The Road to Me 2.0: Be the Commander of Your Career

November 13, 2008 at 12:07 pm | In Career Development, Me 2.0, Personal Branding | 2 Comments

Subscribe to my podcast series

I’ve been patiently waiting for months to tell you my main message in Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success. I’ll be speaking about this message for the rest of my life and it flows throughout my entire book, as well as all my forthcoming presentations. The message is plain and simple:

In order to be successful in the new world of work, you have to be the commander of your career.

I want to take time today to discuss what a commander is, why it’s important to you and why social media is the key to unlocking the commander within you.

What is a career commander?

We are all familiar with an army commander, which is a leader who leads infantry into battle, with the objective of being victorious. In order to lead a group of people, this leader must be confident, passionate, intelligent, strategic, and gain the respect of his people. The commander is accountable for both others and him or herself.

Why do you need to be a career commander?

It’s simple: at the end of the day, success lies in your hands. You will need your network of supporters (your infantry) in order to help you win the battle. Despite what your parents, friends, teachers, guidance counselors and coworkers say, you are responsible for your future and your career direction. Your network’s job is to open up opportunities, to shield you from threats and to mentor you into a successful businessperson.

Why is social media the key to unlocking the commander within you?

Social media converts introverts to extroverts. It allows you to build the communication skills you need for now and the future, such as written, verbal and interpersonal. Using social media is empowering. Think about it, with the click of a mouse you can send a message to thousands of people and it can travel to even more. Social media builds internal confidence, leadership and makes you smarter. What I’m trying to say is that when you delve into social media, you have the ability to create a brand you’ll be proud of.

“Commander U” is a mindset

It’s not the tools, it’s how you use them. It’s not the title, but the experience. To be a commander, you need to want to become a commander first. Everything else is there for you to learn and use to your advantage. This goes back to discovering your brand and how you have to find out what you’re passionate about, then how to make money doing it. A commander is a feeling or sensation your body gets when it’s confident. Commanders aren’t worried about economic downturns or sudden technology shifts because they are prepared.

Final word

There is no escape from the world I’ve brought you into. If you fail to recognize that you’re a brand and implement marketing strategies to your advantage, you will lose. If you fail to use social media tools and claim your name on social networks, you will lose. By not taking time to become this “new-age” commander, you won’t live a fulfilling life. You will end up doing work that doesn’t make you happy, not earning your potential income or having a positive attitude when you’re with your friends or family. By not investing in your brand now, you are setting yourself up for a life of doubt and turmoil later.

As a reader of this blog, I promise you that you will undergo an incredible life changing transformation if you get this single idea into your head:

In order to be successful in the new world of work, you have to be the commander of your career.

Are you a commander?

Life is One Big Pitch So You Better Start Practicing It

November 13, 2008 at 12:18 am | In Book Reviews, Interview, People, Personal Branding, Success Strategies | 1 Comment

Today, I spoke with Francisco Dao, who is a well-known businessman, writer for Fast Company and Inc., as well as someone who dedicates most of his life to help people understand how to create successful pitches (elevator pitches).  As a brand, it is necessary to learn how to convey your message to your audience because you only get one chance.  Francisco shares his method for creating a winning pitch, as well as what happens when you fail.

What makes a good business or personal pitch?

A good pitch should be easily understood and memorable. People often try too hard to cover all their bases and end up “losing” the pitch in the jargon.   I believe it’s better to be understood even at the risk of being incomplete or oversimplified, than complete but NOT understood.

What are your 4 P’s?

My 4-P’s are what I teach or create for companies.  I believe they are the four components of effectively communicating what your company does or why someone wants to do business with you.  They are:

  • Pitch – this is your 10 second or 60 second elevator pitch that should hook people in and get them interested
  • Print – Website and marketing copy MUST be clear, compelling and understandable.
  • Platform – Essentially public speaking skills.  Far too many corporate execs “waste” their speaking opportunities with poor platform skills
  • Presentation – presentations should be constructed in a manner that keeps the audience in engaged.  If the pitch is the 60 second version, the presentation is the 60 minute version.

Can you list some examples of good and bad pitches and why they were successful or unsuccessful?

As I explained in #1, good pitches are understandable and memorable.  The best of the bunch also double as the company’s mantra.  I know these are technically slogans and not pitches, but there are so good, they can easily double as a pitch.   Here are some winners.

  • FEDEX – (old) When it absolutely positively has to be there overnight
  • Wal-Mart – (old) Always Low Prices, Always
  • BMW – The Ultimate Driving Machine

Here’s a 10 second pitch I created for a forensic accountant.  Instead of going into a bunch of accounting jargon, imagine this conversation

“What do you do?”

“You know how people try to hide assets and money during a divorce?”

“Yeah.”

“I find the money.”

BAD PITCHES

Almost all Tech companies and American car companies have bad pitches.  Nobody can remember them and they don’t really say anything.

What is the aftermath of a poor pitch?  Can you redeem yourself?

If you are pitching to press or venture capital you probably won’t get a second chance.  I explain that pitching is a lot like trying to get a woman’s attention at a bar.  You have anywhere from 30 seconds to 3 minutes to get someone interested.  If you’ve blown it, you are unlikely to recover.

What is your pitch creation process from start to finish?

The first thing I do is look for the most valuable part of my client’s offering. If we use the example of my forensic accountant, it would be very easy to get lost in a bunch of “ we do deep research accounting investigations blah blah blah.”  Instead, I figured out what was the core value that they offered and explained it in a way that everyone can understand.

My process for creating a good pitch is really about finding the part of the message that matters and then distilling out the B.S. I wish I could tell you it was a complicated 15 step process but it really isn’t.

There are however two reasons why VERY few people can do this well.

  • 1. People have trouble creating their own pitches because they get too close to what they’re doing and can’t see the forest for the trees.
  • 2. Most PR reps/consultants, think pitch creation is about writing fancy copy. They think they have to earn their money by coming up with jargon and buzzwords.  This is completely backwards.  Strong pitches are usually free of jargon.

——
Francisco Dao is the founder of www.StrategyandPerformance.com, an executive coaching and consulting firm specializing in helping companies and senior managers bridge the gap between their intended strategies and actual company performance.  He is a writer for Fast Company and Inc.

He was founder of TDEC Inc., a million-dollar training business, and has served as a strategic development consultant to numerous technology start-ups. Formerly he was the vice president of sales for Net Aspects, and held senior positions in sales and Asia-Pacific Rim development for Ramp Networks and IMC Networks. He is a regular contributor to Across the Board (bi-monthly publication of The Conference Board), and can be reached at fdao@thekillerpitch.com.

Blog at WordPress.com. | Theme: Pool by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds.