Creating a Personal Brand

I just finished Gary Vaynerchuk's Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion and came away with a clearer idea of using social media to build a personal brand. Sure, it can be used extensively to build a business brand, too, but why not leverage it for building a personal one?

Most of the book is focused on how you can use social media tools to create a personal brand that is also a business - or can become one by way of creating such a strong personal brand.

What if creating a business is not what you are looking for?

Social media may still be the way to go. Gary's take on it is that social media is really the resume of the future (and I tend to agree for the most part). Your goal with a resume is to give someone in the hiring process enough information to want to interview you. Then you get to wade through the sea of interviews, educating everyone on that path about who you are and why all of that is good for their company.

What if you create a strong presence virtually instead? You can use social media to build your own platform and build your resume there. One of the great benefits of this is that you get to tell your own story over time, and you get to connect with others who are interested in what you have to say.

Eventually, one of those others may be the next career move for you. Even if changing jobs is not on your horizon, situations in business can change quickly. Your company gets bought. The new management team (and your new boss) have such a different view than you that it is suddenly time to go. You need to
move for family reasons.  The lives of busy professional women can change so quickly for so many reasons that taking firm control of your own destiny and personal brand is becoming more and more necessary.

Social media can help you be better prepared for all of these. Not on does it showcase your talents, it also shows that you are social media savvy. This is yet another skillset in your professional toolbox that will appeal to future employers.  Other vying for the same positions are using these tools to help them get the edge and fill positions that you may never know were available. 

As a busy professional woman, aren't you looking for the tools that give you the edge? Ones that not only make your professional life better and more complete but that also give you options and flexibility?

Are You Feeling March Madness?

It's here - March Madness!

For busy professional women, that isn't a reference to the NCAA basketball tournament. March Madness is usually characterized by the onslaught of employee requests for Friday afternoons off, the start of spring kids' sports seasons and a to-do list a mile long for spring cleaning, yard work and other tasks that had been hibernating.

It can be enough to make you want to crawl in that groundhog's burrow!

The toughest part can be that it feels like all of this is hitting at once. Events, invitations and to-dos are coming at you faster than the tulips are blooming. It can be overwhelming and tiring just thinking about the logistics. Yet, you know that you are better equipped to handle these multiple demands more than most. It is just a matter of getting systems and schedules into place to handle it all.

Here are 3 quick tips that you can use this week to help you maximize your time and tame that spring scheduling challenge:

March Madness...

• Map it out. Literally take everything you know about and put it on ONE calendar. Some of my clients keep separate calendars for work and home. One of the first things we do is put all of this in one place. It helps you immediately see conflicts between, say, an early morning sports practice and a 7:30 a.m. breakfast meeting with a client. Plus, it is just more efficient to be able to look one place, one time.
• Get help - and give some too. Stop the guilt train in its tracks and realistically think about calling another neighborhood or school mom, your husband, your reliable babysitter and getting them lined up now. Don't wait until the day or the night before. It creates stress you don't need - whether due to the last minute rush or to the chance that no one is available. There will also be times that you can help - do it. Not because you owe anyone, but because helping others is part of what living a full life without settling is about.
• Say NO. The "N" and "O" were capitalized purposely. This is a strong statement for most busy women professionals and executives. It can feel like admitting defeat. It's not. It is taking a stand for what works in your life, your families' life and your world. Don't wallow in indecision thinking it will get easier either. It won't. Turn the guilt off. Turn the logic and balance on.

All of these steps are fairly simple in what they ask you to do. Yet, they may not seem easy once you try to implement them and really take action. If that seems to be true for you, start with one. Do it within the next 24 hours and see the difference it makes for you.

Then move on to the other two - can you see how you would use them over the coming week to gain some sanity and control over your spring schedule? Is it sharing carpooling duty to the soccer field? Maybe it’s being less involved in that spring charity fundraiser than last year. What about hiring the neighborhood teen to do the initial spring yard clean up?

Each of these tips work any time of the year, so feel free to share and use them over and over. Let me know how you are using these and if you pass them on!

Let's Party!

Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!" ~Robin Williams

 

One of the great things about spring is the warmer weather. Getting outside in the sun and fresh air can restore your energy faster than a Starbucks' double espresso. Ok, that may be a bit of an exaggeration. Still, after a long winter, being able to get out and enjoy the change in seasons, do errands with the windows down and put those new sunglasses on is a great feeling.

With the first day of spring being right around the corner, it's time to get out there and soak up some of that new energy!

I realize that not everyone is enjoying the same spring weather - and that it is certainly not consistent at this time of year. Yet, somewhere over the next week or two, there will be at least one day that you can enjoy fully. Do one small thing on each nice day. Things like...

• Take a short walk and see the tulips and crocuses blooming.
• Buy a new pair of sunglasses for the coming season.
• Ride with the windows down in the car or open the sunroof (or the whole roof on the convertible!).
• Take advantage of more daylight by sitting outside in the evening - with a good book, a glass of wine or chatting with a good friend.
• Have coffee or lunch outside at the local cafe.
• Start wearing those spring clothes.

Go. Breathe. Enjoy!

Are You Trying to Make Your Job Bigger...or Smaller?

I am an unabashed Seth Godin fan.  He has the ability to play it straight, think ahead and really offer great, and even profound, insights about work, career and anything that remotely touches it.  Plus, he keeps moving forward (apologies to "Meet the Robinsons") - not waiting to see what the next big thing is or isn't.

In one of his recent blog posts, a characteristically short one, he notes that some people are working overtime to make their jobs smaller.  Sure, there are all kinds of reasons to do this and some of them go beyond the two that he lists.  For professional and executive women, there is a pull in both directions.

A pull to make your job smaller - or at least small enough to do it well and still be able to manage all your other priorities.  This is countered by the pull to keep or make your job big enough that it gives you the projects, recognition and personal fulfillment that you want in your career.  This is almost the defining career conundrum that has followed professional women for years.

Then, Seth adds a new spin to it.  Specifically, he notes that keeping your job small is a shame - "...exchanging your upside, energy, opportunity, growth and excitement for the freedom from thinking and a decrease in self-induced anxiety."

Is this you?  Are you caught up in the cycle of big vs. small when it comes to your career as you try to balance it with your other priorities that you've been caught in a cycle that just doesn't serve you?  Are you trying to balance an equation that is just outdated all the way around?

Do You Need A Spring Break?

Spring break can provide memories of sandy beaches or snowy slopes. These memories may be from family vacations, college trips or even casual time with friends. Some memories are recent while others may be a little more distant. Yet, they all tend to have a feeling of relaxation attached to them.

Yet, there are also ideas and thoughts of spring break that can be stressful - especially for busy professional women. It generally falls to you to plan time away from work, get everyone’s schedules coordinated when traveling with family and friends and ensure that it all works with the school calendar. It can start to feel like you need your very own personal spring break.

But what if taking a trip to a private island or a pampering spa aren’t part of your plans?

There are some quick and easy ways to find moments of relaxation, rejuvenation and balance in the midst of your busy life. These work any time of year, honestly, but you can use them to create your very own spring break starting today.

• Get an upbeat or laidback CD and listen to 15 minutes of it without interruption. Don’t settle for listening to it just as you are driving to work, to your next appointment or on the way to your kid’s sports practice. Anyone, yes, this means you, can find 15 minutes for a break. Pick a CD that reminds you of a spring break full of relaxation (whether real or just dreamed of). That may be one of fast-paced beach music with a Jamaican flare or one of gentle ocean sounds that make you remember rocking in a hammock under a palm tree.
• Buy yourself flowers. Spring is the season for flowers. As much as a dozen roses on Valentine’s Day is nice, seeing the first buds of spring brings a refreshing and renewing outlook that is hard to beat. Buy a springtime bouquet of daffodils, tulips, and other colorful spring flowers that breathe fresh air into your house or your office. Better yet, get some for both places!
• Change up your diet. Winter is filled with comfort foods that warm us from the inside out. Spring is a great time to change up what you are eating and start to “lighten up” whether you want to lose weight or not. Green is the color of spring – and so are yellows, reds, blues, purples. Find a way to bring these spring colors into your daily diet and renew yourself internally. The new, colorful and even lighter foods will get you ready for action just as those winter foods helped you stay comfy and warm in the winter.

