RE:THINK

As JobCAMP approaches…(to be held in Sydney on May 7/8th), we want to hear you thoughts on our new logo?

Leave comment on what is your favourite version of the JobCAMP logo and why?

 

Being made redundant is pretty popular right now…for corporations.

For those made redundant, this may be quite a difficult time frought with uncertainty and fear.

 

Sydney Morning Herald journalist - Caroline Marcus wrote the following article on Barack Obama, and his Personal Brand. Whilst charisma is largely bred not made, there are some very simple but powerful habits that anyone can adapt to have presence like the President of the United States

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama’s policies may have been credited for winning him the election but Sydney experts say that his appearance, wardrobe, voice and body language were just as important in giving him an edge.

Speech expert Monique Rissen-Harrisberg of The Voice Clinic says that successful communication consists of 55 per cent body language, image and dress, 38 per cent voice and just 7 per cent content of speech - a combination that Mr Obama has mastered.

“There is that intelligence [in his voice], but there is also a smoothness,” she said. “Specifically with his inauguration speech, the content was excellent. His vocabulary was very emotive; the language was very good.”

She said his voice was deep, resonant and powerful, qualities that would only strengthen with time in the role.

One Sydney writing and speech coach, Tony Spencer-Smith of the Editor Group, has even designed a Write Like Obama course to teach people how to emulate his vocal qualities and language.

He said Mr Obama’s tendency to use “simple, straightforward words” made his writing and speeches accessible to millions, and such clarity was within any student’s grasp.

The editor of Marie Claire magazine and judge of television’s Make Me A Supermodel, Jackie Frank, said Mr Obama’s good looks and dress sense would have helped win voters.

“He is extremely pleasing to the eye - he’s hot,” Ms Frank said. “Immediately that rallies people, and he has got a natural charisma that just infects. With his personal style, he does comfort without sacrificing authority. It has been strikingly simple with his slim-fitting black suits.

“He is the first president in a long time to actually have a great body. The slim silhouette is a much more modern silhouette and he certainly can carry the slim-fitting black suits.

“The Obamas really are the modern-day Kennedys.”

Body language expert Michael Kelly said that Mr Obama was “so measured” and took his time in speeches and debates, lending him an air of authority.

“That comes across as presidential,” Mr Kelly said.

“A lot of the time, people will blabber out something. [Obama] is such a counterpoint to [former US president George] Bush, who shoots from the hip and sees what happens.[Obama] has got a loping, easy gait, and people with authority do not rush. He will face [his audience] and then he will smile. He has got a great smile. It is just natural, very easy and not forced.”

The experts had less praise for our own leader, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who they agreed needed to take some tips from his American counterpart if he wanted to achieve a similar presence.

“I would love to work with him,” Ms Rissen-Harrisberg said. “There is so much work that needs to be done. He has this sing-song, choirboy way. He needs to be more of a man than a boy. One does not believe him.”

How to be like Barack;

HANDS - His gestures use the space around him well; he often moves his hands from side to side. People in authority are not stiff. His self-assuredness helps voters believe him.

HEIGHT - His tall, angular frame contributes to his good looks but also helps give him an air of authority. His posture is good and he always looks comfortable.

RELAXED POSE - He always looks comfortable, yet authoritative. The hands-in-the-pocket pose is a classic for portraits of leaders.

SMILE - His smile is natural and very easy. It never looks forced. Great white teeth.

SUIT - He favours slim-fitting black suits that are not only the height of fashion but show off his great build.

VOICE - His voice is deep, resonant and powerful. It is smooth and he pauses often, lending him gravitas.

I’ve received this article from a friend (Zac Angelowicz), a successful entrepreneur,with experience in Sales and Recruiting.

Are our institutions of Higher Learning Preparing graduates for the Real World? Not without teaching them to “Block and Tackle.”

Many of our colleges and universities are laced with coursework that follows a textbook. Students are asked to memorize and regurgitate information in exchange for grades. These students are being taught by “Theoritians” Teachers that have academic credentials, but have never “Applied” that knowledge in real world settings. A few lucky students are being taught by “Practitioners” Instructors that have stretched their “Comfort Zone”, are entrepreneurial by nature, willing to take risks and compete at the highest level while motivating students to do the same. How can a business professor teach marketing if he’s never had a door slammed in his face or lost his own money in a failed venture and moved forward?

Every person in any walk of life has “WIIFM” or What’s In It for Me, emblazoned in invisible ink in the middle of their forehead.  By being taught a “World Class Meet and Greet” a person can break down the barriers and overcome the fear of
“Face to Face” interactions. The Human Organism is born with only two fears, the fear of loud noises and the fear of falling. All other fears are learned and can be unlearned.

