Kudos to Lindsey and Kate, who organized this well-attended event at the  Public House in Center City, Philadelphia.

What is “Speed Networking?” It is an event designed to promote business connections, in this case among a group of professionals who already share an interest in careers in the “Sustainability” sector of business.  In my role as a resource for people interested in this sector, this association-sponsored event was sure to attract people I would be able to relate to.

How does the event work?  Participants were assigned either letters or numbers.  Letters remained seated at small tables; numbers changed seats after a specified period of time  until most attendees had an opportunity to meet one another.  In other words, letter “C” met with number “3;” then number “3″ moved over to meet with letter “D.”

Where does “speed” enter the picture? These events are staged to promote a quick introduction to as many people as possible, with time afterward for socializing.   Time seems to be our scarcest resource these days: I was able to meet and make an initial assessment of 10 people in 65 minutes.

WIIFY-What’s In It For You?

• For those who are not comfortable with face-to-face networking, this is an opportunity  to practice in a controlled environment and for a limited period of time – no need to reach-out to people ‘cuz they’ll come to you.
• This type of event preserves a bit of anonymity – you may find 1-2 gems among the 10 contacts you might make, and there is no shame in leaving the 8 or so other contacts to be mined later or not at all.
• In just a few minutes, participants  share business cards and discuss their goals, share their “1-minute commercial,” ask for recommendations”, etc.   Take notes, follow-up, be a giver…
• Your group can suggest some “prompts” or conversation starters, or leave it to the participants.  Lindsey and Kate suggested 6-minute blocks of time, so there was ample time to share information and determine if connections were worth pursuing.

I’d like to hear about your experiences:  is this a legitimate method to build your network, or is it too contrived?  So far, my take on it is that speed networking could be a great ice-breaker for a group training exercise or meeting.  I recommend it as a NYNT – Nurture Your Network Tool.  Thanks again to Lindsey and Kate, (and to whomever jammed the parking meter outside the Public House so I could park for free)!

The Reach Personal Branding group recently circulated a post that deserves wider circulation.  William Arruda,  a respected advocate for personal branding and co-author of Career Distinction, commented on a NYT piece by Thomas Friedman called,  “The New Untouchables.”

Arruda makes the point that those who will survive and flourish during challenging times are those who can distinguish themselves – those who can become the purple cow in the herd of brown and white cows.   As I prepare to meet MBA students who aspire to be the corporate and entrepreneurial leaders of tomorrow (Net Impact Conference 11/13 & 11/14),  it seems timely to extrapolate these words from William’s post:

As I see it, this is all about personal branding. What do you offer that is not available from anyone else? What emotional brand attributes do you add onto your competence that gets people excited about you? What unique talents and abilities put you in a class by yourself?

Will you make the case to a prospective employer that you understand their issues – that you are prepared to integrate your education, experience, and personal qualities in a plan that makes an overwhelming case for hiring and retaining you.  Will you make yourself indispensable?

A chain of posts through the Net Impact LinkedIn group led me to rant again about the disparity between the innovation that is taught in “better” business schools and the conformity that is foisted-upon new graduates.

Ivy League universities hire distinguished faculty to teach classes in “innovation;” these same professors rally around the need for change to compete in the global marketplace.  Yet as students approach graduation and complete their exams, theses, and dissertations, it seems they are ushered into the back room to have the creativity beaten out of them.  The Biz School back-room “whoopin” leaves new graduates wondering about their considerable investment of time, money, and faith.

Resumes must conform to a specific style to earn a place in the recruitment “book; ” cover letters may as well be automated, and networking is almost incestuous (maybe due to over-reliance on alumni).  I shouldn’t complain, as many students seek the services of experienced career professionals to flesh-out their personal brand and manage their job search campaigns.  (Look for CAN and other career strategists at the Sept. 17th PA Governor’s Conference for Women,  as well as several MBA Career Expos and the November Net Impact Conference.)

The NetImpact group discussion led me to a related post by Matt Madden, a Presidio School of Management student who is writing a book tentatively titled Status Quo Values. The purpose of this project is to explore status quo value systems – economic, political and social values – and discuss the role these values play in our society’s aversion to change.  The goal of the work is to define status quo values, discuss the historical roots of our institutional embrace of status quo values, examine the role our institutions play in promoting these values to individuals and investigate examples of institutions and individuals adhering to alternative value systems.  Sounds like a continuation of the dialog started by Robert Reich in his Fast Company issue, Your Job Is Change.  I’ll be looking for the book, Matt…

I love it when people can tell stories that make a point – like Aesop's Fables…  My father was great at this – unfortunately, I'm not.  For this homily, let's borrow from Seth Godin and his "The Panhandler's Secret."

Seth's post is a simple story that reinforces a truism of sales training – talk features and benefits.  Career changers and job seekers are selling themselves – selling their unique value proposition – their brand. 

