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Reputation Management — Building Your Brand!

People are often surprised by what they hear that has been said behind their backs….! I emphasize as part of my Reputation Management theme, the better one manages his or her reputation, the less likely such surprises will occur.

So what comprises a reputation? I stress it is so much more than one’s professional expertise and academic accomplishments. It includes attitude, approachability, verbal presence, sense of style, reliability, attention to detail, kindness, flexibility, global awareness, business etiquette usage, ability to mix and mingle, etc.

We admire those who always seem to know what to say and how to say it and we cringe as we hear someone put their foot in their mouth. We are thankful for those who deliver as promised, but our stress levels increase while waiting for those who repeatedly give excuses.

We enjoy working among those with positive, can-do attitudes as we attempt to avoid the whiners, the mean-spirited and snarky people.

Approachable people make us feel welcomed and acknowledged as their body language is inclusive rather than avoidant or arrogant.

And wow, do certain people own the room and the moment with their commanding, confident presence; whether giving a presentation or working the room, they are in their element.

And as I stress, diplomacy isn’t just for diplomats. People who carefully weigh their words for tact and tone give themselves a distinct advantage. In today’s world of increased brevity, basic verbal courtesy is almost a thing of the past.

As society has become increasingly salacious with a newfound sense of entitlement that includes knowing everything about everyone, protecting one’s reputation has become even more an area of concern.

My top 10 list of items that people notice, talk about and will impact your brand include:

  1. Are you comfortable mixing and mingling? Turning small talk into a big advantage.
  2. Do you recognize non-verbal communication signals in yourself and others? Pumping up the volume without saying a word.
  3. Do you communicate effectively, with words that send the right message. Using language to build bridges.
  4. Do you “demonstrate” the best of everyday etiquette? “Introducing” sure-fire leading behaviors.
  5. Are you “in the know” – current, contemporary and globally savvy? Lifelong learning that will take you the distance.
  6. Are your presentation skills on point? Conquering the conference room and captivating your audience.
  7. Are you confident and comfortable with business entertainment? Thinking on your feet (and outside of the box) out of the office.
  8. Are technology tools your friends or foes? Social networking and texting and emailing (oh my.)
  9. Are you known for doing what matters when it counts? The it factor…Gravitas
  10. Does your appearance convey the right professional image? Seeing it, BEING it (and how it looks in the rearview mirror).

While each of my top 10 dovetail perfectly one to the next, I recommend that people do a candid body language self-assessment – question #2. Non-verbal communication can impact a brand in ways that people are often unaware. As previously mentioned, approachability is key and I ask people, do you even know if you are approachable or not so much? It’s worth noting if people can’t answer the question without hesitation, they most likely are not as approachable as they need to be. And for the record, being approachable does not mean smiling all of the time…we don’t trust people who never stop smiling.

Our non-verbal communication will make others feel valued or dismissed, that we’re listening or distracted, that we have time to invest or please hurry up! The eyes really do say more than we realize and those who have learned to smile with their eyes have an overall welcoming presence. And just the opposite…people who roll their eyes communicate a passive aggressive nature – that’s not good!

Our non-verbal brand, which I like to call Body Talk, encompasses everything from head to toe. The way you own a room, the way you shake a hand, the way you give attentive eye contact, the sincere smile you offer, the pop in your step, the confidence your posture exhibits will without a doubt complement a person’s overall brand.

Note: Deborah Thomas Nininger was the guest on the January 21st #TChat Show.

About the Author: Deborah Thomas-Nininger is the founder of DTN Productions International-Hallmark of Etiquette, a training company that provides training on all areas of international and domestic protocol specializing in “Reputation Management” and communication strategies. She brings to you over 20 years of business etiquette, communication and self-presentation expertise, rooted in behavioral science and successful human interaction.

photo credit: Silicon Prairie News via photopin cc

Considering a Career Change? Take a 360 Snapshot

Written by Dorie Clark, Next Avenue

Thinking about reinventing yourself professionally so you can switch fields or move up the ladder in your current career? A good way to start is by giving yourself a “Personal 360” interview.

At some corporations, employees receive performance reviews based on what are called “360 reviews” (360, as in all directions). In a 360 review, the key people you work with — your boss, peers, subordinates and clients — provide anonymous, aggregated feedback about you and your performance. Firms conduct these reviews partly to uncover the suck-ups who get along perfectly with their bosses but are tyrants to everyone below them.

