Paul Copcutt - Just My Toonies Worth

What is holding you back from your personal brand?

Through my wife's business I have had the opportunity to be connected to Keith Kochner at Mentorfish.com for the last few months and have found his teaching exactly what we need in the 21st century. Lots of great content, he is prolific with new insights and learnings - even for someone like me who tends to explore and read a lot! 

Keith is coming to Toronto next week to hold a live evening event so you can get a full experience of what he has to offer. Cost is just covering running costs of the event, but I know you will get way more value - hope to see you there. 

Personal Branding is an Uphill Climb

When you walk in to the lobby of a tall office building, often you will see the sign for the stairs. But does that sign say enough to make you ignore the elevators and walk the stairs?

Unless you are still sticking to a new years resolution chances are no!

But if you saw the sign above, chances are by over 35%, that you would. Even 9 months after the sign was first posted. This is what researchers in New York found after placing a few of these around the city. 

So if something that simple can cause that type of re-action and continued action, what can you be saying about yourself that might get the same result? 

One immediately obvious place would be your business card. 

Rather than say Accountant. What re-action might you get if it were to say - Honest assessment. Accurate results - Accountant? 

Or better still, include one of your emotional attributes.

Honest assessment. Accurate results. Fun approach. - Accountant. 

When communicating your personal brand it's important to reflect the real you, after all it's going to be the reason why people want to hire you, work with you and for you. The fact you can perform great tax returns is a given. If you have a little fun too - that's the difference. 

100 Toonies Worth

With consistency and progression comes change. As you spend more time consistently delivering on what you say your brand is and find your career progressing in the right direction, you are going to reach a point where new challenges and opportunities arise. New skills are developed and new ways to communicate your uniqueness present themselves. 

This week see's the 100th edition of the Tuesday Toonie weekly e-tip, which I feel is quite a milestone. Thank you for reading, commenting and recommending to others for the last 2 years. 

It is also a great time to announce some small changes to the format and delivery of this weekly resource. When we started the Tuesday Toonie the rise of Facebook and Twitter was really starting to gain traction and people subscribing to news and blog feeds was rising. Now this weekly Tuesday Toonie is only being read 10-20% of the time by people via the e-zine delivery method - the rest of the time you are reading it or getting to it via social media or directly at the blog. 

This does not make the content any less valuable but with our inundated in boxes and busy lives it does beg the question about sending it out in full format in an e-zine rather than a quick mailing, linking to the blog for the full content. So going forward the Tuesday Toonie is going to be a 21 second or less read. Enough for you to maybe stop and think for a moment about your career and if you want to understand more then go to the blog to get more on that weeks topic.  

We will be continuing with the monthly Inukshuk e-zine that delves deeper in to the subject of career management and personal leadership branding and provide in there links to all the previous months weekly Tuesday Toonies for anyone you might have missed. We also continue to blog and post other very latest links and resources via social media - especially our Facebook page and my LinkedIn updates, or you may just prefer to be made aware of the Tuesday Toonie via one of these methods - so if you have not done so please connect with us at;

www.facebook.com/personalbrand and http://ca.linkedin.com/in/paulcopcutt 

Thank you again for reading and we look forward to continuing to serve you. 

How E-mail Damages Your Personal Brand

The recent report of an executive recruiter in the UK being fired for e-mailing a job candidate to go away using colourful language - but accidentally copying everyone (all 4,000+ of them!) on the candidates blast list, highlights the dangers of damaging your personal brand and career by relying too much on technology. What is that recruiter going to say when the question comes up "Why did you leave your last job?"

The candidate also was obviously damaging their brand (and job search chances) by sending out such a generic application to so many people. I am seeing far too much of that at the moment. I get you that finding a job is tough, but use time wisely to be more targetted, not spray and pray job seeking that says I don't really care. 

Just last week, I was talking with both a colleague on the very subject of e-mail versus picking up this still very useful piece of technology called the telephone and also coaching a client on the dangers of mis-understood communication, when a quuick conversation would have eliminated all the angst that they ended up experiencing. 

