The Happy Burro

My friend Valeria Maltoni has a great article on personal branding at The Blog Herald.  She reminds us of the “The Brand Called You” article by Tom Peters from the August/September 1997 FastCompany magazine.

Valeria’s article continues by asking and framing questions about: What Makes You Different?  What’s Your Pitch? Why Is It Important?  Valeria will lead you through a wonderful introspective exercise about your own brand.

Some additional questions from me:

HOW DO PEOPLE EXPERIENCE YOUR BRAND?

We may have a good idea of what our brand IS, but what about how that is received?  Example: I may see myself as incredibly creative, and learn that I am received by my team as being too ‘strategic’ and not focused on execution.  A few ways to learn about this perception are the 360 feedback process, working with a mentor, or asking trusted colleagues (see the We All Need More Simon Cowell post from April).

DO YOU OWN YOUR BRAND OR RENT IT?

Who controls your brand: how you represent yourself?  Do you change personal brands as often as your socks?  Do you hold a hard line and haven’t changed since high school?  Great brands grow and change over time – but are still true to their brand promise.  Example: General Electric. From “We Bring Good Things To Life” to “Imagination at Work” to “Eco-magination” – the brand promise remains faithful.

WHAT IS YOUR BRAND PROMISE?

This is the output or experience someone is guaranteed to get when they interact with you.  This could be your financial acumen, your project management skills, your marketing insights, your sense of humor.

The ability to have awareness of our personal brand, nurturing it and using it to strengthen our relationships is one of the most powerful tools in business today. 

Bonus:  finding your own brand name in a fun way (thanks again Valeria!): The Design Conspiracy.

Joe Raasch :: Jun.29.2007 :: Employee Engagement, Performance Management, Personal :: 1 Comment »

Simply stated and boiled to its essence:

“Real leadership is obvious: It has a measurable impact on profitability…” - Dr. John Sullivan, from HR Metrics: the World-Class Way. 

Is that it? It fits my bias: if our leadership mantra, training, philosophy, etc. isn’t designed to affect profitability, then what IS it for?

I would love to hear your thoughts.

Joe Raasch :: Jun.26.2007 :: Leadership :: No Comments »

Ever have a development discussion with your manager, and have them recommend you take an internal training course to help you ‘develop’?  Ever wonder how to move your career in a new direction, and choose another college degree, a seminar or a ‘summit’?  Remember anything from all that formal training?

The Leadership Machine

Mike Lombardo and Bob Eichinger wrote The Leadership Machine (2000), addressing how best to develop leaders “for any future.”  How?

The “70-20-10″ model:

• 70% On-the-job experience.  Some examples: Leading an enterprise-wide project; taking a short-term assignment in another state or country; influence senior managers to make a difficult decision.
• 20% Social Learning.  Some examples:  participating in communities of practice; having/being a mentor; engaging in industry trade groups.
• 10% Formal training.  Some examples: internal training courses; formal university education; attending seminars; reading books.

 

Why Formal Training Is Minimized

Without action or application, this is just interesting.  I don’t doubt I gained some critical thinking skills with my three degrees or multiple hours spent in company training programs.  Yet I am convinced that spending three days in a conference room, getting whipped by Powerpoint, doesn’t do much for my development.  Adult learning research shows that more than 50% of learning occurs outside the classroom. The value here?  Design an action learning plan before you attend the next session that connects you with others (20%) and gives you a way to apply what you learn (70%).

Why Relationships Matter Too

Most of us in business have to interact with others to get anything accomplished.  Social networks are the way work really gets done (sorry Six Sigma process!).  Engaging your network, your friends, your manager, multiplies the value of your learning by sharing.  This will help you weave the formal learning into the fabrice of your work day, and assist in knowing how best to optimize the experience you need.

Why Experience Matters More

Would you go to a doctor that never actually treated a patient?  Want a car mechanic that just reads books?  What about the IT employee programming your next software launch…ok if they only attended a ‘seminar’ on the code and haven’t tried it?  You get the idea – we learn from experience, not from just reflection.  Imagine the power of taking a course, socializing your learning with team members or managers, and then applying your learnings to your work!  This is where true sustainability occurs.

Lead On 

Next time you look for individual development – for you or your leaders – engage the the 70-20-10 model and be prepared for ANY future!

Joe Raasch :: Jun.21.2007 :: Leadership, Organizational Development, Performance Management :: 1 Comment »