CFA Podcast: Personal Brand and Skills Assessment

This CFA Institute podcast entitled "Personal Brand and Skills Assessment" defines personal brand and delves into the relevance of brand to personal and professional success in organizations.

The key takeaway is this:  whether you manage it or not, you have a personal brand.  Others make assumptions about you based on their experiences with you and with your work/impact.  Greater awareness of this can lead to greater career success.

4S Model: Steps

The final S of the 4S Model is Steps:  taking the steps to actually move the new, prepared you towards your career goals and aspirations.  The first three (Self, Surroundings, Skills) are about knowing yourself, understanding the environment in which you operate, and assessing and improving your unique skill set.  The fourth S is about creating your personal marketing plan.

Mapping your Future: 4S Model

Thinking about how to move forward in your career?  The 4S Model is a way of crafting your career approach in discrete, actionable steps.

Marathon Leadership

Just back from an excellent OD on the Edge event in Charlotte, NC.

David Knapp of Marathon Leadership (creator of The 21^st Century Leader curriculum) shared his 26.2 Tips for Modern Leaders.  He connected leadership success to distance running success, showing that both required similar traits that can be taught.  David is an avid marathoner, and ran 40 marathons the year following his 40^th birthday to celebrate the milestone.

He was joined by Molly Barker founder of Girls on the Run, author of two books, and an accomplished distance runner as well.  Girls on the Run is tasked with educating and empowering girls at an early age in order to prevent the display of at-risk activities in the future.

I also came home with a copy of The Situational Leader, by Paul Hersey – and a strong desire to start running again. :)All that to simply say this:  there are opportunities to learn, grow, and give back all around you.

Best,

Bryan

UBS Dress

UBS, the swiss financial services firm, has recently made headlines with a dress code.  Today it's merely a five-office pilot program, but might be rolled out to all Switzerland if successful.  If you would like to read more, check out Huffington Post, Third Age, The Wall Street Journal, Styleite, or Clusterstock (a personal favorite).

The guide is consistent with UBS culture and brand, and many make sense for anyone wishing to present themselves well to others.  Here are a few paraphrased tips from the guide:

Better Speakers, Better Leaders, Better Communicators

I've just completed a term as president of my local Toastmasters club, Gateway to Speaking Excellence. During my year in office, the theme of the club was the same as the title of this blog post. When asked to describe Toastmasters, I say something like this:  “Toastmasters is a safe-to-succeed, safe-to-fail environment in which we practice becoming better speakers, better leaders, and better communicators every single day.”

Wondering about the cheesy name?

Professional networking

After I earned my MBA, I joined the Career Services committee of the alumni association.  This year, our focus is to deliver seminars focused on two things:  professional networking and personal performance.  It's how we add value to both the school and alumni - creating a resource where individual can equip themselves for professional success.

The first component of that is called professional networking.  Interesting concept by itself, but we took some time to define it.  Here's what we came up with:

Professional networking is the creation and maintenance of relationships for mutual benefit and advancement, within the context of your own personal and professional goals.

Extension

First there was Coca-Cola.

Then there was Coca-Cola and Diet Coke.

Then there was Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, and Cherry Coke...and Coke Vanilla...and Coke zero...and...and....

Marketers call this “extension,” and the idea is that consumers will try the new product because it's related to the old in some way.

Personal Presentation: Crisp, Conservative, Consistent

Recently I visited a fellow speaker, meeting in person for the first time.  We met at his place of business, had coffee, and talked about his work in the community and with a local business organization.  It was my only in person meeting of the day.

Near the end of our conversation, he asked if I wore a suit every day.  I shared that I do wear a suit every day, as it's easier to take off a jacket & tie than to find yourself under-dressed and in need of a more professional look.  Sometimes it makes people wonder, "who's the guy in the suit?" - and I have a chance to shape their perception from a good starting point.  We even had a short conversation about a very colorful tie I had chosen to wear that day, something that would be appropriate for Easter Sunday.