All the 'gurus' are telling us that 2012 is going to be the year of mobile, but with that will come an even greater temptation to say it in text versus verbally. 

Some quick tips to keep your conversations live and real in 2012; 

1. Resist the temptation to respond to an e-mail straight away. A client once said to me there is rarely such a thing as an accounting emergency, and the same should apply to your situation. 

2. Before you pen an e-mail or a reply, consider if this form of communication is the best way to get your message across?  If it is, be sure to re-read it once and double check the to, cc and bcc box recipients.

3. When in doubt pick up the phone or arrange a face to face. So much can be mis-interpreted by the written word, if it's important let the other person know that by having a conversation. 

4. Make time for 15 minutes every day. We are all guilty (me included) of not connecting properly with people because we feel that we have no time. Stop the Facebook likes, Twitter re-tweets and Four Square check-in's and use that 15 minutes a day to pick up the phone to three people you know and say hello. 

As my colleague Dave Howlett said, "I am much more likely to remember you for that call than a tweet, like, poke or follow". 

 

Is LinkedIn a Waste of Time?

It still seems to be almost a week never goes by without an invitation to another networking / social networking/ connections platform that is going to be the next best thing since sliced bread or at least since Google +.

But how do you know if you should join or not?

Revisit (or start) with what communication objectives you have set for your personal brand. Just because someone in your network has invited you to join Ushi.com for example it may not have any relevance to what you are trying to achieve in connecting and networking. (Ushi.com by the way is for networking professionally in China).

Three things to determine before you sign up for the next network;

1. Who is your target audience? Get very, very clear on this and gather as much information as you can about who you want to reach. 

2. Spend some time on the network to see who is already on there. Do they fit the profile you drew up from Q1?

3. How many of your current network are on there already? There is nothing worse than getting the label of 'Johnny No Mates' by joining a new network and having 3 connections. Many of the better designed ones allow you immediately to download existing networks and databases or even make direct connections. That way you can connect with everyone you already know and make it appear you are in the know immediately. 

The key with any online networking is not a case of my list is bigger than your list, it's the value you offer to your network in terms of help and relevant information.

Better to have 200 targeted connections who are good prospects for business, referrals, resources etc than 2,000 social media gurus or online at home business experts!

Connect with me on LinkedIn if it's a fit http://www.linkedin.com/in/paulcopcutt

"Hopefully he'll be in this job much longer than the last 3 or 4"

How would you feel if this was how your predecessor introduced you as you took over their role? According to a Business Week article "Can Brian Moynihan Save Bank of America?" , this was exactly how the former CEO Kenneth D. Lewis did and then went on to say,

"Another unique charactersitic about him is that he wanted this job"

Of course Moynihan continues to have his work cut out for him, just this week announcing another 30,000 lay offs as he struggles to correct many of the troubles brought about by the previous CEO, Lewis. 

The one thing that he has been able to do is use more of his personal leadership brand influence in to the running of the bank. Infact it was his one sheet strategic vision that he presented to the board that apparently secured him the CEO role, when he was ranked as a real outside shot - basically it read "Let's get back to banking"

When you are faced with taking on a new role there will be many challenges, particularly if like Moynihan you are taking over a very troubled business. But the key is to remain true to your leadership brand and vision for the business and not fall back to the safe ways of the past or be tempted by the same mistakes. 

Three uses for the volunteer experience section on LinkedIn profiles.

LinkedIn's move last week to allow the addition of volunteer experience and causes seems on the surface to be a great addition in communicating your personal brand to your professional network.

Three benefits to you of being able to see other peoples volunteer experience;

1. You can see who in your industry, voacation or network has similar interests to you. Particularly if you are looking to connect with that person, it is another area of commonality in which to make that first approach. 
2. You can search by areas of interest or volunteer experience that are the same or similar to yours to see what others are doing career wise. It might offer new areas and avenues to explore for your own career. 
3. If you are targeting a particular company or person, volunteering at the same organization as they support will give you potential exposure to them and chance to show your skills in a different, less intimidating setting. No stalking though!

