At a recent breakfast with other career professionals, we got into a discussion of the characteristics of who is likely to be out the longest when unemployed.

The most common trait: Too little awareness of his/her value to the businesses he/she has come from versus other available resources.

In my practice, these folks fall into two sub-segments:

The Traditionalist:
• Someone who has worked for a single company for 10-20 years and after being laid off, has had no luck getting back in. Doesn’t know why.
• Doesn’t really know to what degree or when he exceeded expectations at the last employer. Not sure how he was ranked versus other employees, except that he was kept on many years and made quotas most of the time. “My boss/company took care of me.” To be fair to this person, education (and religion) in this country breeds workers to let their companies manage their fate.
• Is pretty sure he is out of work because of big business, the Democrats, Republicans, or “poor management.”

The Arrogant:
• This person has progressed through the ranks and has successfully held a number of (3-6) of senior titles such as Director or VP. But now has been out over a year and gets interviews but no offers.
• Since he achieved Director+ level, is pretty sure it can’t be his fault. On the other hand, seems to have forgotten that, at the top of the pyramid, there aren’t enough chairs for everyone to be assured a chair when the music stops. The music has stopped a lot in the last 5 years.
• Talked to one of these the other day. Has achieved CEO and President of several medical device start-ups and companies under $30 million. But in his resume all he says is “I was CEO.” Describes the mergers and acquisitions that occurred while he was at the helm but doesn’t show what mission critical strategies he owns versus other senior staff involved in the same M&A. Makes no effort to show for which future companies and problems he is the best ROI (return on investment.) Doesn’t think he should have to.

By the way, the folks with these problems are more likely to be male (women are usually more self-aware and/or paranoid,) and very likely to be over the age of 50.

So if you suspect you have a bit of these traits, what do you do? Go back to former co-workers and bosses and identify what you did better/differently than other people they have interacted with at the same title and experience level. This is not the time to ask people who will say nice things to you because they don’t want to hurt your feelings. Learn to craft the arguments that will set you above all other pitches for whatever segments you can be the best ROI for. I know how to do that if you don’t.

Be willing to admit that in today’s market we all need to sell ourselves to our workplace, industry, family, and community 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Topics: branding + positioning, communications, getting ahead, leadership, selling skills | 3 Comments »

Innovation in a service organization is usually driven by consumer demand or displeasure with previous services available where as, in manufacturing, innovation may be the result of engineering or VOC. As services are not protected by patent, it is more difficult for service companies to maintain the advantage over subsequent competitors. To win at this game, the company first-in-market must expand or adjust its service quickly to pre-empt the competition, and invest sufficiently to establish and maintain a leading brand image. For the more commodity-like services, response time and flawless execution are relatively more important. Ongoing continuous improvement and performance metric strategies are recommended to maintain a leadership position.

Consider that marrying new technology to a new service (especially if patentable) is an effective way to slow down competitors. On the other end of the spectrum, providing a deliberately higher level of touch with the customer provides an advantage.

For any of these strategies, the company that spends more time carefully designing and process-mapping the service to be offered in depth before launch will be more successful. Similarly, the company should invest heavily in training its staff and run simulations before opening for business with the public.

Note that the distance between tangible and intangible activities is blurring in the discussion above. The service companies that dissect their services and activities into tangible, trainable, measurable competencies – even for activities that provide a higher touch experience for the customer – will have the advantage.

Topics: innovation, management skills, product development, selling skills | No Comments »

Most folks only think about their brand when they are updating their resume or marketing plan. Consider this. You are reinforcing your brand positively or negatively, consciously or unconsciously, 24 hours/day, 365 days/year.

If you want to be more memorable and influential in a sea of other executives, separate yourself from the pack at every opportunity:

1. Elevate the thoughtfulness, strategic depth, and currency of all your conversations. Talk more about the latest trends in your industry, and cutting edge technology. Show thought leadership.
2. Demonstrate your ability to sell ideas, build consensus, and grow business. This goes beyond showing you are a good networker and relationship builder. Your community needs to know how well you can influence key decision makers, facilitate across departments, get results, and create revenue.
3. Create opportunities to network with business peers on a deeper-level than possible in a typical monthly networking event or occasional networking lunch. Increase the percentage of people in your network with heavy business influence.
4. Upgrade the quality of your interpersonal interactions. A salesperson I know never ends a conversation without asking “what can I do for you today?” He stands out amongst the thousands of sales people I know because of the way he communicates it. He really does mean it. His customers and network know it.
5. Improve your LinkedIn profile and activities. It says volumes about you. Whether or not you have self-awareness about your value to employers, and can communicate and sell your ideas. Whether you are interested in helping others in the industry, or just want their contacts. Whether you are willing to read and comment on someone’s blog or discussion in a LI group in exchange for reading your sales pitch. I believe most LI profiles are doing more damage than good to their owners.
6. Update your clothing and hairstyle, look less generic. Be more hip. Have a professional quality picture in LinkedIn.  Free, generic business cards are out. Even your email signature matters.
7. Lastly, once you have turbo-charged your brand, create “buzz” and sustain it.

The key is to establish and maintain your brand in terms that are as relevant as possible to current business needs. Your brand needs be memorable and easily repeated by your fans. (Most elevator speeches are not.) Your pitch needs to have focus and a theme offering synergy amongst skills. Emphasize how you are different, not how you are similar. Highlight what is most in demand in the marketplace.

If you don’t groom and maintain your brand image, you may have no recognizable value to the community or a very muddled image that makes people avoid you for fear of a poor return on investment. Establishing a positive brand in the industry for future contingencies takes time and is crucial to long term stability and growth. It takes little time to damage a brand and forever to repair negatives.

Topics: branding + positioning, communications, getting ahead, leadership, networking, selling skills, technical skills, visibility | No Comments »

I have noticed that among the women execs I know there are “feminine” traits that sometimes get in the way of success in the corporate world. I value that women and men frequently process information and decision-making differently. The business world (and society) will benefit when 50% (or more) of the executives in the C-Suite and on the Board are female. The best answer for a company will always result from looking at a situation from many diverse perspectives.

However, if I look at the collection of women I know in executive roles, many of them have put up their own roadblocks to rising up the ranks even more quickly by expecting a higher standard of emotional synchronization in the office than most men require or know how to interact with. Several of these women have passed on $200+K jobs because the cultural fit wasn’t perfect, when a man would have taken on the same business challenge not caring if he was a very different style from the other people around. No culture is perfect. Focus on the question: “Can I make a this business better?”

It is true that a strong corporate woman is frequently called a “bitch” when a man using the same style might have been praised. Nevertheless, top management will promote the person who can “separate the wheat from the chaff“ and make the right business decision for the situation. Consideration of culture and feelings may be a luxury not affordable here.

Will you be called a bitch more often? Maybe. Probably! Once you have arrived in the C-Suite you won’t care so much.

Topics: branding + positioning, career strategy, solving problems | No Comments »

Consider that if you explain the value proposition of your ideas and strategies well enough, demonstrating the “obvious desirability” of strategies you understand well, you may be able to skip a title or two and move to a much more strategic role regardless of how much money you made last year or what your title was. I would stop thinking of yourself as having to progress through time and grade stages others are subject to and talk your ideas without stating last year’s pay level. Assess the value of your strategies on the open market. You may be able to increase responsibility dramatically with a hiring manager who has great need for your wisdom. Target the hiring managers and companies who have the greatest need for your expertise.

Think more like a consultant and less like an inside resource who is humble to more senior people who may know less about the particular startegy.

Topics: branding + positioning, career strategy | No Comments »