Leadership

Inspired by an Intern

/ Susan Hendrich / 1 Comment

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?

Dusting off your Brand Box

/ Susan Hendrich / 2 Comments

How fresh is your personal brand box label?

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.

15 minutes of Leading Change

/ Susan Hendrich / 1 Comment

Leading Change: We All Play A Role

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.

“Recognizing Leadership” Activity Instructions

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…

Where is your autopilot taking you?

/ Susan Hendrich / 1 Comment

Where is Your Autopilot Taking You?

“Autopilot only works if you set your destination ahead of time.”

Are you a frequent user of autopilot in your life? If so, have you thought about where you are heading?

Challenge for you: Re-examine your flight plans and be sure that where your autopilot is taking you is where you want to go.

Now here’s your question: Can you summarize your flight plans in just three words?