, silver, or platinum powder. Instead of disguising the cracks, Kintsugi highlights and enhances them. A new, more beautiful piece of pottery with a...
There are many occasions where we consider what outfit to wear to an event. Sometimes this decision can be stressful. A few weeks ago on a podcast, there was a mention of clothing being a tool. Then, last night, I heard the statement again by Michelle Obama in the...
I heard a reference to optimal distinctiveness for the first time the other day. The concept was developed by Marilynn Brewer in 1991. The theory is that individuals are seeking to attain the optimal balance of inclusion and uniqueness. We want to both...
Companies have a board of directors. The group provides high-level guidance on business strategy and performance. Board members offer an outside perspective and have different areas of expertise. What if we had the same for our career development? A group...
Am I an introvert or an extrovert? Do I naturally approach the world by thinking first or acting? What motivates me to get things done? These are the kind of questions we seek to answer when taking a self-assessment or personality test. There are many assessments...
There was an online article from Fast Company in mid-January titled “Personal Branding is Dead. Here’s What to Do Next.” The article provides many reasons and rationale why personal branding is not appropriate for the future. Instead, the recommendation is to...
Yesterday we talked about “unicorns” at work introducing the concepts of I-, T-, and M-Shaped individuals. Today, I want to expand that conversation to another category. These are the multi-passionate or sometimes referred to as hybrid professionals. They...
When we think about looking for a new job, the first thing we often do is freshen up our resume and make sure it’s up to date. We dive into the search and start sending resumes and cover letters to companies that seem of interest. Soon we realize that we want to...
Thinking about several topics – personal branding, intentional connections, career development – a collision happened in my mind. How does our professional brand change as our career evolves? Can we be more intentional about what the long-term imprints look like? Is...
Every day we have a million thoughts running through our head. To do lists. Schedules to follow. Memories of the past. Hopes for the future. In between we assess ourselves and “how we showed up”. Often with a bit of judgement. Today, May 22nd, it’s time to set...