Avoidable Mistakes – Protect Your Personal Brand
I was talking to a CEO recently who told me that executives who send her emails featuring spelling mistakes were one of her pet peeves.
The no-nonsense CEO is aged in her early 60s so she hails from an era when correct spelling and grammar were a given unlike today. She told me she is …
Rest is a Weapon
This is a line (in)famously stated to the fictional Jason Bourne in The Bourne Supremacy by one of his handlers. He takes this to heart and uses it as a mantra to himself several times throughout the series of Bourne’s exploits. Of course, Jason Bourne is a fictional character in a series of books by …
When Words and Body Language Convey Two Different Messages
Communication is more than just the words we speak. Words are one half of the message in communication, with non-verbal aspect making up the other half. Body language affects a great deal of how we communicate. What we say and what we communicate are two different things, if you will. Body movements and gestures, posture, …
Why the Answer ISN’T Finding Your Dream Job
Recently I came across a blog entry, that really got me worked up.
Basically the author complained about being 24 and not yet getting her “dream job.” While I appreciated how the advice that followed was well intentioned and somewhat informative, what really got me upset was the general attitude and premise of the discussion.…
Eliminating Age Discrimination
Companies who want to sell their products to Baby Boomers use advertising slogans like “60 is the new 50”, implying that somehow older people today are younger than their chronological ages. This psychological approach has worked well for selling Harleys and Viagra® to aging Baby Boomers. However, corporate hiring managers and recruiters are not buying …
Experienced Plus Innovative Equals True Meeting of the Minds
Many are dismayed by hearing the news that older people in their mid-30’s are no longer desired in the workplace. For one, the definition of older citizen used to be those in their 60’s but somehow the number shrank. Secondly, why would an employer dismiss the valuable expertise including hard lessons previously learned?
It’s no …
Why You Should Start Your Personal Brand in College
As a college student, you have a lot of things to worry about. You’ve got classes, clubs, a job, and a social life to take care of. Planning ahead for your career is one of the last things you’re thinking about as an underclassman.
Though your career might seem far away, it actually starts right …
How Dramatic and Defensive is Your Personal Brand?
As you may know, I have the great honor of teaching for a major university in a special program to re-launch young managers who have not been successful in their careers. Either their jobs have simply gone away, they’ve been eclipsed by someone better prepared or somehow just not made the inroads they needed to …
Personal Branding Weekly – More Big Bang for Your Buck
It’s true – deep down I’m a geek. I learned how to program in COBOL and FORTRAN. I even received my first prom invite on a punch-card. So, I immediately fell in love with the geeky, quirky team on the television show The Big Bang Theory. I don’t think you have to be geeky to …
Is It Time For A Personal Rebrand?
In many people’s careers, mine included, you sometimes get to the point where you’ve run out of room in your personal brand. For me, I had a stellar career in finance but got to the point where I no longer enjoyed the work or the brand that I’d built up for myself as the “young …