Looking at these three simple ideas, what are you going to do this week? Is it downloading that beach CD onto your iPod? Maybe it’s taking a new look at the blueberries, strawberries and carrots on your trip to the grocery store. Could it be walking through the farmer’s market and picking out the perfect bouquet? Or maybe it’s all three!

One of the best parts of this version of spring break is that these are things you can do each week and each month to renew yourself and refresh your outlook without having to get on a plane. I’d love to hear how this works for you – and what other ideas you may have!

Are You Feeling Guilty Because of Technology?

As if they uncovered some great fact, a recent survey that was published in The Journal of Health and Social Behavior suggests that women "...feel 40% more distress than men when family life is frequently interrupted..." by cell phones, Blackberries and laptops. Yes, those very things that give us flexibility and make it possible to manage all of the priorities we have in our lives.


Blackberry Guilt?



To which I say...No Kidding!

Here's the thing or things.

Managing multiple priorities has been something that busy women professionals and executives have figured out how to do with or without the electronics age helping us along. Each new tool seems like a gift to help us with work-life balance...until it becomes an intrusion.

So, yes, five or ten years ago, cell phones were a gift. You could take that last office call in the car as you drove frantically to beat the closing of the daycare doors. You could answer your boss' or staff's questions while you were on your way to the volunteer board meeting. Work-life balance at its finest.

Then suddenly, you could also answer emails, review spreadsheets and proposals and get caught in the microwave society behavior that wants it all. Now. Right now. And, generally speaking, we all get caught up in the same mentality. We want responses immediately - as if we are having a 24/7 conversation. That means we are more likely to want and need to respond. The definition of urgency has changed to the point that nearly everything is urgent. There are few distinctions between what is truly in need of attention and what just happened to be the next topic in line.

It's this sense of urgency that has really made the evolution of technology harder to manage. Whether it's the technology that has prompted us to become hyper-responsive or whether we've needed that in business and technology is just now catchin up can be debated.

Regardless, the end result is that all of these devices started to become more attractive for business and less attractive for a balanced home life. How can you give your attention to one priority in your life when the other is buzzing in the background? How different is it really than having your toddler at work pulling on your hemline all day?

It's the boundaries that get murkier and fuzzier. The lines continue to blur - but are they blurring anyway except to create more work at home? Are you losing the lines you've tried so hard to draw as a professional woman who also has life outside of her career?

A Whole New Spin on Investment Diversity

When you hear the words "investment diversity," do you think of how much you have in bonds or stocks?  Maybe even large cap or small cap, growth or income.   This recent article put a whole new spin on diversity.  It points to research that suggests that companies with prominent female leadership generate strong financial results.  And, these aren't just luck returns either.

Recently, Catalyst honored McDonald's, Kaiser Permanente and Time Warner for their exceptional initiatives from organizations that support and advance women in business.  The standards are rigorous and look at a number of criteria beyond just the percentage of women executives or board members.  They also look at broader business criteria including business rationale, employee engagement and innovation.

Each of these company's took specific steps to increase the diversity of its women executives' ranks.  And, each had results that either outperformed relative benchmarks or showed marked improvement as the diversity also improved. 

 

You can argue that the link between diversity and performance are weak.  But consider this...

• Companies with diverse leadership are more likely to consider a variety of ideas.
• Women executives have different skill sets than their male counterparts - often resulting in better teamwork and achievement among the staff.
• Diversity usually results in a stronger organizational structure overall - one that can better weather the volatile economic climate.

Whether busy women executives can take all of the credit for the companies' improved performance or not, you can certainly take it into consideration when you think about where you want to work - and where you want to invest that hard-earned money from being a busy woman executive in your own company.