Nov

10

MBA, or should we strive for MBI (Indispensable)

Networking/Interviewing / Personal marketing - branding

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?

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Feb

28

Close the Deal with Features & Benefits

Job search - strategies / Personal marketing - branding

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

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Jan

07

A New Strengths Assessment Tool from Gallup Press

Career Transition-Change / Job search - strategies / Personal marketing - branding

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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