The Personal Branding Blog: William Arruda and the Reach-Certified Personal Branding Strategists

Why and How to Lead Your Boss at Work

Leading from the middle in an organization and managing up sounds a bit like a contortion act, right? But leadership guru John Baldoni makes learning about leading from among your colleagues and team, rather than leading from in front of them, easy to master.

His new book Lead Your Boss: What That Means and Why It Matters is the subject of the March 2010 Reach Personal Branding Interview Series on Thursday, March 11 at noon EST. In this phone interview with William Arruda, founder of Reach Personal Branding, John will reveal how to:

• think strategically so you and your team can be more innovative and effective,
• work together in a win-win scenario by following the 3Cs,
• turn influence into leadership through persuasive communications,
• challenge assumptions without challenging people,
• lessen and even eliminate resistance to change, and
• increase your resiliency by turning setbacks into comebacks.

John’s highly successful books have focused on leadership, management, and communications, and include Lead by Example and Great Communications Secrets for Great Leaders. His “Leadership at Work” column for Harvard Business Publishing is syndicated by Bloomberg.com and contains gems of leadership wisdom. His practical advice, such as “How to Encourage Small Innovations” and “How to Face Your Critics” goes to the heart of what hands-on leadership is all about.

If you want to be more creative at work and think and act like a boss, without stealing the boss’s spotlight, listen in as John challenges us to learn the subtle art of managing up. There will be time for questions and answers at the end of the interview. It will also be recorded if you cannot make the live call. Check back later for the link to the audio recording.

Cross-posted at Career Goddess Blog

What Is a Tribe and Why Build One?

If you have not heard the buzz about tribes yet, here is your chance to find out why they are important to the growth of your emerging or small business. In addition, job seekers and those employed can make use of this information to create a strong network for job search and career development purposes.

The Reach Personal Branding February 2010 Interview features a discussion between William Arruda and Pam Slim, an expert on entrepreneurship and author of Escape from Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur. On Thursday, February 18 at noon EST (New York Time) she will share how to:

1. Choose the best kind of clients and customers
2. Build a strong network of peer mentors who will give you feedback
3. Make connections with your favorite industry superstars without feeling like a teenage fan boy or fan girl.

Escape from Cubicle Nation was named the Best Small Business/Entrepreneur Book of 2009 by 800CEORead and Editor’s Choice and Reader’s Choice for Best Small Business Books in 2009 by Small Business Trends.

Pam Slim is an experienced entrepreneur, coach, and writer and is a frequently quoted on entrepreneurship in major media publications such as The Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek. Her blog, Escape from Cubicle Nation, consistently attains top ranking for career and marketing blogs.

No need to register for this expert interview. Get the description of the interview, PDF handout, and dial-in information at the link for the Reach Personal Branding Interview Series. To participate in the live call, dial in early as space is limited. The call will be recorded and archived; it will also be emailed to subscribers of the **com’plimentary** Reach Personal Branding newsletter. You can subscribe by going to www.reachpersonalbranding.com

UPDATE: Audio recording of interview with Pam Slim

Cross-posted by Susan Guarneri at Career Goddess Blog

Career Advice: Many Heads are Better than One

A couple of months ago, Chris Perry of Career Rocketeer asked me to contribute to Launchpad - a career search strategy guide - he was putting together featuring experts in many areas related to successful job search. I am a fan of these types of books that bring together experts on many topics all focused on one objective – in the case: finding a job.

Here’s what Chris Perry says about Launchpad: “There are so many outstanding career resources, blogs and experts out there online to use in one's job search and personal branding efforts, but as many job seekers come to find, there is never as much time as one would ideally want to take advantage of all of them.  I found this to be true in my own career search this past year and realized that bringing the industry's top career experts together, each sharing their unique niche expertise, advice, experience and tips, through short, actionable articles in one career resource guide would be invaluable to a job seeker or professional pressed for career success, but also pressed for time.  This is where the idea for Launchpad was born, and I am so excited to have now gathered these experts together to share the first issue of this Launchpad: Your Career Search Strategy Guide with you today.” You can learn more here: http://launchpad.careerrocketeer.com/

DISCLOSURE: I do not make any money from the sale of this book. I recommend it because I think it has value to job seekers who want to stand out and find their next gig. If you are currently in job search mode, I wish you all the best!

Strong Brands Attract and Repel

I saw this brandchannel.com article about upcoming episode where Oprah will interview Sarah Palin. It reminds me of something I say in almost every keynote I deliver: Strong brands often repel as many people as they attract.

Brands are frequently polarizing – think Donald Trump, Madonna and Michael Bloomberg. Personal branding is not about being all things to all people or trying to please all of the people all of time, it’s about taking a stand and being comfortable knowing that some will not agree with your point-of-view. Of course, this does not mean being contrary for the sake of it, either. You must be clear about what you believe and willing to express those beliefs.

As for Sarah Palin and Oprah, I am looking forward to this battle of the brands – but knowing Oprah, I think it will not be a confrontational interview. I think both their brands will benefit. What do you think?

William Arruda is the founder of Reach Personal Branding, the global leader in personal branding and the author or Career Distinction: Stand Out by Building Your Brand.

Follow him on Twitter: @williamarruda

Embrace Your Strengths: Learn to Say Yes

When I first read Now, Discover Your Strengths (The Free Press 2001) co-authored by Marcus Buckingham I realized it was revolutionary. Instead of promoting the notion of trying to fix weaknesses as a means to career success, it simply said find out your strengths and run with them. As a career counselor, that concept aligned with my strategies for helping clients explore career options that actually match with their skills, strengths, interests, passions, personality type, values, and personal brand.

Marcus Buckingham’s new book Find Your Strongest Life: What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently (to be released on Sept. 29) promises to be another salvo in advancing self-esteem and career success. By saying “yes” to your strengths, Mr. Buckingham asserts “women can tap into their best selves and find their strongest lives”.

A key component of the book is The Strong Life Test for Women. Only 23 questions long, this online quiz immediately reveals your Lead Role and your Supporting Role. I struggled with some of the questions, where 2 out of the 4 possible answers seemed like reasonable responses I would make. So I decided to take the quiz twice, once answering with my top-level responses and another time with responses that were almost a tie with my first choices. This is the resulting order of roles revealed for me:

1. Advisor – Asks “What is the best thing to do?” Valued for your insight and judgment and helping others to find answers.
   
2. CareTaker – Asks “Is everyone OK?” Instinctively inclusive, looking for ways to draw others into the circle and make them feel wanted, heard, and appreciated.
   
3. Teacher – Asks “What can be learned from this?” You have faith in others’ potential and enable others’ learning about themselves, their performance, and their skills.
   
4. Pioneer – Asks “What’s new?” Willing to take risks and explore; intrigued by the unfamiliar, whether people or experiences.

Interestingly, these roles coincide with my personal branding attributes and strengths from my 360Reach personal branding assessment, a confidential online feedback tool. The 360Reach allowed me to ask those who knew me well what they honestly thought about me (respondents are guaranteed anonymity so they can be absolutely truthful). The attributes from my 360Reach results included strategic, caring, connecting, genuine, creative, insightful, and forward-thinking.

My recommendation: take The Strong Life Test for Women (a self-assessment) and the 360Reach (feedback from others) to uncover your key strengths, skills, and attributes. With that knowledge as a base, you can learn to recognize and say “yes” to life’s opportunities that draw you like a magnet, because they are natural gateways for growth, fulfillment, and happiness.

Cross-posted at Career Goddess Blog

Personal Branding for Project Managers

Here I am surrounded by some really impressive Project Leaders from around the US and Canada. I delivered the keynote for PMI (Project Managers Institute) Conference in Calgary. There were hundreds of project leaders in attendance.

Although most of the conference was focused on project management skills, attendees were quick to connect to the personal branding message. Project managers understand that having a strong personal brand makes them more effective as leaders.

Reach’s business partner The Palatine Group was also at the conference. They delivered an amazing Project Management Simulation that really wowed participants. This conference was incredibly well-executed by the team at OOMPH Events. This is a photo of the book signing after the keynote. The bookstore sold out of copies of Career Distinction. That makes my publisher really happy!

Job Marketing Plan

How is your job-marketing plan?  Do you have one?  Most people sit with a look of surprise when I suggest that they need a job-marketing plan.  Would you want to start a business with no plan, though?  If you are in the job market with no plan, chances are you are only employing one of several strategies to find a new job. 

I really would recommend that people read, “What Color is Your Parachute 2009” by Richard Bolles.  He breaks out the following statistics for a job search strategy:

"Only 4- 10 % will find a job via a job board" (What Color is Your Parachute 2009 by Richard Bolles). 

Does this surprise you?  It surprises most people who spend their entire block of time applying to positions on different job boards. I’m not suggesting that you avoid applying online, but you strategically block only a certain amount to your job search time.  If only 4 – 10% of the people find a job this way, is it really in your best interest to devote most or all of your time to it? 

I remember when we realized that my husband’s job was being offshored, we made this mistake, too.  We spent large chunks of time applying to as many jobs as possible on the job boards and then wondering why his success rate was so low.  It’s been through extensive training / updating of my skills that I realized how limiting his job marketing plan was at that time.  He eventually found a job, through a network contact, about nine months into our search. 

“Up to 47% will experience success by knocking on the door of any employer, factory, or office that interests you, whether they are known to have a vacancy or not.” (What Color is Your Parachute 2009 by Richard Bolles). 

Why would this increase your chances?  Simply put, it differentiates you from the crowd.  Not only do they have your resume’, they also have a face to put with that resume’ and if you are lucky, you will get to talk to someone in a hiring position.  Also, this is part of the “hidden” job market.  Suppose they had just fired someone or a person just quit or retired in that company – you may have walked into an “unpublished” opportunity.  Perhaps, they are talking about expanding their staff and you’ve come in at just the right time.  Chances are smaller that these scenarios would happen, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility. 

What increases your odds in a job search?  I would encourage people to employ multiple methods to look for your next position and spend time creating a plan on how to target strategies along with time commitments for each area.  Networking, job boards, trade journals, online identity development, online professional networking, etc. are just a few of the many items you’ll want to include in your job marketing plan. 

Cross-posted at Career Design Coach by Kristen Jacoway

Job Search Bloopers Book Is Here!

Career and job search mistakes abound, which results in valuable time being lost in your job search – time in which you could have been earning a salary. Wouldn’t it be great if you had a “short-cut” to shaving time off your job search by eliminating costly mistakes?

Well, there is! Learning from others’ job search mistakes is the central theme of Job Search Bloopers: Every Mistake You Can Make on the Road to Career Suicide…and How to Avoid Them, which I (Susan Guarneri) co-authored with Laura DeCarlo. Here's some what career industry gurus are saying:

• Joyce Lain Kennedy, the nation’s first syndicated careers columnist and author of numerous career and job search books, remarked in her review, “Popular Guarneri and DeCarlo keep it simple, sharing the powerful wisdom you need to goof-proof your future. Don’t keep missing out. Read this book and start scoring right now!"
• William Arruda of The Reach Branding Club offered in his endorsement, "The authors dissect and demystify prevalent job search and career concerns with in-depth analysis and cutting-edge recommendations - including demonstrating the role personal branding plays in career success."

Based on real-life stories from my co-author Laura and myself (the Career Assessment Goddess), as well as from career coaches and resume writers around the world who are members of Career Directors International (CDI), Job Search Bloopers is designed to connect with you both emotionally and intellectually to maximize your learning take-aways. You don’t have to re-invent the wheel when it comes to your career and your job search.

This book covers every snafu related to career development, personal branding, and finding a job. Set up by helpful chapters, such as Cover Letter Casualties and Common Job Curses, you can quickly and easily read the most relevant chapters and then immediately apply what you learn. With more than 160 Cited Online References and Bibliography in the Appendices section, along with a contact list of the CDI contributors worldwide, you can use this book as your how-to manual for advancing your career and your personal brand. In fact, the Introduction explains how you can get the most out of the book!

As the author of the Career Goddess Blog, which has been around since 2005, I initially thought this book would come together easily. But writing this book with Laura has been one of the most challenging and worthwhile experiences of my life, for many reasons. As I’ve said to her many times, it’s more painful than giving birth (I have 3 beautiful children so I know). But, like with childbirth, once the “baby” is in your arms you forget about the pain and focus on the accomplishment.

So, I will be crowing for a while and showing off my “baby” with your indulgence. I invite you to write an Amazon customer review – help spread the word about Job Search Bloopers!