Paul Copcutt - Just My Toonies Worth

What is your true purpose?

My montlhy e-zine went out at the weekend and I received a lot of very humbling and wonderful support and comments. Thank you to everyone who took the time. For those that missed it, here is my 'note'. 

I hope that you will indulge me a little and help and support me take a huge step (well actually two!).

I am celebrating - and I would like you to join me in that celebration in two very distinct ways.

One year ago yesterday (April 20th 2011), just a few weeks after my 50th birthday, was the last of my 35 radiation treatments for head neck cancer. That coupled with three chemotherapy treatments and previous surgery successfully dealt with my cancer.

But that wasn't the only factor. It was a combination of many things for which I am truly grateful;

• Love and support of family and many friends and colleagues. Also those who shared their own first hand or personal experiences of dealing with cancer.
• Positive approach and attitude. For the many recommendations, links, books and resources I had and were loaned and given.
• The wonderful staff and doctors at the Juravinski Hospital in Hamilton.
• A number of health products and regimens particularly the Max GXL product that I continue to take and recommend to many people.
• Many of the fellow cancer patients who had gone or were going through treatment. They became like a giant extended family and continue to be in my thoughts and prayers, along with those of you who have loved one going through similar challenges. 

During my treatment I had many conversations with other patients and found that we were all ultimately asking ourselves three key questions, that I guess normally we maybe only ask ourselves toward the end of our lives;

1. Have I really led the full life as an example that I would want others to lead?
2. Has my love, support and friendship made a difference to others?
3. Am I good with how I will be remembered?

Coming through this whole experience and reflecting now a year later, I have concluded that the one BIG thing that took me through and drives me now is the belief that what I do matters and the desire to be of service to as many people as possible is important.

All my times of silence during treatment and recovery gave me way more thinking time than I have ever had before. It really helped me determine what my purpose is - regardless if the rest of my time is 30 years, 30 months, 30 weeks, 30 days, 30 hours or 30 minutes!

I have come to realise that the process of personal branding is way more than just improving your career profile or having a stronger marketing message for your business.

It's much deeper and far reaching than that.

• It's determining what drives and motivates you.
• It's defining what things and people are most important to you.
• It's delivering to you a life that you want to lead.  

So many people reach my age or older and still cannot confidently answer those three questions. In also reflecting back on many of the great clients I have worked with over the almost 10 years I have been in personal branding now I realise that my best work and where I can be of greatest service is for women who are over 40.

I had explored working with this group previously (although not as focused as I am now), even run a few programs and specific workshops, but never fully committed to them. It's amazing how laser focusing something like cancer can be.

Today I am publicly stating that this is the group that I most want to work with going forward. So if you or someone you know falls in to this group and feel;

- unfulfilled

- unsure

- under appreciated

- under valued

- even underwater!

then we need to talk.

A great place to start all of this is with my brand new complimentary E-ValuYOUation TM assessment.

This assessment will help you;

• Get clear on what is most important to YOU, both personally and professionally.
• Understand how that is turning up in your life and career or business right now.
• Start to take action in moving the needle closer to where you want to be.

I would like to invite you to take that complimentary assessment by contacting me directly -call me at 905-628-1100 or e-mail paul (at) paulcopcutt.com and we can get you started.

Thank you, take care and make the next action you take be brand YOU. 

Paul

P.S. My second big step is actually going to be 5760 of them - see below about My Climb for Cancer.

Support My Climb for Cancer

This was my reality a little over a year ago. Bolted to a table in a radiation suite for 15-20 minutes a day, 5 days a week for 7 weeks.

I am so grateful for the doctors, staff and volunteers at the Juravinski Hospital. Each year there is an annual local fundraiser, Climb for Cancer, this year we as a family have entered and will be climbing the stairs at a local beauty spot to raise funds for their continued great work.

There are 289 stairs to climb and my personal goal is to complete going up and down 10 times each in 1 hour. It's going to be tough I know and probably quite emotional too. Your messages of support and encouragement will mean a lot to all of us - thank you in advance.

