Reflections of a Square Peg

Brand Connections

There is an interesting white paper recently placed on Brandchannel.com - "The Seven Doors of Connection" - the seven areas as the potential common grounds that can bridge relationships and build connections between people and brands.

This directly relates to personal branding - people love to connect to people - the essence of personal brand perceptions and also what many are looking for in terms of their relationship with their employers, jobs and lives.

Photo by Chris M70 on Flickr.com

Cross posted on Branding Personal blog

And the Oscar goes too........

Probably like many of you, I watched the Oscars last night - long enough to see Al Gore's documentary win, but not long enough to see Scorsese receive the consolation Oscar that he should have won a long time ago.

Al Gore's rise to popularity has been nothing short of amazing, but it is also a lesson in what not to do when building your personal brand.

When he was running for President, Gore struck me as a little stiff and almost unenthusiastic. But I have been reading aobut him a lot recently given the success of his film and that he was in Toronto last week to speak at en event where tickets were exchanging hands for more multiples of their face value than even hockey tickets - and that is saying something in Canada!

I do not remember his saying much about the environment during his campaigning in 2000 and certainly do not recollect his ability to articulate and command an audience as well as he is doing now. Yet he has been passionate about this subject for 30 years!

One of the key foundation pieces that we work on with clients in the personal branding process are Passions - if you are working in an area that you are passionate about, you are going to feel more engaged and focused and ultimately more successful. People will support what you are passionate about, want to be with you, connected to you, Gore is proving that right now - if he announces his candidacy he will have an increadilbe start to a campaign given his current level of 'brand awareness'.

But if you do not follow your passions - who loses?

Cross posted on Career Hub

So How Do You Think You Did?

If you have ever come back home from an interview and been asked the question "So how did it go?" - are you able to clearly identify the parts of the interview that went well and those that you could have improved on?

Chances are, like many job candidates, interviews go past very quickly and you are lucky if you have the ability to recollect even half of what went on.

So what are the options to get some interview practice?

- In front of the mirror (be cautious, the family get quite concerned if they start hearing you have conversations with yourself in the bathroom)

- Recording yourself on video camera (don't upset your teenage son enough that they they end up posting it on YouTube)

- Asking a friend or colleague to ask you questions (can be a give away if you do this at your cubicle in your lunch hour)

- Getting a career coach to take you through the process (useful in terms that this is, in part, what they do for a living and are usually well versed in latest techniques and questions)

Now there is also the latest web technology available - The Virtual Interview - you can take a webcam and a PC and go to InterviewTrue.com where you can set up a mock interview, even picking from over 1,000 interview questions, they are even split in to categories such as problem solving and teamwork. Six months access can be gained for just $19.95, with unlimited interviews.

Where this could be heading are a number of directions:

- Candidates sending links of their interview to prospective employers and recruiters, especially where geography makes an initial face to face meeting difficult

- Placing a link to your interview on your resume or in your cover letter

- Placing your interview link on your on line web portfolio, adding another dimension to your personal brand

- Employers and recruiters using this method to select candidates

- YouTube hacking in to the site and gaining content for the next 100 years!

This was cross posted on CareerHub a blog that connects job seekers with the best minds in career counseling, resume writing, personal branding and recruiting.

Think Your Resume Works?

In the presentations that I deliver on personal branding I always like to cover some background as to why personal branding is now becoming a key part of career management.

One such area of discussion is the increasing rise of exaggeration or out right lies on resumes, latest surveys place this at over 50% of all resumes!

That's why in the work I do with clients I advocate the need to produce other more unique and quantifiable career marketing documents to use in their job searches.

Last night I was presenting to a group of Human Resource professionals for a local chapter of the HRPAO and asked for a show of hands as to how many of them viewed a resume with 100% belief - the answer - which was shocking to me - NONE!

Now how well do you think your resume is working?

The Apprentice - Week 6

Another example this week (or should we say weak) mistakes and misteps. One team led by a highly verbose leader who insists on using million dollar word when 10 cents worth will do and the other team led by someone no-one in the team respects and ultimately planned her demise.

Goodbye this week to Aimee, perhaps not totally deserved but she did not do enough to defend herself.

I just question how much longer Derek can survive and continue to fly under the radar - he has made eroor after error, been in the boardroom a couple of times and still manages to wiggle out - if they lose again next week I predict he will go.

Check out the details at The Apprentice

467 - I'm back

467 emails in the 'In Box' might even wipe the smile off Mickey's face. More on my branding observations at Disney later but for now back to the keyboard.

