In his “Keeping Employees Happy in a Post-Recession World” BusinessWeek article, John Ryan writes that the best predictor of how long talented workers will stay with their company is the quality of relationship they have with their immediate manager. So, your first thought is probably along one of the following two lines:
1. How do I feel about my immediate boss?
2. How do my direct reports feel about me?
Well? What’s your verdict?
Tonight I read an online article that stopped me in my tracks. Rather than try to capture the essence of author Barbara Findlay Schenck’s brilliance by recapitulating it in my own words, I’m just going to re-publish the article.
It’s that good.
First, I’ll share my 6-word elevator speech with you: “Learning Design That Makes You Shine.” Now, on to the good stuff, then it’s your turn…
Want a Loan? A Sale? A Job?
By Barbara Findlay SchenckWhen Brad Newman introduced himself as an actrepreneur, I was hooked. Everything about his title told me he had information I wanted to hear. Over a few additional seconds, I learned that this actor and entrepreneur is the founder of Zentainment, “a socially conscious media company committed to growing brands that encourage you to dream big and live a sustainable life.” From there, a longer conversation and a business relationship followed, all spurred by an attention-getting introduction that took just moments to deliver.
The elevator pitch rides into the speed-dating era
Today’s economic environment has turned job fairs, trade shows, networking events and even sidewalk sales into buyers’ markets where only those with quick, compelling pitches survive.In the 1990s, high-tech entrepreneurs named these short spiels “elevator pitches” because they could be conveyed during an elevator ride. The tech bubble ballooned and burst (and ballooned again), but elevator pitches are here to stay. Everyone whether seeking employment, sales or profitable business associations needs one.
Is your introduction ready to roll?
“So, what do you do?”Those five words are on the minds of everyone you meet, whether in person or online. Brad Newman’s introduction helps provide a formula that can assist you in preparing your answer and attracting attention from those you aim to impress:
Describe yourself in five words or less. Use a distinctive title or phrase that makes people think, “This sounds interesting” or “This is what I’m looking for.” Consider the difference between “I’m a copywriter” and “I turn browsers into buyers.” Or, in Newman’s case, between “social media entrepreneur” and “actrepreneur.”
Explain what you do in one sentence. After introducing yourself, introduce your offerings. “Our name combines the words Zen and entertainment, which stakes out our media space,” Newman says. “We’re a media company that focuses on socially conscious content. That definition tells what Zentainment is and rules out what it isn’t.” Work on a similarly specific description for your business.
Define your target audience. “Our market is comprised of 30- to 49-year-olds who care about socially conscious living,” Newman says. “By defining our market in that way, people immediately know whether our business is for them.” In other words, Zentainment isn’t trying to be all things to all people. It’s focused on a specific target audience, which is a key to success in today’s crowded business environment.
Communicate your vision. “We’re committed to growing brands that encourage you to dream big and live a sustainable life, whether they’re our own brands or ones for which we consult and serve as producers,” Newman says. “Our vision is clear enough to keep us focused and broad enough to make us adaptive to the opportunities of a changing market and media world.” It’s also compelling enough to attract a growing contingent of Zentainment consumers and business clients. What does your business stand for? What attracts your customers and their loyalty? Your answers can serve as a magnet for growth.
Practice, practice, practice. Create a script that conveys who you are, what you offer, your market, and the distinctive benefits you provide. Edit until you can introduce yourself and your business in less than a minute, which is how long most prospects will give you to win their interest.
Shrink your introduction even further so you can tell your story in 20 words or less. That’s how much space you have in most marketing materials and online presentations, whether on your own site, on social media sites, or on sites that link to your home page. If you’re thinking, “Twenty words? You’ve got to be kidding,” scroll back to the start of this column. That’s exactly what Brad Newman used to get my interest.
Barbara Findlay Schenck is a small-business strategist, the author of “Small Business Marketing for Dummies” and the co-author of “Branding for Dummies,” “Selling Your Business for Dummies” and “Business Plans Kit for Dummies.”
Today at work, I was reminded why I was drawn to the field of leadership and training in the first place…
I’m sitting in a conference room, listening as a young, emerging professional with whom I’ve been collaborating this summer is giving her final project presentation on this last day of her internship program in my department.
She speaks calmly, clearly, professionally, with moxie and spunk that foretells her promising future. The colleagues in the room, many of whom are seasoned corporate veterans, are nodding and smiling – pleased with the value she is adding to the team.
She has succeeded.
And I get to witness a nodal moment in a young entrepreneur’s life. An ending and a beginning all at once. Maybe not a monumental moment in the grand scheme of milestones that she has passed and is yet to see, but a crossroads, nonetheless.
