Why are some people more successful than others in getting what they want out of life? There are lots of reasons and I’m sure no matter how many I list, you will be able to think of others. One of the more important reasons is that people who are successful keep their eye on the prize. That is, they know what they want to accomplish and evaluate decisions that arise based on achieving those goals.

We live in a world that has so many distractions and a myriad of ways we can and do feel productive even when we really aren’t.  Cruising the web, reading countless articles and emails, posting on social media sites – it all makes you feel like you’re doing something important. But will these actions help you reach your goals?

Goals are our road map. They tell us which paths to take, which jobs to consider, which clients to take on, who we should meet or get to know, which skills we should learn, which talents we should highlight, which conferences or meetings we should attend, which associations we should join. The list is endless.

What is not endless is your time.

Identifying goals is the first step in taking control of your career or your business. It makes sense. If you don’t have a defined direction or path you want to take then your career or your business will be something that just “happens” to you. A rudderless boat can make it to shore if the tide is moving in the right direction. But would you take that chance?

Do what successful people do – keep your eye on the prize. Take the precious time you have and define your goals. A great way of looking at it is that goals provide you with the structure you need to design your career with purpose.

So take control and design your career. Take action, set goals with realistic timetables, review and revise the results, and achieve your desired objectives.

Is your life more serendipitous or have goals played the more important role? I know there are people who say that chance and luck played as important a role in their lives as goals. If you’re one of the “lucky” I would love to hear your story.

Get my free report on getting visible and getting ahead. Click on the links for more information about me and how we can work together whether you work inside an organization, are in sales, are an entrepreneur or a small business owner.

What do people say about you when you leave the room? Generally speaking, if it was a professional situation, they would mention your title and responsibilities. If it was a more relaxed environment, they might talk about your character, how easy or difficult you are to work with, your values and how they impact the way you deal with others, your aspirations, and even your family situation.

Your personal brand is more than just your title and responsibilities. It includes the actions you take that directly reflect your values, your passions, and your aspirations. Your personal brand, your reputation, is constantly changing as your actions reflect your experiences, your challenges, and the influence of others. But no one action can define your personal brand.

The big buzz over the past couple of weeks has been the very public way in which Greg Smith resigned from Goldman Sachs. He has definitely altered the way people think of him – those who know him and even more to the point, those who never heard of him before but now have a strong opinion of him.

I have heard people say that he has really branded himself. But as what? There are many different points of view as to the motive behind his actions. He has been labeled moral, vindictive, whistleblower, spoiler, spoiled, hypocrite, honest, dishonest, and I could go on.

One act does not constitute your personal brand. Personal branding is all about who you are in your entirety. Not a reflection of one action – but – that action is incorporated in your brand. Whatever Mr. Smith decides his next step will be, it will define and strengthen the direction his reputation, his brand, will take. It will provide added insight into who he is and why he did it.

Your personal brand is always a work in progress. A few years ago I’m sure Mr. Smith didn’t have a clue that he would make this public declaration nor be the focus of so much discussion and conjecture in the news and on the airways. His action was a result of some experience – one that affected how he viewed the world – his values and sense of purpose. By taking this strong a stand Mr. Smith has impacted his reputation, his personal brand, but the direction is still anyone’s guess.

How about you?

- Do you know what others are saying about you?

- Have you defined your personal brand in a way that accurately reflects who you are today and hints at what you want to accomplish in the future?

- Do your actions strengthen your positioning of how you want to be known?

You are in control of how others view you. So don’t be surprised by what they are saying about you and take control of your personal brand.

For tips for entrepreneurs and small business owners these articles on FoxBusiness should be helpful.

Get my free report on Getting Visible and Getting Ahead.

Make 2012 the year you take control of your career or business!

Whether you know it or not, you already have a personal brand. But is it the brand or reputation you want or need to get ahead in your career or business?

Working on your career is as important as doing a great job at work. It is easy to get caught up with deadlines, projects, and the everyday world of family and friends. When did you last take the time to evaluate where you are going in your career? And even more importantly, do you have a clear understanding or awareness of where you are now, what makes you unique, how others view you, and how you want others to view you?

