Reflections of a Square Peg

Personal Branding - Its Like Riding a Bike

Personal branding is in part about keeping at it. This week was a lesson in perseverance - and I learnt it from a 7 year old!

My son has not taken a great interest in learning to ride his bike, he has a scooter that he zips about on and seemed very happy, rarely getting on his bike.

That was until - PEER PRESSURE kicked in!

Many of the other children of a similar age and younger have been out on their bikes - without the training wheels. One more child and that was enough for my son - he had to learn how to ride his!

I encouraged and helped him stay up, I ran alongside holding his arm and picked him up when he fell. "It's okay" I told him "15 minutes a night for the next 2 weeks and you will be riding"

But that was not what he had in mind. "You go and do what you have to do Dad, I am going to carry on trying" he said.

One hour later he was zomming up and down our street as I proudly stood at the end of our drive. He had done it and proven it does not have to take for ever (2 weeks seems like for ever for kids!!).

It reminded me of a client I am working with at the moment in the personal branding process and some I have worked with in the past. Some it takes 'for ever' to get past the early foundation work - others are zooming along.

Personal branding is a little like learning to ride a bike - wobbly at first, you might fall off a few times and even throw it down and walk away. But if you keep working at it - the rewards are as wide a childs smile who has just learnt to ride a bike.

Tom Peters and Personal Branding - A Little Disappointed

"It's always Showtime."David D'Alessandro

It was 10 years ago this summer that Tom Peters wrote the ranting article in Fast Company - A Brand Called You. He was ahead of his time - as usual.

Fast forward 10 years and I listened today to a presentation delivered by one of Tom Peters people on personal branding - a Brand You webinar. It was poor to say the least. There were a few technical hitches, which can be expected in a webinar where I am assuming hundreds dialed in - that was not the issue.

I was expecting something more from Tom Peters - even if it wasn't the man himself - after all - Tom Peters Inc brand IS Tom Peters.I readied myself to be taking copious notes, to be challenged, to have to think and be ready to step outside of the box.

I was REALLY disappointed. The speaker and the two guests on the call were wooden, speaking predominantly from a script and still making plenty of errors and I question whether they even rehearsed. We were given such leading edge facts that if we Googled 'Personal Branding" over 500,000 hits come up but only a few hundred for 'Personal Brand Consultant' - so we must be in the right place - please!

The presentation did not flow, perhaps that was the plan, after all Peters is known for launching in to tirade after rant after rant in his speeches, going off at 180 degree tangents. One of my client's even said that Peters is the only speaker they have ever seen who sweats through a suit!

The speakers on the webinar may have been doing the same - but for very different reasons. I came away from the hour feeling let down, disappointed and unfulfilled. I almost felt cheated.

But then I looked at my half page of notes and realised I got what I paid for - the webinar was free and was a pre-sell for a two day event in Boston in mid-May. I will be surprised if they get many sign up's from this webinar.

I came away thinking this had damaged Peters brand in my eyes - what a shame.

The Apprentice - The Final Week

The finale was a little predictable in terms of content and outcome. Trump was his usual 'movie star' self, but he does not do well with scripted teleprompters - his personal brand is all about NOW!

I said back in after Week 11 that Stefani was the dark horse and either would go all the way or get eliminated by someone who saw her as a threat.

She survived and ultimately won - the first Apprentice to win without ever being a project manager!

Itis a great example of a well executed personal brand. She was certainly the one who played to her strengths and took on the tasks that she knew she could do well with. She was never called in to the boardroom - she did a good job every time.

Above all though Stefani is a good example of a strong personal brand becuase she was herself - authentic. She did not try to be someone she was not, did not try to take on things she could not do - she dlegated or let others do it and she did not have ot be brash, loud or obnoxious to win - well done Stefani.

The Apprentice - Week 13

Now just the final four and if it was my choice it would be straight to the final with James and Stefani - Nicole and Frank are just not in the same league.

The final task was a little lame by previous Trump standards and as usual the teams got to call back past contestants to help them out.

In the end the results from both teams were okay and the boardroom turned out to be a bit of a back slapping affair as no-one was fired and Trump tried to build the suspense for the live finale.

Gordon Ramsay - Kitchen Nightmares

I thought that I was going to have Trump - The Apprentice withdrawls as the series draws to a close - and this is the final series apparently.

But no - I have found a replacement! Gordon Ramsay.

If you do not know him, he is a foul mouthed, loud and in your face celebrity chef, who is one of the top UK chefs. I watched his previous program - Hells Kitchen, but this 'new' one Kitchen Nightmares is way more interesting and eye opening.

The program is from the UK and was shown there last year and just making it to the Food Network. It's all about failing restaurants and Ramsay comes in for a week to try and turn them around. Be warned the approach AND especially the language is no holds barred, but certainly entertaining and some great lessons to be learned for all small business owners - WATCH THIS SPACE!

The Apprentice - Week 12

Down to the final 6 and split in to three teams they all had to work on 'selling and marketing' Trumps buildings in Las Vegas.

All followed a similar path, but James and Stefani managed to have a complete package by the end - great lesson for personal brand building - you need to have a full picture in order to have the most impact.

And boy did those two have an impact - they presented first and blew the competition away. They were slick, well rehearsed and the concepts were good. After that it went all down hill!

I can't say which one of the other two teams were worse, Trump must have been thinking about firing all four of them - they were justr awful!

In the end Heidi and Christine got fired, but it could easily have been Frank and Nicole - and past success did not count for anything - unless you are James and Stefani- because they are consistently performing at a high level.

Apprentice - Week 11

This week started off with Arrow questioning the loyalty of Tim - it became quite heated - you just knew if they lost that his head was going to be on the block.

They lost and he almost was saved by James covering his own skin by bringing Frank in to the mix of potential 'firees'.

But Tim made the same error as many have done in the boardroom, not being planned enough to articulate why they should be spared - especially this time - he know they were going to be gunning for him and he still was not clear enough, contradicted him self and then made a comment about Trump's daughter not allowing him to finish - I thought that alone was going to get him fired immediately but Trump resisted and prolonged his agony a little longer.

Its gettin down to the final couple of weeks now and the one that seem to be able to do a good job, survive and stay under the radar is Stefani - either see her go all the way or someone will try and eliminate her for their own good.

Its Better At The Top

A recent study here in Canada for Workopolis - Canada's number one job board - by NorthStar Research Partners has reported that CEO's/Presidents have the highest level of job satisfaction - I must be extra satisfied given I am President of my own company and a Career counselor which came in 6th!

Now Steven Heyer the now former CEO of Starwood Hotels might disagree, having just resigned from his role after losing the confidence of the board, but according to over 9,000 respondents CEO comes out top.

The rest of the top 20 looked like this:

1. CEO
2. Teacher
3. HR Professional
4. Actor/Director
5. Nutritionist
6. Career Counselor
7. Chef
8. Mental Health Counselor
9. Graphic Designer
10. Market Researcher/Analyst
11. Public Relations
12. Writer/Journalist
13. Nurse
14. Computer programmer
15. Bar/Restaurant/Hotel Manager
16. Web Designer
17. Product Manager
18. Construction Tradesperson
19. Medical/Biological Researcher
20. Engineer

Are you satisfied in your job? What is it and does it hit this list? Let me know I would be interested to hear.

Cross posted on Career Hub blog