So be sure you know the features and benefits needed by your target organization – be sure what they need is in your "tool bag." 

Karen P. Katz

This is an amazing opportunity for those whose entrepreneurial ideas are ready to launch, similar to the government's criteria for "shovel-ready" infrastructure projects. 

Cuban offers venture capital to those who can meet his 13 criteria.  The competition itself will spark innovative thinking; the process will be public, and therefore inspiring; the winning business plan may spark a stimulus of innovation. The time frame is NOW – its all about responsiveness and accountability.

Need help writing your business plan?  If I can't help you, I'll find someone who can. Check-it-out…<http://tinyurl.com/djwbbu>

Godin, blogger and thought leader among personal and permission marketers, has re-framed the thinking of Richard Bolles, author and esteemed guru of career and life coaches. 

I'm always looking for a topic that might add real value to the career space, so I was grateful to a friend who sent me Seth Godin's recent post, What are you good at?    Taking a marketing perspective, Seth appropriately suggests that those looking for their next big gig" should consider the distinction between skills that can be categorized as "content" and "process."

Godin uses 21st Century terminology to make his point:  "Content is domain knowledge. People you know or skills you've
developed… Domain knowledge is important, but it's (often) easily learnable."  While Bolles' terms may not resonate with Millennials, his discussion of this topic is as relevant today as it was in 1980, when the Quick Job Hunting Map was first published.  Bolles describes skills residing in the content domain as "I know skills" ,e.g."I know how to use SAP, "I know financial accounting," "I know movers and shakers in the logistics field."

Godin  uses the term "process" to describe "emotional intelligence" – what Bolles would call "I am skills."  When explaining process skills, a speaker is likely to start a sentence with "I am able to manage multiple projects," "I am persuasive," "I am adaptable," etc.  These are the skills, abilities, and personal qualities that can differentiate a candidate from the many others who share their credentials and knowledge skills.  As Godin says, the process "…stuff is insanely valuable and hard to learn." And I agree that these personal qualities are likely to be overlooked by screeners and scanners. All the more reason to dig-deep and seize control of your personal marketing campaign – to manage your career.

An infinite number of people share the same content domain, but precious few offer the same mix of process skills and personal qualities. Long-term career health, preceded by successful assessment, preparation of marketing documents, interview preparation, and offer negotiation, is dependent upon your understanding of these ideas.

Passing on news that that Gallup Press has released another title in its series of self-assessment books in collaboration with Tom Rath: Strengths Based Leadership.  The new title promises to build on the results of the Strengths Finder 2.0, which is itself an extension of the popular title, Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham.

Buckingham is a business guru whose perspective has always appealed to me, on several levels.  Like me, he was once a stutterer who found that his strength is actually his ability to communicate clearly and convincingly.  Secondly, he has been a proponent for an intuitive and healthy attitude about personal and professional development. I think he would endorse my self-description as a career strategist, not a counselor (illness) nor a coach (no fruits and nuts).  Marcus started a "Strengths Revolution," by asking what is most likely lead to the achievement of goals: building on your strengths or fixing your weaknesses?  

As a career professional, I totally embrace the emphasis on strengths assessment.  Many traditional psychological assessments leave the client and coach communicating through language that I call "psycho-babble." The Strengths Revolution encourages a coaching dialog that uses easy to understand terms; the terms relate to the business world, not to the theories of a psychologist.  (An earlier strengths-based tool was developed by Timothy Butler, & James Waldroop; it is still available through the Harvard Business School).

The new book seeks to build on research conducted over 10 years, focusing on what it takes to be a leader. Tom Rath has collaborated with Barry Conchie to identify  themes and provide  specific strategies that should help you to build a stronger team.  This post is not a book review, as I have only learned about the new release today. (Note that few reviewers have recommended the new book to those who have already taken the Strengths Finder 2.0; it is suggested as a substitute rather than an addition to the original assessment.)

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While I am enthusiastic about all strengths-based assessments, they lack the element of anonymous feedback, offered through an innovative personal branding tool, the 360Reach Branding Assessment.  In the name of full disclosure, I am one of 300 Reach certified analysts and strategists worldwide; the Reach branding tool is based on the 2007 book by Arruda and Dixon,  Career Distinction: Stand Out by Building your Brand.  It is true that self-assessment is a major componet in successful career development, yet I have found scholarly and anectotal evidence to prove that most clients are receptive to the anonymous input of friends, family, and colleagues as part of the career development process.  While the tools developed by Butler, Rath, Conchie, and others are excellent; the availability of 360-degree feedback takes the concept to an even higher level. 

All these strengths-based assessments help job seekers and those in career transition to focus on the positive, to develop specific strategies, and to think in-terms of what lies ahead rather than dwell on mistakes made in the past.  Message: whether you want to confirm your five themes, your leadership style, or your personal brand, find a career professional who will help you identify the right tool for you.  Assessment should lead to action; action to results. 