Give yourself the best gift possible for the New Year – an opportunity to take a step back so you can take an important step forward!

The goal of this workshop is to enable you to:

-       leverage your strengths

-       be more memorable

-       enjoy greater visibility

-       have greater self-confidence

-       deliver on your brand promise authentically

-       increase your self-awareness

-       stand out from the crowd

-       enjoy greater job/career fulfillment

Workshop details

The February 4 all day workshop is limited to a small group to facilitate learning and participation. Through individual and small group exercises, you will:

-       define your goals and construct an action plan to help you achieve them

-       understand your values, how they affect what you do, and how you do it

-       learn to inject your passions into your world of work

-       define how your skills, talents, and abilities differentiate you from the competition

-       identify your target audience and determine ways to reach them

-       clearly articulate how you want to be known

-       work on defining and building your personal brand

Fee Includes

1. An interactive all day workshop including individual and group work exercises led by Mary Rosenbaum.
2. A workbook you can continue using and modifying after the workshop is over.
3. A 360Assessment (cost of $150.00 included in fee).*
4. Of course, breakfast and lunch.

*See below for a detailed description of the 360Assessment

SIGN UP NOW

Feedback from former workshop participants

READY TO TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR CAREER?

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Who is this for?

-       professionals inside organizations and entrepreneurs who want to improve the way they communicate and articulate their unique value added

-       client facing professionals who need to differentiate themselves from their competitors

-       professionals who need to better align their reputation with their professional goals both inside and outside their organization

More About the 360 Assessment:

Integral to the program is the 360 Reach Assessment, the first and leading web-based personal brand assessment that will help you get the real story of how you are perceived by those around you. It provides the critical feedback you need to expand your success and continue thriving in a competitive business environment.  The first phase, the self-assessment and the raters assessment, will be assigned as pre-work before the workshop so that each of you will have your complete report with you when we meet as a group.

The assessment focuses 99% on the positive, on your strengths and abilities, as the personal branding process is all about highlighting those attributes and qualities that help you stand out. It takes the raters you select (friends, family, colleagues, managers, clients) only 10-15 minutes to complete this on-line assessment.

This assessment has already been taken by more than 700,000 people worldwide and the reviews are outstanding. The personal branding process cannot be completed without an understanding of how others view you. Why? Because it’s critical to know if how others view you is equal to how you view yourself.

So Take The First Step to Taking Control of Your Career in 2012

Give Yourself the Gift You Deserve.

SIGN UP NOW

Since when did personal branding become the same thing as putting on a new suit, having a change of heart, or changing your hairstyle? It seems as if there are many opinions and just as many misconceptions of what personal branding is about. Some of them include:

Personal branding is about

-     how you dress and how you look

-       how your website looks

-       how you want other people to see you

-       who you aspire to be

-       packaging so you can sell “you”

-       fascinating others

So what is personal branding?  It’s about knowing who you are, what your strengths and talents are, aware of your distinctions and differentiating qualities and abilities, and the value you provide. It’s about having the confidence to live in your own skin and be who you are in all you do.

Personal branding is important in today’s culture because people want to take control of their lives, their jobs, and their careers. Knowing your strengths and how you are unique and memorable – and living it – is a place we all want to be – a state where all is good with the world. It’s a place of authenticity.

Having a strong personal brand is not a guarantee but it is a major advantage in moving you forward in your career or your business. At work and at play we are attracted to people who are confident in who they are and what they can deliver. Confidence is the result of self-awareness, and that is the basis of a strong brand.

Personal Branding is not about packaging or fascinating or deciding you want to be a different person. It’s not about that new suit. It is about putting in the work to learn how you can leverage those areas of strength and distinction so you can be all of who you are in everything you do.

On another note, I am really excited about a one-day in-person workshop I am presenting at the end of January in NYC – Personal Branding Boot Camp.  This one day event is for professionals who want to develop greater clarity on what makes them memorable and their service or product unique so they can stand out from the competition. Whether you work in finance, law or real estate, are in sales, or are an entrepreneur or small business owner, here is a great opportunity to learn more about what makes you stand out and how to leverage it.