The Apprentice - Week 5

Two poor team performances were only topped by the non-existent leadership of the non-existent Aaron.

His lack of presence in the boardroom the week before had not gone unnoticed by Trump and when his team lost this contributed to his downfall. He was gone and no-one noticed.

Check out the details at The Apprentice

25 and I'm off

My In Box is now down to 25 messages and once they are gone - so am I - a week at Disney which I am really looking forward to experiencing the famous Disney customer service - and watching my kids have a ball.

I hope to be coming back with some great brand insights that can applied to you and your personal brand - watch this space!

That's all folks! - oops - wrong one!

Combatting Meeting Boredom

I just thought this was fun - sent to me by a colleague - I loved the testimonials!

Do you keep falling asleep in meetings and seminars? What about those
long and boring conference calls?

Here's a way to change all of that.

1. Before (or during) your next meeting, seminar, or conference call,
prepare yourself by drawing a square. (I find that 5" x 5" is a good
size.)

2. Divide the card into columns - five across and five down. That
will give
you 25 one-inch blocks.

3. Write one of the following words/phrases in each block:

* synergy
* strategic fit
* core competencies
* best practice
* bottom line
* revisit
* expeditious
* to tell you the truth (or "the truth is")
* 24/7
* out of the loop
* benchmark
* value-added
* pro-active
* win-win
* think outside the box
* fast track
* result-driven
* empower (or empowerment)
* knowledge based
* at the end of the day
* touch base
* mind-set
* client focused
* paradigm
* game plan
* leverage

4. Check off the appropriate block when you hear one of those
words/phrases.

5. When you get five blocks horizontally, vertically, or diagonally,
stand
up and shout "BULLS**T!"**

Testimonials from satisfied "Bulls**t Bingo" players:

"I had been in the meeting for only five minutes when I won!"
- Adam,

Atlanta

"My attention span at meetings has improved dramatically!"
-

David

,

Florida

"What a gas! Meetings will never be the same for me after my first
win."
- Dan.

New York City

"The atmosphere was tense in the last process meeting as 14 of us
waited for the fifth box."
- Ben,

Denver

"The speaker was stunned as eight of us screamed 'BULLS**T!' for the
third time in two hours!!"
- Paul, Cleveland

"When I won and yelled "BULLS**T!" the woman sleeping next to me slid
off her chair!"
- Joseph,

Los Angeles

Are You Following the Personal Brand Rules for 2007?

Interbrand, via its web site Brandchannel.com has just recently produced its 2007 Brand Marketers Report, which found that whilst the state of brands was generally good there was certainly room for improvement and there were a number of insights as to why this was - I found some real relation to this and the management of personal brands during 2007.

1. While the impact of brands is clear, most major industries remain non-branders, not proactively supporting or managing their brands. The same can be said about personal brands - most people in most industries are not doing anything to support or manage their personal brands, even though they all have one. Industries such as media, high tech and finance seem to be embracing the concept sooner and are reaping some of the benefits.

2. Many brands have rebranded recently, yet being thorough in rebranding is much more important than being frequent.  Many seem to believe that tweaking one or two aspects of their external personal brand is going to be enough to be different and noticed. But being more dilligent in the early foundation work will result in a much stronger and longer lasting personal brand.

3. Strict adherence to brand standards creates brands with customer impact, but few companies are able to secure consistent compliance. People are respected more when they are able to identify what is on brand for them or off brand - better for your personal brand to be turning something away than compromising your brand standards.

4. Centrally managed brands are no more infliential with customers than decentralized ones.  Do not expect all your employees to be the 'same', allowing them to be personal brands within a brand is much more powerful for the company and the individual.

5. Brands that receive adequate financial support are more influential in the customer decision process. Do not skimp on the card stock for your business cards or sign your next contract with a 30c pen - unless that's part of your personal brand.

6. Brand budgets are not expected to grow in 2007. People should be spending more on getting their personal brands credible and visible, small investments now will reap bigger rewards both financially and spiritually.

7. Metrics and brand research are generally under leveraged. Two of the most important early steps in defining your personal brand are to measure it now and then look at he improvements in 6 and 12 months and seek the imput of others, what are their perceptions of your brand?

8. Brand practitioners believe Consistency is the most important aspect of successful branding followed by Understanding the Customer/Target, Messaging/Communication Effectiveness.  I could not have said it better myself.

Are you going to follow these brand rules for your personal brand this year?