What a Personal 360 Interview Can Do For You

By pulling together your own Personal 360 interview, where you talk with assorted people about your strengths and weaknesses, you’ll be able to begin leveraging your best talents for the next stage of your career. These people are not only your best hope of receiving honest feedback, they’re also the ones you’ll turn to for mentoring and (eventually) new business and referrals. It may seem like an imposition to reach out, but the truth is, it takes a village to reinvent yourself.

(Related reading: Why We’re Hardwired for Midlife Reinvention)

Personal 360 Process

Here’s how to conduct a Personal 360:

First, create a list of questions you think would be helpful in enhancing your self-knowledge. Executive coach Michael Melcher suggests paired questions. For example: “What’s my strength?” and “What’s not my strength?” Or “What career can you see me in?” and “What career can you definitely not see me in?” That format, Melcher says, “gives people permission to give the full picture; they don’t want to be too negative.”

A few good questions that aren’t paired:

  • What 3 words would you use to describe me?
  • If you didn’t already know what I do for a living, what would you guess, and why?
  • I’m trying to go from field X to field Y. What steps would you suggest?
  • What are my blind spots?

Picking Interview Targets

Next, identify the people you’ll be tapping for your 360 review. You need to be careful, especially if you don’t want to tip your hand to co-workers that you’re considering a career change. Focus on friends, trustworthy colleagues and family members you can depend on to provide honest feedback (no frenemies need apply).

Phyllis Stein, a career consultant in Cambridge, Mass., and the former director of Radcliffe College Career Services at Harvard University, suggests identifying up to 20 people who exemplify the interests, skills and values you admire. Ideally, you’ll want to corral a diverse assortment of men and women in different fields so you can get a broad perspective.

Once you’ve selected potential members of your 360 posse, it’s time to approach them. Melcher suggests making it clear that you want them to set aside time, but not for friendly chitchat. “If you tell your friends you’ll be interviewing them, they’ll take it much more seriously,” he says. Explain that you’ll be spending about 20 minutes asking them about your personal brand so you can see how you’re perceived.

(Related reading: Why Delay Your Dream Job?)

The Face-to-Face Advantage

Face-to-face interviews often yield better responses than phone calls, emails or Skype chats because they let you probe answers further. But they’re not always possible. You might be in Miami and the interviewee in Mumbai, for instance. Or the person you want may be so busy that the best you’ll get is an email pecked out on a smartphone between layovers.

However, be prepared. You’ll need a thick skin to conduct face-to-face interviews. Sometimes the truth can be painful. So if your poker face isn’t up to snuff, you might just want to stick to doing your Personal 360 electronically.

No matter how you conduct the interviews, be sure the people you’re talking with agree to be brutally honest. New York–based career coach Alisa Cohn says you almost have to be forceful about this with friends because their desire to protect you is often so strong.

“Say, ‘I’m trying to develop myself and I know you love me, but I’d appreciate your candid feedback about my limitations,’” Cohn recommends. If your friend says, ‘You don’t have any,’ insist he or she takes your request more seriously.

How to Prompt Honest Answers

One trick, she says, is to bring up negatives about yourself so your 360 team doesn’t have to do so. “You can say: ‘I’ve gotten feedback in the past that I’m a tactical thinker — not strategic. I wonder if you’ve seen that and what you think?’” Cohn says. “When you rat yourself out first, they can add on.”

Conducting a Group 360 Interview

In addition to (or instead of) one-on-one conversations, another possibility is hosting a group gathering in your living room with 8-10 trusted friends and colleagues, assuming your network lives nearby. The benefit of this is that you can leverage the wisdom of crowds when one person’s idea sparks another. Think of it as a focus group where the focus is you.

Make sure you have enough comfortable chairs and, just as in real focus groups, bribe people with dinner and/or copious, high-quality snacks. If you’re able, it’s a classy gesture to provide each attendee with a small token of your appreciation, like a gift card for a coffee shop or bookstore. Keep the whole shebang to 90 minutes max, with 30 of those minutes upfront for mingling and to accommodate late arrivals.