I usually deliver this workshop inside organizations for their high performing professionals. For the first time I am offering it to you. I will be limiting the number of participants in the group and keeping it small enough to allow for everyone’s participation. More information on this event will be forthcoming in a few weeks. In the meantime please email me with any questions.

Part of leveraging your personal brand is communicating it to and connecting with people who are in your target audience. After all, you want those people who are in a position to be your brand ambassadors to know about you.

The key is to expand your target audience beyond its current parameters – but in a meaningful way. This is not a numbers game. I am not encouraging you to increase your followers on Twitter, friends on Facebook or contacts on LinkedIn. Instead I am advocating a deepening of those relationships if they merit it and expanding your circle to include others that fit your parameters.

What do I mean by that?  Take a look at your existing network. A good way to do that is to look at your LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter contacts and how they aggregate. Are they relationships that can expand your reach into communities that include your target audience? If so, do they have a good understanding of the value your bring to your organization or your clients? Can they be your brand ambassadors? A broadening and deepening of your relationships will ensure that the answer to those questions is yes.

Clients always ask, “how can I expand my network?” If you work inside an organization, don’t make the mistake of just focusing on your managers and co-workers. It’s just as important to communicate and ultimately develop relationships with those outside your organization. When you think about it the people you know and communicate with regularly (those you work with and for) already have a pretty good idea of who you are and the value you provide. It’s those people outside your organization and outside your close friends network that are the ones who can provide you with:

-     new information

-     new ideas

-     new contacts

-     exposure to different opportunities

Here are some ideas for expanding your network.

-     Join an organization – professional or not for profit. Participate in a meaningful way so you can form relationships and allow your personal brand to shine through.

-       Increase your communication with people you see only once or twice a year. If possible, off-line always trumps on-line.

-       Introduce your friends and professional contacts to each other. Be generous with your contacts and they will be eager to reciprocate.

-       Contribute to the success of others. The goodwill that generates from this practice is priceless.

Utilizing her experience of over 25 years Mary Rosenbaum empowers careerists and entrepreneurs to gain greater clarity and more effectively communicate their unique promise of value. Being a strong leader means leading with your strengths. Get her free report Top Strategies for Getting Visible and Getting Ahead.

Follow me on Twitter @Careersguru

What are you doing to build, nurture, maintain, and grow your reputation? With all the hype about social media it becomes easy to take your eye off the ball of what really drives your career and your business. Whether you are in sales or some other profession, an entrepreneur or a small business owner, your number one focus should be your reputation. Your reputation includes much more than the work you deliver. It says a lot about you as a person and your company as a reflection of you.

Everyone has heard of word-of-mouth buzz – the holy grail of marketing. Every experience is stored in the mind with a story attached to it. Your brand is only as strong as the stories people tell about it. The stories we spread are either about what really upsets us or what makes us really happy. Maintaining and growing your reputation, your brand, depends on the stories that reflect the positive results rather than the negative surprises.

This summer I had an opportunity to work with a number of small businesses and service providers across a variety of industries. On a scale of 1-10 very few would receive a score higher than 6 and there were three that fell well below 5. Would I recommend them to others? Not in good conscience. Are there stories based on these experiences that I pass along that are less than flattering? Yes.

So what did they do wrong? The bottom line was that the experience of working with them was so unpleasant that it became memorable, in a negative way. So in spite of the fact that they ultimately completed their respective assignments the word-of-mouth buzz was not positive.

But we can all learn from their mistakes. Here are my suggestions for actions you can take to help you maintain a strong personal brand and a stellar reputation.

1. Manage expectations and eliminate negative surprises. If you find yourself unable to deliver on time or deliver what is expected, keep your client or your boss informed as quickly as possible. By managing expectations and keeping them in the loop you involve them in the process, are able to ask for their input, and make them partners in your success.

2. Tell the truth. There is nothing worse than losing your credibility. It’s not great to have to deliver bad news but if you lie and are found out you risk losing a lot more than if you told the truth. And the reality is, you will be found out eventually.

3. Communicate regularly and keep everyone informed of your progress. Returning phone calls in a timely fashion is imperative in maintaining a good relationship. Especially when you have bad news to deliver because no news is worse than bad news. Keeping your clients or managers in the dark by simply dodging their calls or emails only raises their internal barometer and puts them closer to exploding rather than understanding.

4. Under-promise and over-deliver. When pitching business or a project make sure your proposals and time frame are realistic, the results attainable and the ultimate costs in line with your experience and their needs or budgets. Failing to deliver on promise because of poorly thought out or researched proposals and strategic plans will not help you build strong and lasting relationships with your clients, your managers, and your colleagues.

If you communicate and collaborate with integrity and honesty you will all have a better experience working together. Mistakes happen, issues occur, and circumstances change. Unless you take ownership and step up to accept responsibility your brand will diminish in the eyes of those who work with you or your company. And you can bet on it – they will spread the word.

Utilizing her experience of over 25 years Mary Rosenbaum empowers careerists and entrepreneurs to gain greater clarity and more effectively communicate their unique promise of value. Strong leadership means leading with your strengths. Get her free report Top Strategies for Getting Visible and Getting Ahead.

Follow me on Twitter @Careersguru

How open are you to feedback from those you work with and for, or even from friends and relatives? I know from past experience that praise goes down real easy. Constructive criticism, no matter how couched the wording, goes down like castor oil – it may be good for you but it tastes really bitter and you want to spit it out as quickly as possible.

Yet, how can we learn so we can continue to earn? How we view and judge ourselves is very much like the way we see ourselves in the mirror. The mirror I look at is different than the one that others hold up in front of me. To prove it let me ask you this question:

Have you ever walked down the street and caught your reflection in a store’s plate glass window? Is it the same image you see every morning in your bathroom mirror? I know for a fact it isn’t the same image for me or for most people I know. Seeing yourself with “fresh” eyes can be an enlightening experience.

Obtaining feedback from others is a great way to see yourself with “fresh” eyes. But only if you let yourself really hear what they have to say.

Recently I had an opportunity to provide feedback to my friend Carolyn, a real estate broker. Quite by accident I found out that a neighbor of mine had spoken with Carolyn about renting a house and came away from that conversation with the belief that Carolyn no longer wanted to work on rentals. Of course, this could not be farther from the truth as Carolyn relies on converting rental clients into buyers as well as benefitting from their positive word of mouth advertising. Yet, this recent exchange had just the opposite effect.

I thought this would be a great opportunity for Carolyn to learn from this past exchange how she misrepresented the value she provides clients –  her brand –  and think of different ways to handle this in the future. Instead, Carolyn made this conversation all about how she did everything right and how the client was the one at fault. To further minimize the impact of this feedback, Carolyn ended by saying that this client’s opinions really did not matter. The feedback went down like castor oil – spit out as quickly as possible.

As someone who specializes in helping clients understand, communicate, and leverage their personal brands, I know that one of the main ingredients in the branding process is being clear on the impact you have on others (seeing your reflection in a different mirror). Why? Because in your personal and professional life, your reputation, how you are known, will always precede you.

You are always trying to reach your networks network so you have to know: What are your followers going to say to theirs? What information will Carolyn’s former client be passing along to others? And what impression has Carolyn been conveying to her other clients?

How others view your work and the value you deliver may be different than your own perceptions of how you come across. Here are a few ways to continue to learn so you can earn:

1. Solicit feedback. Ask those around you for ways you could improve upon what you do for or with them. They will feel flattered that you think their opinion is valuable. By having them try to help you get better or clearer on the way you work makes them feel like partners in your success.

2. Be courageous and be humble. Rather than becoming defensive and going into attack mode thank them for their honesty. Let the words sink in. Go back and think about what you heard not from the standpoint of how you felt when you heard them but rather how these words apply to what you know about yourself versus how others see you. Most importantly use these comments to help move you closer to where you want to be.

3. Reciprocate with honest feedback and become a partner in the success of others.

For those of you who have the courage to gain a better understanding of how you impact others and how this affects your career or business, contact me for information on how an online 360 assessment can help you highlight your strengths and define your brand.