If you would like to make a donation or leave a message that would be fantastic and you can do that by going to my sponsor page here.

I will keep you posted with how I do - once I can walk again! 

 

 

Personal Brand Book Review - One Piece of Paper

One Piece of Paper – The simple approach to powerful, personal leadership.

© 2011 by Mike Figliuolo, 237 pages, Hardback

5R Score: 30/35

The Leadership Maxims Approach

1. Leading Yourself
2. Leading the Thinking
3. Leading Your People
4. Leading a Balanced Life
5. Making it Real

On a scale of 1-7   

Relevance - is it right for personal branding? - 6

Resonance - does it make sense to the reader? - 6

Relation - is there a connection for everyone? - 6  

Remarkability - does it stand out, will it get noticed? - 6

Real - does the personal brand come through? - 6

Would you pick it up?

This book is one of the early runners for me as my book of the year for 2012 and carries one of my highest ever ratings. It’s both that good and I believe a must for anyone looking to do work and define more clearly their personal leadership brand.

I actually chanced on picking it up, the sub-title ‘personal leadership’ was what had caught my eye as this is a hot topic at the moment in terms of requests for my speaking services from Fortune 500 companies. I am glad I did pick it up. Once I had I could not put it down or stop recommending to anyone prepared to listen!

Relevance

This book is all about your personal leadership, which ultimately is your leadership brand. The author does not make any direct reference to personal branding, but the book is liberally sprinkled with many of the approaches, exercises and discussions personal brand strategists have with leadership clients.

Certainly going forward for any client wanting to communicate their leadership brand to their team etc., I am going to be adding this to the ‘must read and implement’ list.

Resonance

For those not familiar with the personal branding term or approach they do not have to worry. This book and the approaches that are recommended are intuitively evident. In fact it is likely that a lot of your leadership maxims are already in place, it is more of a case of being consciously aware of them

Once you have your maxims then sharing those with others becomes the easy part and communication flows after that. It really is a simple but highly effective approach.

Relation

Regardless of it you are in a people management position or not you can still be a leader. So that makes this book even more useful and relevant. You do not have to wait for that role that actually has people reporting to you to define now what your leadership style is and will be.

This book might be especially useful for those aspiring to be leaders but feel it is a few years away. With your maxims defined you can be ahead of the game and even start to be trying them out in less risky environments away from work in volunteering for example.

Also for the many of you who are in solopreneur type roles the one piece of paper could prove in=valuable in helping you get clear on your thought leadership and ensuring you stay true to it regularly.

Remarkability

I really loved the simplicity of the book and approach. Like an over blown business plan your leadership does not have to be described in impersonal, lengthy and ultimately boring documents that end up on the shelf and never used.

The one piece of paper concept makes it easy to share, post, reach for and refer to all the time. You could even reduce it down in size and make a pocket version of it if you like. I love the simplicity and quick ease of use and relevance.

Real

Mike shares his own leadership mantras at the end of the book. Also throughout the book he gives many personal and client examples to make the points and share the value in the approach

But as he points out there are not like the 10 commandments, they are not set in stone forever. They can and will change depending on many factors. That for me really makes this book realistic and the process workable and actionable.

 

 

Was last Friday a little friggatriskaidekaphobic for you?

Scary movies aside, the fear of Friday 13th is very real for many people. That does not even include all the residents of Port Dover, Ontario who are descended upon by up to 250,000 bikers each time the 13th falls on a Friday.  I am sure with the good weather last week they had another big day. 

In other cultures various other days are considered unlucky. In Spanish speaking countries it is Tuesday 13th and this also goes for Greece, where as in Italy it is Friday 17th. 

Whatever the day that you decide to do more about your personal brand could start to make it fearful. Here are 3 things to help make that decision a little easier;

1. Get a clear picture of perceptions of your personal brand. Many of the things you might be assuming about yourself may not be true. Without some additional data you could be drawing wrong conclusions and making some bad decisions. 