In the interview and hiring process of thousands of applicants wanting to learn to “Block and Tackle”, we use the Predictive Index (PI) as a guideline or measuring instrument. What the PI reveals is a graphic depiction and report of the underlying patterns of behavior that drive an individual.

By description an accomplished “Blocker and Tackler” is an engaging, stimulating communicator, poised and capable of projecting enthusiasm and warmth and of motivating other people. They have a strong sense of urgency, initiative and competitive drive to get things done, with emphasis on working with and through people in the process. They understand people well and use that understanding effectively in influencing and persuading others to Act. They are Actors not Reactors and they take personal responsibility in Daily Excellence.

“So, what’s in it for you”

After your initial training in “Blocking and Tackling” you might ask, “How is this going to further my career path?” Craig Barrett, CEO of Intel stated in a recent interview that “‘people’ are 90% of everyone’s business, but business only spends 10% of their time, finding and developing them.” Find a good senior manager of any major corporation that can’t recruit, train and motivate as well as communicate the company’s vision to his troops, in today’s competitive environment and he’s in trouble.

Many middle and senior managers of large corporations have forgotten how or never learned how to “Block and Tackle.
The have “lost touch” with what’s going on in the “front line.” That’s why corporation’s are hiring “outside experts” to help streamline, organize and facilitate increased results.

Time in the Trenches

There’s no substitute for Front Line experience. My career started selling Ford’s in a small town in upstate New York. I was a college basketball player and one of our backers was a Ford Dealer. I honed my blocking & tackling skills that I initially learned growing up in the streets of Brooklyn. I had a great mentor, EJ Connors. After a career at Eastman Kodak Co. in Upstate New York, he started selling automobiles. He sold on the average of 40 New Fords every month for 10 years. He taught me about meet and greet, sending thank you notes and birthday cards. With his help, I sold 250 Fords my first year.

In 1979our Family relocated to Scottsdale. We started up “Polyglycoat” a car care & window tint company, whose trade name we sold in 1997 to Quaker State Oil Co. We developed the trade name “Polyglycoat” to a 3 out of 4 household recognition factor before it was sold.

In the last 5 years, my career has been recruiting and head hunting sales people and managers for the automotive industry. That’s full Blocking & Tackling. I have to kiss a lot of frogs to find that prince.

Graduate to Free Safety

Now that you’ve taken the time to develop your meet & greet as well as “people skills” you evolve to “Free Safety.”

The Free Safety roams the playing fields of career development with an air of confidence he or she is an “impact” player that makes a difference to co-workers. He covers their back when they’re beaten, he helps them overcome obstacles. He moves to the action. He’s an actor NOT a reactor and exudes a quiet confidence. He stimulates and creates action, while being a mentor to new team members. A true leader,a department head or CEO in the making. He understands what ASU Sun Devil Baseball Coach Pat Murphy means when he says, “If you fail, make sure you fall on your face and not on your heels, then you are truly making progress.” A Free Safety has the drive and determination to pick himself up off the ground, dust himself OFF and MOVE FORWARD.

By knowing and instinctively following the basics of Blocking and Tackling you will get “lucky” in meeting and exceeding your goals and aspirations.

Branch Rickey, the First Commissioner of major league baseball had a definition of “luck” he said, “luck is the residue of planning, preparation & discipline!”

Whatever career path you choose, be it entrepreneurial, educational, sales related or corporate, enhanced people skills will make you “very lucky.”

ZAC’S ZINGERS

1)      Always continue to Block and Tackle- Remember your life in the trenches

2)      Follow the A³ Principle- Attitude, Approach, Action

3)      Don’t ever say, “It’s not my job” be part of the solution, not the problem.

4)      Understand the definition of “Insanity” doing things the same way and expecting different results. Be daring and Creative.

5)      Practice the 10 most important 2 letter words in the world on a daily basis

“If it is to be, it is up to me!”

By: Zac Angelowicz

I’m at Liberty!

In her recent film Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Cristina (Johnasson’s character) was asked the question “so what do you do?”

And this is how she replies!

Josephine Tovey over at the Sydney Morning Herald wrote a great article on this very subject - and mused about how today’s careerists could do well to follow this advice; and just take time out to ‘find themselves’

She was worried by the fact that young people had spent their whole time over the summer holidays considering a ‘lifelong’ career, and that little time was being spent to really answer the question “So what do you do”

This is what Personal Branding is all about!

Discovering what it is you ‘do’

Remember, your job is not ‘what you do’ - what you do is what you do to help people.  I was reminded of this again when I met with a contact, who promotes herself as a coach.  I asked “so what do you do”..typically, the answer to this question would be “I coach”…meh.

This conversation is not going to last long!

“I’m at Liberty” is a much more interesting answer to this question!