Utilizing her experience of over 25 years Mary Rosenbaum empowers careerists and entrepreneurs to gain greater clarity and more effectively communicate their unique promise of value. Strong leadership means leading with your strengths. Get her free report Top Strategies for Getting Visible and Getting Ahead.

Follow me on Twitter @Careersguru

Who is on your cheering squad? Who is in your box? I loved watching all of Novak Djokovic’s family, friends, team members, and compatriots leap to their feet, tears in their eyes as Djokovic won the last point of the men’s singles tennis championship at Wimbledon earlier this month. The tension of the two week tournament coupled with a year of hard work and much transformation was clearly visible on all their faces throughout the event. But success proved to be the great antidote to all the stress. Success for them and for him.

Djokovic did not nor could not win all by himself.

His team - his family, friends, coaches, physician, nutritionist, physiotherapist, trainer, and his many vocal Serbian fans – provided Djokovic with the mental, emotional, and physical support, encouragement, and expertise that helped propel him to achieving his #1 ranking in men’s tennis.

Who do you turn to for expert advice, support and encouragement? A friend, colleague, relative, spouse, partner? A common problem many professionals face, whether they are entrepreneurs or careerists, is trying to do it all themselves. Life is tough enough without having to be an expert in everything you do. A “board of advisors” who you can run ideas past, who have an expertise that can prove valuable to you, who provide you with a realistic appraisal of your actions, and who support your goals and dreams is a necessary ingredient to getting to where you want to go.

At the same time, there is nothing worse than having a great “board of advisors” and ignoring what they have to say. This has been a difficult year for Djokovic and he relied heavily on the many members of his team, implementing changes in his diet, his coaches, his behavior with the media and with his opponents, his focus and his body language both on and off the court. Trusting his team and the advice they provided enabled him to win.

Achieving success in your career or business requires the same level of commitment from your team or board of advisors as it does for professional athletes. So how can you select the members of your team? What should you be looking for? Here are some ideas to incorporate when forming and working with your board of advisors.

1. Find experts who can fill the gaps. If you are an entrepreneur or small business owner perhaps your need is for someone with financial strength or marketing prowess. A coach might be in order for you if you are aspiring to take on a leadership role. Surround yourself with those whose expertise dovetails well with yours so you can focus on what you do best and rely on them for the advice and knowledge that make them experts in what they do.

2. Commit to being open minded. Learn to accept criticism without becoming defensive.

3. Don’t fall in love with your ideas or your team members if something is not working. Djokovic hired a second coach, Todd Martin, but quickly learned that this decision was not a good one for his team. Admit mistakes and move on.

4. Trust your board of advisors. You don’t have to love all your team members. Mutual respect is earned based on the value they provide. And respect results in trust.

5. Look for team members who have a variety of experience. Answers come from many places, so the greater the depth and breadth of experiences they can call on, the better your results.

6. Make sure everyone has the same goal in mind. Clearly define what your goals are and what time frame you have in mind. If you all know where you are going you have a better chance of getting there on time.

7. Ask for help. This is the hardest advice to follow. Yet, if you do ask more often than not you will be rewarded with more than you expect.

8. Give back. Especially to those who “volunteer” to be on your board. There is tremendous power in teams that help one another reach their goals.

No wo(man) is an island. Going it alone takes longer and generally falls short of what you can accomplish. What are some of the attributes you look for in your team or board of advisors?

Utilizing her experience of over 25 years Mary Rosenbaum empowers careerists and entrepreneurs to gain greater clarity and more effectively communicate their unique promise of value. Strong leadership means leading with your strengths. Get her free report Top Strategies for Getting Visible and Getting Ahead.

Follow me on Twitter @Careersguru

I felt compelled to write this piece because of the events that took place last Friday. Andrew Cuomo did what so many before him were afraid to do. He stood up for what he believed in, went against his party’s and his church’s policies. He defined his vision for the world and his purpose in enacting that vision. He saw a world where everyone had an equal right to legally and publicly declare their commitment and love to another human being regardless of sex, age, race, background, or religion. And he put himself on the line to help enact that vision. Strong brands take a stand, and he certainly did. This is not a post on same sex marriage. It is a post on how to authentically demonstrate your personal brand.