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Karen P. Katz, Career Acceleration Network (CAN), LLC

Many readers of Career Acceleration Notes are based in the Philadelphia region, meaning southern New Jersey, northern Delaware, and southeastern Pennsylvania. 

The new blog, PhillyCAN-Jobs,  features news and links that are geared toward those searching for jobs, and specifically, those whose job search is confined to the Philadelphia area.  Please click, read, and subscribe – it will be like getting the paper delivered to your in-box.

Your subscription to the feeds for both of these CAN blogs is of great importance to me – it helps make the Career Acceleration Network more visible.  In return for your readership and comments, I pledge to offer current content, valuable links, and fresh thinking.  I am also renewing the offer to current and former clients who may wish to supplement their online identity by sharing a post: "guest bloggers" are solicited and valued. Light-up your online identify and fire-up your job search by sharing your experience and expertise.

Warm wishes to all of you during this season of family, food, and fun times…


Karen P. Katz, President & Principal Consultant
Career Acceleration Network (CAN), llc
<http://www.CareerAcceleration.net>

Thanks to Sanjay Doshi for this self-reflective and forward-thinking "guest post."  I think it says a lot about his evolution while working through his Acceleration Plan.  Please feel free to comment via this blog  (Career Acceleration Notes) or directly to Sanjay – sanjaydoshi@gmail.com.

When I was first laid
off in October, it took me over a week just to figure out what exactly
had happened.  Then, I mapped out a plan to help me organize my search
to determine the next step in my career.  The first step I took to
guide me?  Hiring a career counselor.  When I explained to her where I
was looking to go and what skills I had that would be attractive to my
target companies, she mentioned that I needed to start thinking outside
the box.  In my head, I thought 'What box?' 

I soon realized it meant
that in the process of one's active job search, employed or unemployed,
one should strive to cast a wider net to find their next opportunity
and look beyond the traditional job searching/networking methods.  In
one of the toughest economies the U.S. has seen in decades, taking a
fresh approach may pave the future.  After all, who doesn't want to be
the purple cow in a meadow of white and brown ones?  Here are a few of
things I've learned:

1. When it comes to networking, whether it be with family, friends,
or co-workers, focus on giving, not receiving.  When you do the first,
the latter will come in time.  Growing those relationships and
occupying a space in their minds can pay off in the long run.
2. While it's important to select your ideal job/career and spend most
of your efforts on getting there, take time to consider other fields. 
Tapping into segments of
certain industries that are growing (from my research, this includes
education, health care, oil/energy, social media) could be fruitful,
especially in a
contracting economy (at present, most segments of financial services,
pharmaceutical, retail, advertising and print media are
restructuring).  Leverage the industries you have experience in
and revisit them.  In my case, I consulted for a city government for
nearly 4 years and while I've been out of touch since 2004, I now bring
a broader skill set than before – more creativity supported by
analytical and strategic thinking.  I plan to reach out to a few of my
old colleagues and get a sense of how the landscape has changed,
network with people in other branches of the government and ultimately,
see if there is a match.  The very reasons I left could be the same
ones to return.

Seeing
as how I'm still working on each of the strategies above, I'm slowly
crawling out of the proverbial box.  Actually, I probably have my left
hand and foot out.

posted by: SanjayDoshi@gmail.com

Readers know that I'm a career-politico and a student of the 2008 Election. The last two years have offered many lessons for those seeking new jobs and/or engaged in career transition.  I've shared my own perspectives during the last year:  check out the views expressed by Harvard Business Online (The Managerial Triumph of Barack Obama)

John Quelch's post in Business Week is one of three "ivy-covered" views of Obama's victory.  It reads like a comment on my Lessons from the National Interview; here's a summary of his points that circle back to inspire anyone involved in personal marketing:

1. Obama's personal attributes were fleshed-out and visible to voters: interpersonal & communication skills; composure; his compelling story
2. He engaged support from the ground-up; perhaps the Harvard-educated Obama was inspired by the idea of the "learning organization," advocated by a professor on the other side of Cambridge, MA – Peter Senge.
3. Dominated the use of technology – multiple websites; the blogosphere, You-Tube, podcasts, and an incredibly effective infomercial (33.5 million viewers)
4. The campaign targeted an inclusive array of voters; went beyond likely voters and discovered the power of early voters.
5. Message of hope delivered during time of doubt and despair resonated with possibility
6. Obama had some noisy gremlins in his closet; he dealt with them early-on and in a poignant and transparent manner.  When the Republican Party of Pennsylvania pulled them out of the closet In October 2008, they were marked as "past season." 
7. TEAM – The team Obama assembled to market his candidacy and run the campaign was outstanding.  Quelch rightly points to the selection of Joe Biden as VP – a choice that filled Obama's foreign policy gap and reassured voters about Obama's judgment.