What do you do?

Barack Obama got it…

Apple get it.

Branding as we know it is fast approaching its death!  Brands must connect, deliver, involve, listen and engage. PERIOD.

Branding 1.0 was all about pushing messages at your audience all day, every day, with little interest in truly engaging or involving the general audience in the messages, the story or the promises of the brand.  Branding 2.0 is all about the 2nd version, and how brands interactions now work in 2 directions….push and pull!

Ben Bradley and Robert Hamilton wrote another great article on this subject - “The Last Gasp of Branding as we Know it”

Key points from this article were;

• Corporate Brands matter - but for the small to medium operator, brands are foreign
• B2B customers are getting harder to connect with
• The one kind of brand still worthy of investment is the Personal Brand
• Action oriented branding is replacing ‘awareness branding’
• Brand has been redefined due to the transparency and the walk needing the match the talk
• Today, branding is all about the full relationship cycle
• Customers are now seeking a brand that is alive and connects with them
• True value is now in the individual who can tune the solution to meet a customers needs…

Read the full article here…

Well firstly, he drives fast cars faster than you probably can (without ruining them)…

But more importantly, he has a pretty impressive Personal Brand.

So here are 5 reasons why the Stig is better than you!

1.  He has a simple but memorable name - I mean, who else do you know named the Stig?  Fair chance, you will remember this name though!  Even I can spell Stig (although my spell checker does not pick it up), that is easy to recall, and says little other than “I need to know more about this Stig character”

2.  He is mysterious - who is the Stig…does it matter?

3.  He is Persistently Consistent - the bloke (or lady) always looks the same, has the same Personal Value Proposition (he never says much; but in case you missed it; he drives cars…fast)

4.  The Stig is damn good at what he does - he has competence.  I don’t know if you saw the episode screened last night in Australia - but who else could chase down 4 seconds on a Porsche, driven by a Touring Car Champion in two laps…in an Aston Martin?

5.  People know the Stig, and they know what he does - well mostly people know the Stig…if you watch BBC Top Gear, or you like cars, then most likely you know the Stig!

Just in case you don’t know the Stig…here is some insight!

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• The Stig Breaks In Top Gear Australia’s Test Track [Top Gear]

Business is more competitive and challenging than ever which means we need to continually improve our skills if we want to maintain a competitive edge. Upgrading your skills is critical to your long-term success.

The most common mistake that I see is that many sales people think that they don’t need to update or upgrade their skills because they attended a program or training workshop sometime in the past.

Many companies who say they’re not interested in a training program because they “did one” a few years ago.
People rely on their employer to either foot the bill or initiate something. If you’re not willing to invest in your future you won’t reach your full potential. I’ve noticed that self-employed or independent sales professionals are more likely to invest in their personal development more so than employees of a company.

I recommend doing a quick self-evaluation to determine what specific areas they need to improve. Then, decide what you’re going to do to improve. This could mean attending a training workshop, a tele-seminar, or perhaps a conference to hear different speakers. If you get just one good idea that helps you improve your results, then it’s worth the investment.

“Why is this so important for sales people to maintain a positive attitude?”

Sales is a great career but it’s also a challenging one. The attitude we display is contagious and our prospects pick up on it. But, even more important, is the fact that a positive attitude helps us get through the difficult times and occasional slumps we encounter from time-to-time.

“What can we do?”

First, we have to choose to be positive. No one can tell us how to behave and we can always choose to be in a great mood or a negative one. Now I’m certainly not suggesting that this is easy because it’s not. However, when you put negative experiences into perspective and look at the big picture, you can often see why it’s more important to focus on the positive.

Next, associate with other positive-minded, goal-oriented people. Too many people are quick to bring you down so it’s essential that the people around us are also positive and optimistic.
I also recommend starting your day with something positive like reading or listening to motivational material instead of reading the newspaper or watching the news. Other things like exercise, yoga, meditation are also a great way to start your day. It’s like tending a garden. If you don’t remove the weeds they will eventually take over and choke the flowers. Starting your day with something that is inspiring will kick start our day and keep the weeds away.

Improvements don’t happen overnight. Each change, even if it’s small, makes a difference and can improve our results.

It’s like physical fitness. You can’t go from a being a couch potato to competing in an Ironman competition in a week or two. It takes time to build your stamina and strengthen your body so it can handle the stress effectively.

Have you noticed that some workers receive more promotions and greater pay than their colleagues, despite the fact that they are apparently not as competent as you? This doesn’t seem fair. Why should some people get ahead when others, who seem to be working much harder and even longer hours, get passed over for promotion and the additional rewards that go with it? The fact is, to be a great success, it is important not only to be good at what you do but also to be perceived as being good at what you do.

