June 2005

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Hi Gang,
I hope you’re all enjoying your summer. We just had the Women’s US Open golf tournament here in Denver at my club Cherry Hills. It was cool. I got to see an Auburn Tiger compete last Thursday when I went out and walked around. Nicole Hage was struggling a bit, but was definitely wearing her Tiger colors.

There was a neat article in the Sunday New York Times about the hometown newspaper in Lawrence, KS. Here’s the link, but if you don’t subscribe then here’s the gist of it. The Lawrence Journal World is a very progressive news operation that does, print, online, and cable TV reporting out of the same studio facility. Here’s a quote from the article:

“Mr. Simons told his editors and reporters that they were going to do more than merely work shoulder to shoulder; they were going to share reporting assignments, tasks and scoops - whether they liked it or not.

Many did not like it at all, and some World reporters say they sometimes still feel taken advantage of - when they are asked to squeeze multiple print, television and online duties into the course of a single day. Print reporters and their editors have, at times, been reluctant to share scoops or ideas with their television counterparts, and vice versa. But many reporters also said that, over time, they have adapted.

“You can really teeter on the edge of, ‘I’m not enjoying this and it’s not fair,’ to, ‘This is one of the coolest things I’ve ever done,’ ” said Deanna Richards, a television reporter who works in World’s converged newsroom. The company currently has 81 news employees, an unusually large number for an operation of its size.”

Neat story about an old, family-owned operation that has stayed with the times.

What are they all saying about you that you don’t know? Career success depends a lot on what your colleagues think of you. Managing this perception is the work of personal branding – something we should all give some thought to as we plod through the days at work.

That’s the topic on Harvard Business Schools “Working Knowledge” in an interview with Laura Morgan Roberts. She notes that the brand you want them to talk about when you are not in the room is your desired professional image. The flip to that is the undesired professional image – what we do not want them to say about us.

Professor Roberts then gives five approaches to developing yourself as a strong brand: Identify your ideal state … assess your current image, culture and audience … conduct a cost-benefit analysis for image change … use strategic self-presentations to manage impressions and change your image … manage the process.

To me, what I would call “personal branding” is your core competencies and character traits that provide unique value to those around you, to the company and to your company’s various stakeholders. This is not unlike the process we all complete when developing message strategies. List out all the potential positions, narrow to a few, build around one. Stay consistent. Become that brand by delivering the value.

The time to begin this process of personal branding? Right now. While you’re still in school. What is it you will bring to future employers? What is it you will offer to your colleagues? How best can you present this brand as something highly valued and unlike any other?

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