A LinkedIn survey conducted as part of this launch found that 20% of hiring managers said that they hired a candidate based on their volunteer experience. So it is certainly an area of your profile that you want to consider adding to.

A few things to consider;

• Highlight the experience where you had roles of responsibility and influence and you can talk to certain successes that you had. 
• If your causes or volunteer experience are particularly relevant to an industry or company you are interested in be sure to include them.
• Do not under estimate the importance of the annual cancer run you participate in or local food drive - community giving is highly prized by companies and viewed very positively. 

Also if the organizations you are listing are not showing up as having a page on LinkedIn, do them a favour and let them know they have an opportunity for further, no charge, exposure to a very key group of people. 

Is Personal Branding Just Skin Deep?

You may have heard me speak or write about my wife’s business in the past? Well, two years into the business, she is now a Regional Vice President, Independent Consultant with Arbonne, a Swiss company offering vegan herbal botanical based health and wellness products www.kericopcutt.myarbonne.ca and continues to look for opportunities to share these amazing products with others.

Well we were talking about this and the fact that I have 50 one year memberships to an online self-study personal branding program that includes workbook, interactive modules and lesson plans, from Reach the leader in personal branding along with 50 passwords to the really popular 360 Reach personal brand assessment that need to be used in the next week and decided we could combine the two and give you and your friends the benefits of personal branding and great health and
wellness products, especially as the summer time is a great time to get together with friends and family.

So we are offering a chance for you and 4 friends to each get a membership and 360 personal brand assessment (worth $200 per person) if you book an Arbonne summer party, first come first serve, plus a special hostess gift to you as the person hosting the party.

THIS OFFER IS ONLY GOOD FOR THE FIRST 10 PEOPLE WHO RESPOND BY MIDNIGHT ON WEDNESDAY JUNE 29^TH.

If this is all a little too much and you would just like to try these amazing products for yourself, let me know and we can arrange to get a sample or even a full tester kit to you to try.

WHAT TO DO NEXT IF YOU DO WANT A PARTY……..

- Pick a day or evening to hold your party, in July or August, about 90 minutes is all you need.

- Decide who are the 4 people you want to come, invite them and confirm they are going to come and what e-mail address they want the login and passwords sent to.

- Contact me directly to reserve one of the only 10 spaces and send me the following information;

Location, date and time of the party
Names, emails and telephone numbers of the attendees

- We will then confirm the party and hostess gift

- Then finally we arrange to get the logins and passwords to everyone

Don’t delay this offer is only good until June 29^th at midnight or the first 10 bookings – whichever comes first.

Thanks for considering this and have a great summer

Cancer is personal, so it's part of my brand

"You're not alone, in fact this type of cancer is the fastest growing type of oral cancer in men under 55, who do not smoke and are not heavy drinkers"

That word "cancer" immediately causes a heightened level of awareness as well as obvious concern.

Last October after a great summer vacation with my family in Jamaica and what I thought was a viral lump in my neck gland had seemed to go away and come back, I finally went to see my family doctor.

Within 72 hours I had most medical exams and tests you could imagine for this and was told that nothing appeared sinister and that I was being referred to an Ear, Nose, Throat Specialist. After two appointments with him and two inconclusive biopsies, he felt it was better to refer me to a head/neck colleague.

The appointment with this Dr came within 5 days (I figured not a good sign) and just a few days before Christmas last year, he sat down with me and very calmly and with much care said "I'm sorry, but I am 95% certain this is HPV cancer."

The week between Christmas and New Year the results of his biopsy came back and he confirmed that the lump in the lymph node was the secondary site of a head/neck cancer and that I was going to be referred to the Juravinski Cancer Centre in Hamilton for next steps. As you can imagine my mind went in to overdrive - all the negative, worse case scenarios as well as positive and even humorous takes on the whole situation.