What do other people think about you? What do they consider are your strengths and key skills? Many times I find that clients underestimate these and are not leveraging them as much as they can be. 

2. Be true to you. It is okay to be who you are, after all everyone else is taken! If you try to be someone you are not then the expectation from others is they want to see that 'false' person every day. That will get very stressful and tiring for you very quickly. 

Get clear on what you stand for, what makes you operate at your best. Get clear on your values - complete the values exercise and ensure that these are your guide for decisions and actions. 

3. Take a little risk. Making changes and implementing  more of your personal brand in all that you do does not guarantee results. But apart from death and taxes (and maybe that Simon Cowell will be mean to contestants) what guarantees are there? 

The key with personal branding is permission to be yourself. So connecting more to who you are and displaying, communicating and living that can only make life and work more fun and fulfilling. 

Just look at how engaged Jason was in his work !! 

PRE-PUBLICATION ANNOUNCEMENT  If you found this information useful then you might find my soon to be published book a valuable addition to your library. "STOP Sending Your Resume" is a how to guide on creating your Branded Bio and Brand Skills Sheet and will help you stand out in a crowded job market or head and shoulders above your peers for that next great role before the promotion race has even started.

Prior to publication I am offering this book at the face value price and I will pay the taxes and shipping costs if you order before it is printed. This offer is limited and ends on April 30th 2012. To pre-order just CLICK HERE

Why having an Axl to grind damages your personal brand

This weekend see's the induction of Guns & Roses in to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland - minus Axl Rose. In fact his long running dispute with some of the original band members seems to be continuing to the point where he has asked not to be included in to the induction. With very lawyer type language and a very impersonal letter to "the hall, band fans and Whom it May concern" he said;

"I strongly request that I not be inducted in absentia and please know that no one is authorized nor may anyone be permitted to accept any induction for me or speak on my behalf."

The Sex Pistols were the only previous refusals to induction and that strikes me as very on brand for them!

Certainly Rose has had more than a share of controversy, difficult life situations and outbursts, so perhaps this is just another on brand action. 

But if you were faced with a similar situation in your profession alternative ways to handle this and not damage your personal brand as much might include:

1. A polite declined RSVP to the organizers. This is a highly appreciated and supported award and institution that is also recognising many of your peers not just the group you have a dispute with. Why make the event more about your absence and perceived gripes than their recognition?

2. Remember who got you there. Your own brand fans likely were integral to your being recognised, publicly refuting that support in any way is in the least crass. Create a personal message, perhaps a video in Axl's case would have worked, and post it on your web site clearly explaining your reasons in a more authentic way.

3. Take responsibility. Accept that past actions and reactions have not been looked upon favourably and this is an opportunity to step forward and change the future. Accept the invitation and use it as an opportunity to present a new YOU that everyone, especially yourself can look forward to live with going forward. 

Why are you still sending your resume?

According to recent Ladders.com research, the average time spent by a recruiter reading your resume is now just 6 seconds! Hopefully if the recruiting person is internal or a hiring manager the time is longer, but realistically it still might only be a few more seconds.

The article shows images of two different resumes and the heat spots where eyes were tending to focus on in the short time they spent scanning the documents. Having information properly formatted and well laid out and clear is obvious.

BUT isn't the more pressing point why are even we still bothering with a resume?

If you are in mid-career with at least 10 years of professional experience you are easily capable of supplying enough information to write a 3-6 page resume - not the accepted format - rather than a 1-2 page targeted resume. The trouble is that if a company is hiring for a number of positions and is accepting referrals, or the position is internal, you, based on your experience might be suitable for more than one role, but that generic resume is a potential barrier to being considered.

That's where the use of personal branding can come in, being used to create different career marketing documents as the door openers, giving you time and hopefully greater knowledge to follow up with a targeted resume once specifics of a position or openings are known.

Some of the key elements of personal branding are to understand yourself from both an internal and external perspective. Being able to identify and communicate key strengths and differentiating attributes can really be used to your advantage in creating powerful career documents that make people take notice, but do not give away all the information in one go.