Human beings are creatures of perception. It is not what they see but what they think they see that determines how they think and act. If one person is perceived as being more promotable, then it is very likely that he/she will get additional responsibilities and more money, even though there are others that can do a better job, if given the chance.

Fortunately, there are several things that one can do to increase visibility and accelerate the speed at which they move ahead in their career.

Develop Competence

Determine what parts of your job are most important to your boss and to your company and then make the decision to become very good in those areas. You must be perceived as being very competent at what you do. That perception alone will bring you to the attention of more people faster than you can imagine. The perception of excellent performance will open up opportunities for greater responsibilities, higher pay and better positions. Becoming good at what you do should be the foundation of your strategy for gaining higher visibility and rapid advancement in your career.

Pay Attention to Your Overall Image

How you appear to others makes a real difference. A recent survey of personnel executives found that the decision to hire or not to hire is made in the first 30 seconds. There are many elements of your life over which you have no control. But your external dress and appearance are totally a matter of personal preference. Through their choice of clothes, their grooming and their overall appearance, individuals deliberately make a statement about the kind of people they are. The way you look on the outside is a representation of the way you see yourself on the inside. It’s a good idea to dress the way the senior people in your company dress. Dress for the position two jobs above your own.

Join Professional Associations

Research professional associations connected with your business or field. Begin by attending meetings as a guest to carefully assess whether or not a professional association can be of value to you. Determine if the members are the kind of people you would like to know and are well established in their careers. Then, if you have decided that becoming known to the key people in this association can advance your career, take out a membership and get involved. Pick a key committee and volunteer for service. Find out which committee seems to be the most active and the most influential in that organization and then step up to the plate. Volunteer your time, expertise and energy, and get busy. Attend every meeting. Take careful notes. Ask for assignments, and complete them on time and in an excellent fashion. This gives you an opportunity to perform for other key people in your profession in a non-threatening environment. You give them a chance to see what you can do and what kind of a person you are. You expand your range of valuable contacts in one of the most effective ways possible. The people you get to know on these committees can eventually be extremely helpful to you in your work and in your career.

Join a Well-Known, Charitable Organization

Become active by donating your services to its annual fund-raising programs. You may not be wealthy now, but you do have time, and your willingness to give of yourself will soon be noticed by people who are higher up. Many men and women with limited contacts and limited resources have risen to positions of great prominence as the result of getting to know the key community leaders who participate in charitable organizations and professional associations.

Be Able to Set Priorities

Learn how to separate the relevant from the irrelevant when facing the many tasks of the day. Managers place very high value on a person who can set priorities and move quickly to get the job finished. Dependability in job completion is one of the most valued traits in the American work force. When your employer can hand you a job and then walk away and never worry about it again, you have moved yourself onto the fast track, and your subsequent promotion and pay are virtually guaranteed.

Upgrade Your Work-Related Skills

Continually look for ways to keep your skills current, and make sure that your superiors know about it. Look for additional courses you can take to improve at your job, and discuss them with your boss. Ask him/her to pay for the courses, but make it clear that you’re going to take them anyway. Also, ask your boss for book and audio program recommendations. Then follow up by reading and listening to them and asking for further recommendations. Bosses are very impressed with people who are constantly striving to learn more in order to increase their value to their companies.

Develop a Positive Mental Attitude

People like to be around people they like and tend to promote them. A consistent, persistent attitude of cheerfulness and optimism is quickly noticed by everybody. When you make an effort to cultivate an attitude of friendliness toward people, they, in turn, will go to extraordinary efforts to open doors for you.

In the final analysis, taking the time to become an excellent human being will do more to raise your visibility and improve your chances for promotion than will any other single thing that you can do. You can do it if you really want to.

This article is also posted over at The Chief Brand Officer

To our readers who celebrate Christmas - Merry Christmas!

Just as important though are the things you can be doing over this Festive Period to start your Personal Brand off on the right foot for 2009!

Commit to Learning - Steve Pavlina wrote a great post back in 2005 that suggested you should contribute 3% of your monthly income to personal development and learning.  Sit down and perform your own SWOT - discover what some of your weaknesses may be.  then think about your target audience and your objectives for 2009.  For example, if you have weakness in the public speaking department and your have a goal to be a better public speaker - because your target audience need to hear your messages; then enrol yourself in a course on public speaking!

Take a day out to discover your MOJO - what are your passions and what gets you really excited every moorning.  A friend of mine Richard Sauerman talks about your Red Wine Midnight Conversations - what are the things you talk about with friends over a Red Wine?  These are your real passions.  As my friend Gary Vaynerchuk says “There is no reason in 2008 to be doing shit you hate…if you like smurfs, smurf it up!”

Read the rest of the article here…