Andrew Cuomo defined his character, his values, and his vision and used his strengths as a strategist, negotiator, politician, relationship builder, and persuader, to achieve his success. His personal brand was visible to all who followed his activities or read about them after the fact.

Personal branding is all about standing out for what you believe in – for being authentic and making a difference. One of the aspects of gaining clarity of your personal brand is being able to articulate your vision for the world and your purpose in enacting that vision.

I know that sounds very heady for most people. Not all of us have the ability to do what Cuomo did and on that high a scale. For the rest of us, our purpose in enacting our vision may be as small a gesture as helping an aged neighbor do a food shop, persuading others of the need to contribute to charities that touch our heart and soul, helping friends in need by connecting them with those who can help, or reaching across communities to help break down economic, racial, and religious prejudices.

By enacting our vision we show our character, our values and define our purpose. At the same time we use our strengths, talents and abilities in executing our purpose. This is not about creating a personal brand, it’s about authentically demonstrating what it is and who you are.

It is difficult to define our vision for the world. When I ask clients they usually come up with some generalities like “peace for the world”. And then have a hard time relating to how they can affect any change. World peace is great, but it has to start at home.

An example of that might be volunteering to work with opposing groups (religious, cultural, economic) to create collaborative situations or mentor/coach similar constituencies by empowering them to create better opportunities that promote harmony and community rather than disenfranchisement.

At work this might translate into creating collaborative work situations aligning people on shared values and goals rather than focusing on self promotion. Building community is the first step to achieving peace.

A great exercise to help you uncover your vision and purpose would be to ask yourself these questions:

1. What do I care most deeply about?

2. Why do I care about it – how does it impact me or those around me?

3. How would it impact others if I could change my world to reflect this?

4. How can I bring this down to earth on a daily basis in a way that demonstrates my belief?

5. Is this something I can bring to work with me every day?

6. What do I want to be known for?

7. How do I want to be remembered?

A deeper understanding of your character, values, vision and purpose enables you to set achievable goals that satisfy your needs professionally and personally.  Living your purpose makes you happy and fulfilled – it gives you joy.

Do you have other ways to identify your vision and purpose? Please share them with us.

Utilizing her experience of over 25 years Mary Rosenbaum empowers careerists and entrepreneurs to gain greater clarity and more effectively communicate their unique promise of value. Strong leadership means leading with your strengths. Get her free report Top Strategies for Getting Visible and Getting Ahead.

Follow me on Twitter @Careersguru

If you asked people around you – personal and professional friends and colleagues – would they say that risk taking was one of your attributes? Would you call yourself a risk taker? When you stand up for something you believe in, go against conventional wisdom or against “the way it’s always been done” you take a risk but you also open yourself up to a greater reward.

The status quo may be safe but safe does not always spell success and happiness. Andre Malraux wrote:

“Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not that one has better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on one’s ideas, to take a calculated risk – and to act.”

We fear taking risks because failing isn’t any fun. But only if we believe that failure should be avoided at all costs. Thomas Edison had a different view of what failure meant to him. This was his response to the question of how he was able to deal with so many failures: “I have not failed. I have only found 1,000 different ways that don’t work.” Each failure provided him with valuable information that enabled him to ultimately succeed.

So what’s so great about risk taking? In today’s fast moving world, innovation is critical in order to keep pace with changing tastes, views, needs, and economic conditions. Innovation and change can not occur unless you are willing to take a risk – think Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg or perhaps someone you know in your own organization or industry.

Whether it’s something on as large a scale as creating a new technology, developing a new organizational structure, or opening new markets, or something more personal like putting yourself out there for a project outside your comfort zone, applying for that position that might be a stretch, or taking courses to improve your arsenal of tools and skills, as long as it’s something you believe in, take a risk and just do it!

So shake things up and make it happen! Remember, no guts, no glory!

Utilizing her experience of over 25 years Mary Rosenbaum empowers careerists and entrepreneurs to gain greater clarity and more effectively communicate their unique promise of value. Strong leadership means leading with your strengths. Get her free report Top Strategies for Getting Visible and Getting Ahead.

Follow me on Twitter @Careersguru