Quick Plays for Professional Branding    

Ideas and Resources to Help You Hone Your Professional  Brand.

Mirror Neurons, Ancient Humans and Why Your Next Presentation May Be Doomed to Failure (& What to Do About It)

Honing presentation skills is a professional must-do for all of us. Nothing communicates confidence, competence and potential better than a well-delivered presentation. And of course, we all know that delivering a presentation falls low on our favorite things to-do list, right after being marooned on a uncharted island or, being chased by hungry looking cannibals on said island. Nonetheless, present we must.  

 Dr. Nick Morgan, author of the Public Words blog (and numerous great books and articles on public speaking, shares his views on why our own brains and bodies are fighting us as we take the stage, and how to overcome these deeply ingrained responses, in his posts: "Why Presentations are Doomed to Fail," and "How to Avoid the Presentation Doom Loop." 

Visit for the articles and subscribe to receive this pro's great insights on this most critical of professional development endeavors.  

Three Professional Branding Quick-Takes from the Fast Company article:"The GOP Primary Proves Personal Branding Isn't Optional."

1. If you don't define yourself, your competitors will do so for you.  
2. Style matters as much as substance.
3. Liabilities can't be ignored, but they can be overcome.

While focused on the politicians, the column and the 3 Quick-Takes are incredibly relevant for all of us in our professional pursuits. My perspective:  

• You've got to own your brand
• It's critical to see yourself as others do. Their perception of you is reality.   
• Don't preoccupy on covering up your weaknesses...focus on building your brand around your strengths.  

Seth's Blog-Authenticity is "Doing What You Promise, Not Being Who You Are."   

Behind every brand is a "promise," and Seth Godin appropriately reminds us that delivering on this promise is the best way to ensure people see our authentic selves.  A great point to keep at the center of our professional branding efforts.  

Why Project Management Know-How Might Just Strengthen Your Case for Advancement

Whether you've broken through to the executive ranks or, that's a work in process for you, gaining an understanding of formal project management tools and processes is an important part of your professional development.

Consider:

1. Strategy is executed in projects. Unfortunately, we often struggle in our firms to get this right. Too many strategic initiatives fail or are abandoned. Execution issues are the most oft-cited reasons for strategy program failure.  

Incorporating good project management practices and discipline into your strategy execution program will help a team focus on goals, better assess and respond to risk, promote learning and ultimately, improve chances of successful delivery.    

You can help your firm strengthen performance and you can strengthen the perception that you know how to lead initiatives to success by understanding and incorporating project management practices.  

2. There may be a Sponsor's role in your near future. As a senior manager, you may have the opportunity to serve as a project sponsor. Often, the responsibilities of the person in this role are not clear to either the sponsor or the project team, yet an effective, supportive sponsor might be the difference between success and failure.  

The role includes connecting the initiative to a firm's strategic goals (setting context), providing support for resources, shielding the project team from distractions, ensuring the focus on customer needs and project scope and from time-to-time, providing motivation and inspiration. Learn to fulfill the responsibilities of the Executive Sponsor role, and you'll be once again attaching your name to projects that work!  

3. Good things happen when you are regularly attached to successful projects! Remember, while we do the work, others choose us for success. Those who are know for leading successful projects tend to win even more significant opportunities to make things happen. What better way to build your professional brand and equity in your organization.

4. Project work helps you build bridges and find talent. It's through project work that you can strengthen your cross-functional alliances, learn the political ropes, identify great talent and generally plug into the important work in your organization.  

The Bottom-Line for Now:

Your project know-how makes you a valuable addition to any project situation. Investing in learning the tools and approaches of successful project management will pay dividends many times over during your career.      

For one of the most practical books on Project Management for non-project managers, I recommend   Eric Verzuh's Fast Forward MBA in Project Management-4th edition.

For information on workshops, conference events and case activities related to the books, e-mail.