Essential Jobs for a Group Interview

Two roles are critical: the facilitator and the scribe. If you’re a terrific moderator — you can keep meetings going efficiently, politely hush ramblers, probe interesting statements — take on the facilitator role yourself. But for most people, this can be a tricky assignment when the subject is you. So you may want to ask a friend or co-worker to fill the role. Just be sure to coordinate in advance with the moderator so you’ll be able to slip him or her notes for follow-up questions.

You might, however, be comfortable as the scribe. If so, sit silently in the back, don’t interrupt and just take notes. It’s a good idea, with your group’s permission, to record the session so you can play it back and review it in the future.

You may want to set aside five minutes at the end of the session to ask attendees to write down a short summary of their perceptions — three words that describe you, the most important skill you should develop and so on. Since some participants may be too shy to offer their thoughts out loud, this is a good way to ensure you’ve captured their insights.

It could also be useful to supplement your 360 interviews by reading over previous performance reviews and recommendation letters you’ve received at work, as well as by seeing what people have said about you online — positively and negatively. (A Google search can help you accomplish the latter).

(Related reading: A CEO’s Advice for the Third Chapter of Your Career)

How to Interpret What People Say

Once you’ve gathered all the input, it’s time to synthesize that information. Be sure you’re assigning the appropriate weight to what you’ve heard. Rather than obsessing about something one person mentioned in a 360 review, look for consistent patterns across comments you’ve received.

It’s easy for something negative to stick in your craw. But the power of one harsh appraisal can cloud your understanding of how you’re perceived in general. Remember, you’re trying to find patterns. To uncover them, ask yourself the following questions:

  • What adjectives did people use to describe me?
  • What skills did they say I possess or lack?
  • What aspects of me or my brand were most frequently mentioned?
  • Were any of those aspects cited as unique or unusual?

Now you have to determine what it all means. Be careful not to confuse kind words with traits that will serve you well in your career reinvention. “People may say, ‘I see you as thoughtful, methodical, and nice,’” Cohn says. “Those are lovely professional qualities, but they aren’t describing a leadership brand like the word ‘decisive.’ They’re not going to get you to the C-suite.”

Dorie Clark headshot(Author Profile: Dorie Clark is the author of “Reinventing You: Define Your Brand, Imagine Your Future.” She is an adjunct professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, and is a consultant and speaker for clients such as Google, Fidelity, and the World Bank. She also contributes frequently to Harvard Business Review and Forbes. Learn more about Dorie at dorieclark.com and follow her on Twitter @dorieclark.)

Editorial Note: Reprinted with permission by Harvard Business Review Press and Adapted from “Reinventing You,” copyright 2013 Dorie Clark. All rights reserved.

Read the original post at Next Avenue.

Next.Ave.logo.name.squareRelated articles:
Career Shift: ‘You’re Never Too Old’ Success Stories
4 Ways to Make Your Career Last Longer
The Key to a Successful Career Shift: Asking for Help

Image credit: Pixabayi

You 2.0: Reinventing a Personal Brand #TChat Preview

(Editor’s Note: Looking for a complete review of the week’s events and resources? Read the #TChat Recap: “Will the Real You Please Stand Up?”)

Here’s Looking at You, Kid

Most of us are familiar with the concept of personal branding. We understand how important it is to put our “best face forward,” especially during a job search. (Our mothers told us about that long ago.) And you don’t have to be Kim Kardashian to see that social media shines a constant spotlight on our lives, for better or worse. So…why don’t more of us cultivate our personal brands as carefully as a marketing manager would?

Creating a Fresh Perspective

Reinventing You

Learn more about “Reinventing You”

Is your online presence incomplete or out-of-date? Do you suspect it sends the wrong message? Are you considering a career change, but struggling with how to reposition yourself for a new role? What’s the best way to recombine all the elements for a message that is accurate, authentic and attracts the right kind of attention?

That’s our focus this week in the TalentCulture community, as we continue our “summer restart” series with the author of of Reinventing You, Dorie Clark. Dorie is a communications and brand management expert who has written extensively about this topic. And we’re fortunate that she’s sharing her insights with us throughout the week.

To set the stage, Dorie joined me for a brief G+ Hangout to discuss why personal brand management matters, not just during a job search, but on a continuous basis:

The article Dorie mentions is great preparation for this week’s #TChat discussions. Check it out at Harvard Business Review: It’s Not a Job Search, It’s a Campaign. Also, if you’d like to read related articles from the TalentCulture archives, see “Mindfully Managing Your Personal Brand” and “Personal Re-Branding For Chareer Changers.”