It’s the honor of walking next to someone as they bravely face a crossing point on their journey that inspires me most. So, I savor the moment. And it helps me understand my own goals, my own dreams, and my own crossroads all the more. Indeed, seeing this bright rising star shines a light on my path.
When was the last time you had the chance to travel alongside someone who is at the nexus of change in their lives?
I remember the day I first read Tom Peters’ ground-breaking article entitled, “The Brand Called You,” in Fast Company back in 1997. He wrote,
It’s this simple: You are a brand. You are in charge of your brand. There is no single path to success. And there is no one right way to create the brand called You. Except this: Start today. Or else. – Tom Peters
Along with millions of other self-improvers, I was inspired and scrambled to decide what my personal brand is and should be. I rushed to select key words and colors and descriptions that perfectly captured who I was and what I wanted to be known for in the world. I branded myself.
And I bought it.
In my little corner of the world, I began building a set of experiences that reinforced that personal brand. I had arrived. And the rest would take care of itself. Or so I thought.
Within a few months I started to forget about this Me, Inc. company that was supposedly under my leadership. I had drifted to a nap of complacency at the head of the Me-E-O boardroom table. My mistake was that I thought this personal branding thing was a once-and-done kind of deal. I’d figured that since I had that glorious brainstorm after reading Tom’s article, I was forever well-branded. But as fast as my career was heating up, my personal brand was cooling off. I just didn’t take the time to revisit that brand and see if my original descriptors like “scrappy,” “eager,” and “full of pizzazz” still fit the image I wanted to project to the world. A few tought times and a lot of lessons later, I realized that while I was still scrappy, eager, and full of pizzazz, those weren’t the key features I was bringing to my little corner of the world.
It was about that time that Madonna was again making the news for her plucky ability to reinvent herself, just when her personal brand du jour was about to run its course. And this was the same year when an IBM computer beat World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov and Mike Tyson bit off some poor guy’s ear. I was not the only one who needed a brand overhaul.
In the spirit of the Material Girl’s reinvention and Darwinian adaptation, I started that branding brainstorm process all over again. New descriptors emerged. New ideas inspired. And a personal slogan even surfaced. I vowed to revisit the Me, Inc. company charter at least once a year, promising to keep a better sense of the relevance of my personal brand.
So, now I’m wondering…How’s your personal brand doing?
Wait, you haven’t unpacked that particular career box yet? Or maybe, like me, you got started on developing your personal brand, but somehow your deadlines and lifelines took over the shelves in your career pantry. Maybe your personal brand box was relegated to the back of that closet, along with the inflatable exercise ball and the infomercial products that promised to bring nirvana.
Seriously. What ever happened to that brand called You? How does the label on your personal brand box read? Is the brand you show to the world reflective of where you are in your life and career now? Where you want to be? Is your brand sending the kind of messages you want people to receive? Or, perhaps the “best before” date on your personal brand box has long expired. Maybe it’s time for an image overhaul.
Consider this your reminder to check in on that brand of yours and reflect on how your company, “Me, Inc.” is doing.
You know how fire safety experts recommend that twice a year when we change our clocks for Daylight Savings, we also change the batteries in our Smoke Detectors? Well, I’m proposing that you make a pledge to yourself that twice per year, on that same day when you reset your clocks and reaffirm your fire protection, you dust off that brand box of yours. Remember…
We are CEOs of our own companies: Me, Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You. – Tom Peters
So if you’re brand could use a re-look, consider opening two boxes this next Daylight Savings change weekend – one to refresh your smoke alarm batteries and one refresh the brand called You.
Anyone who has ever worked for, worked with, or been a leader knows the importance of leading change.
Let’s take a few moments to reflect on ways that you and your colleagues have led change for your teams, your customers, each other, and the organization. Here’s a quick team-building exercise you can do at your next staff meeting to orient your team toward the leadership moments – big and small – that people in your group are causing. It’s a quick and high-impact way of generating examples of how you and your colleagues have noticed each other leading change.
1. Create
Provide everyone a piece of paper with their own name on it. Instruct the group to pass their individual sheets to the person to on their left, allowing that neighbor to record an example of how they have witnessed you leading change. Group members continue to pass the sheets around the room, allowing colleagues to add a comment on a way they’ve noticed the each individual leading change.
2. Share
Once everyone has had a chance to write on each of the sheets of paper, collect all of the sheets and redistribute them so that everyone receives someone else’s sheet. Each person takes a turn reading out loud one or two examples that are recorded on their partner’s sheet.
3. Deliver
After everyone has had an example or two read about themselves, return the sheets to their owners to keep. Encourage everyone to review their own sheet for themes, asking themselves, “Which leadership capabilities do people seem to notice?” and “What are areas might I continue to develop?”
I’d love to hear how your exercise goes. Please share your stories…
Susan E. Hendrich 