The Brand Skills Sheet. In personal branding work and through the use of specific personal branding assessments you are able to identify what your peers and colleagues, managers and even friends and clients perceive as your key brand skills. Then you can take the time to create your brand stories around how you have used those brand skills in specific job situations with measurable results. This becomes a sort of 'brag sheet' that gives the reader a real flavor for who you are, what you might bring to the position or company and how you have been successful in the past. One of the best predictors of future success is past accomplishments

The Branded Bio.  Now using the feedback about differentiating attributes and strengths and merging that with a high level view of your work experience you can craft a one page branded biography that again gives the reader a good sense of who you are, where you have been and what you have done. This helps eliminate pre-conceptions of how long you were at company XYZ or why you took a drop in job title after leaving company ABC etc.

Brand Testimonials. An added bonus to the equation is that with the personal branding assessment feedback come comments from the people who you have chosen to respond. The assessment itself is anonymous to allow for honest and objective feedback, but the comments are still un-attributable testimonials and the positive ones can be used to inject in to the Brand Skills Sheet to highlight specific experiences of the skill in action and a third party's reaction. Also any other positive feedback, performance review comments or LinkedIn recommendations can be used in a similar way.

In Summary.  The Skills Sheet and Bio can prove to be very useful documents that allow you to still be proactive and responsive to a request for more information but still give you control over information specifics that can be saved for the tailored and targeted resume at the next stage of the conversation or process.

The content created in the skills and bio sheets can also be used as copy or structure for on line profiles on networking sites, even in the resume posting sections of job boards and certainly in any other type of web presence such as portfolios or blogs. Also for those internal uses such as talent files they have equal benefit.

PRE-PUBLICATION ANNOUNCEMENT  If you found this information useful then you might find my soon to be published book a valuable addition to your library.  "STOP Sending Your Resume" is a how to guide on creating your Branded Bio and Brand Skills Sheet and will help you stand out in a crowded job market or head and shoulders above your peers for that next great role before the promotion race has even started.

Prior to publication I am offering this book at the face value price and I will pay the taxes and shipping costs if you order before it is printed. This offer is limited and ends on April 30th 2012. To pre-order just CLICK HERE

Who are you fooling with your personal brand?

Okay, I admit it, he got me - April Fool. One of my favourite business people Sir Richard Branson announced that due to the uncertainty over currency fluctuations for vacationers he was launching his own currency within Virgin Holidays. Of course the launch was the morning of April 1st! 

What made it such a good April fool trick was that given his personal brand this actually could be the kind of stunt he would do! Also it displayed the kind of humour that is also part of his brand. He certainly got me! I doubt he upset anyone with this joke. 

This is key to communicating your personal brand. When you are thinking of doing something to get your message noticed consider the following 5 things; 

1. Relevance - is it right for your industry and vocation?

You have to be mindful of what is appropriate. In the role you perform will this be viewed as right or a little too out there? Are your peers going to view this as embarrassing to them? If your industry is conservative , something too extreme will certainly be frowned upon. 

2. Resonance - does your target audience see easily how it makes sense to them and their brand? 

Consider the message you are setting and how it sits in to the bigger goals and messages of all parties involved. Is it going to add value to the experience and conversation? 

3. Relation - is everyone able to see the connection to you - easily?

Usually many people are not being completely true to who they are at work. We all hold back. But if humour is a brand attribute you have and want to communicate and you go from no jokes to a 5 minute stand up routine that might be too much of a leap for people to accept initially. 

4. Remarkability - does it stand out, will it get noticed? 

It does need to be enough though to get noticed AND remembered. You want people to be commenting on it later and relating it straight back to you in a positive way. 

5. Real - is it a true reflection of who you are? 

Stay authentic and true to you, it will feel more natural and come across that way. If you try too hard it comes across that way and usually fails. 

I'm working with clients right now to help them bring more of who they are to work. They are becoming more engaged and more productive. If you need help with your career or small business in 2012, call me or e-mail me to to learn how we might work together to make every work day a brand YOU day.