The early January meetings with a round robin of Dr's resulted in mixed courses of action; surgery, immediate radiation, etc but the senior Dr wanted to take a little more time to see if the primary source could be located. He won out the day and after a left hand side tonsillectomy it was confirmed the tonsil was the primary source AND that it was HPV (Human Papilloma Virus). Believe it or not I was actually quite excited for a couple of reasons. Having lost my step mother to a cancer where they were never able to find the primary source and therefore treat it effectively, with me this meant we knew what we were dealing with. Secondly through the power of Google I was becoming quite well informed about HPV cancers in men, various treatment approaches, clinical trials - prognosis and success rates were encouragingly high.

After the surgery, a course of radiation and chemo treatments were recommended and at the beginning of March, I embarked on the first of three chemo and the first of 35 consecutive weekday radiation treatments. The treatments are now concluded and I am awaiting further tests to determine levels of treatment success and next steps.

Overall the whole process was probably better than was first laid out to me, side effects and the severe burning (like extreme sunburn outside and inside the whole neck throat area) have quite quickly subsided. Although I need to put back on some weight and muscle tone, my levels of energy are improving daily and I am back to eating almost normally.

But what I have also discovered on this journey so far, are a number of far more impactful things;

1. Most people, that I have come across, who are diagnosed with cancer ask a question of themselves along these lines - "If this was it, am I going to be happy tomorrow doing what I am doing today?" - for me this was probably in part one of the easiest questions to answer because I love what I do - helping people realise the impact of personal branding. I am going to be re-designing my business model in a number of areas over the coming weeks and months and priorities for some things are going to less and for others more (you will be reading more on all this in the blog over the coming months), but personal branding will still be at the centre.

2. You're not alone - everyone you speak to has been touched either directly or indirectly by cancer and have stories and words of encouragement to share. Do not be afraid to reach out and ask for perspective and insight from others.

3. I am very grateful and blessed to be surrounded by a loving and supportive family, fantastic network of friends and colleagues and many more I hardly knew but who have become more to me through this experience.

4. There is always someone who has it way worse than you, it may not make easier to bear, but it puts it all in perspective. You can find much strength from others who face the same challenge, there is a 'club' to which you belong and immediately you have a new set of cheerleaders.

5. Kids especially can help that perspective, we were very upfront from the beginning with our two about the whole situation, not hiding facts or conversations from them. They have been amazing and the card that my daughter gave to me within days of knowing what was happening says it all for me "Be happy and healthy - I will always love you" - I will be reading that in my father of the bride speech in 20 years (or hopefully longer!).

I spent a lot of time considering whether this type of post or topic has a place in a blog that has always had a business bias, but the more I realise what it is I offer, the more it made sense.

In the re-worked words of Larry Winget - "They call it PERSONAL branding for a reason" - cancer is very personal, but its part of my brand - thanks for reading.

Make a commitment - however small, but do it.

 

Last week I spent a very worthwhile and enjoyable two days at the first Women in Leadership Conference put on by Ildi Wiley of Results Continuum. The keynote speaker was Arlene Dickinson from Dragons Den, who shared her inspiring story of where she came from and how she built her company. I also presented with good friend and personal brnad colleague Valerie Sokolosky and had the chance to meet in person for the first time good friend and another personal brand strategist colleague Rachel Gogos. We really had fun presenting and even had people labelling us as the Guru and the the Grandma!

One of the regular themes I heard throughout the conference was making a commitment to implement something you learnt and an exercise we got participants to do was commit to taking one step forward with the development of their personal brands. What was refereshing in their responses was not trying to set lofty expectations or unrealistic targets, but finding something that is workable in to an already busy life and committing to taking steps to get it done.

Think about this for your own personal brand development:

What one thing might be a more obvious step or action, but you have yet to take it ?

What one action can you take today to move toward the successful completion of that action?

What step will you take tomorrow?

Make that commitment, take small steps each day and it will get done.