#TChat Events: Reinventing Your Brand

Don’t forget to save the date — Wednesday July 17 — for a #TChat double-header that is designed to change your professional life for the better. Bring your questions, concerns, ideas and suggestions, and let’s talk!

#TChat Radio — Wed, July 17 at 6:30pmET / 3:30pmPT

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Listen to the #TChat Radio show

Dorie joins our hosts, Meghan M. Biro and Kevin W. Grossman for a closer look at why and how professionals can benefit from personal branding. Listen live and dial-in with your questions and feedback!

#TChat Twitter — Wed, July 17 at 7pmET / 4pmPT

Immediately following the radio show, our conversation with Dorie opens wide, as she moderates our community discussion on the #TChat stream. We welcome anyone with a Twitter account to join us, as we discuss these questions:

Q1:  You are the captains of your own career destiny. Why or why not?
Q2:  What should your first priorities be when reinventing your personal brand?
Q3:  Does it make a difference if you’re a full-time, part-time or contract worker? Why/why not?
Q4:  How can business leaders facilitate ongoing career development, inside and out?
Q5:  What technologies today help us reinvent ourselves? How/why?

Throughout the week, we’ll keep the discussion going on the #TChat Twitter feed and on our new LinkedIn Discussion Group. So please join us share your questions, ideas and opinions.

We’ll see you on the stream!

 

Employer and Personal Brands Tango: #TChat Preview

Companies spend a huge chunk of time, marketing investment and human capital in building a brand. For people building personal brands the investment ratios might be different, but for both employer and individual, brand is an asset, a form of intellectual capital. In the HR, talent management and leadership realm we often are first to see fault lines emerging between employers and employees, and what’s becoming apparent is the possibility for conflict between employer and personal brands.

Before it happens — before employers feel cheated by employees building personal brands on the clock, before employers lose followers to employees who feel their brand is more important than the company’s, and before employees feel coerced into the role of brand advocate — it’s time to have an adult discussion about how to create an environment where employer and personal brands can coexist and complement each other.

This week, the TalentCulture community will explore the boundaries separating and areas of overlap between employer and personal brands. We’ll review the essence of employer brand and propose best–practices for promoting and protecting employer brands. As well, we’ll look at how technology has changed the landscape for employee and employer brands alike.

I often don’t think it’s hard to determine when employer brand trumps personal brand, but for some it’s an open question, so we’ll add that to the discussion. My goal is to unearth insight into how personal and employer brands can coexist to mutual benefit. It’s possible, too, that a toxic workplace may be revealed by employees active in social media, so we’ll discuss strategies for identifying bad vibes and containing the damage (and learning from the experience.)

Let’s build our brands! It’s fun.

Here are this week’s questions for the #TChat forum:

Q1: What is the essence of an employer brand?

Q2: How have innovations in technologies altered employees’ relationships with their employers’ brands?

Q3: Which needs the other more, employee personal brands or the employer brand? Why?

Q4: What does it look like when employers’ brands exist dynamically & positively with employees’ personal brands?

Q5: How can leadership right an employer brand when employees’ personal brands reveal a toxic workplace culture?

Susan Strayer, SPHR (@SusanStrayer), will be our guest moderator this week. That’s appropriate and timely: At ERE Expo 2012 Fall, Susan will deliver a presentation on how employees’ personal brands can strengthen the employer brand. Founder of Exaqueo, where she helps start-up and high-growth organizations sort through their employer brands and talent strategies, Susan is a top 100 influencer in HR.

We’re happy and honored to have Susan leading the #TChat tweets on Wednesday, Aug. 29, from 7-8pm ET (6-7pm CT, 4-5pm PT, or wherever you are), to talk shop with us about employer brands and personal brands doing the tango.

Look for all of us, on the #TChat stream: yours truly (@MeghanMBiro) and Kevin W. Grossman (@KevinWGrossman), as well as Sean Charles (@SocialMediaSean), Salima Nathoo (@SocialSalima) and Brent Skinner (@BrentSkinner). We can’t wait for your tweets.

Image Credit: gmarcos1 on Flickr