Thursday, August 16, 2007
Branding, Solving and Old Identity Mystery with New Strategy
What's all this talk about branding, value propositions, unique selling postures, gap analysis and signature statements? If you're a job seeker are these the magic words that make the difference for those who garner offers? You bet! But from where did this business jargon originate and how do you keep informed? What ever happened to getting educated, gaining experience, qualifying for a job and just plain getting hired?
Has hiring really become more complicated than before or have we just configured fancy terminology to define standard rules of engagement? Let there be no doubt about the increased competition to stay afloat in business, government and not-for profit sectors these days, consequently Boards and senior decision- makers are far more selective. No one can afford to gamble with executive staffing decisions. Thus today's hiring is more intense. And so we need to be sensitive to your brand.
Branding - How do you want to be categorized and identified by employers? What do you want to be known as? Are you the acquisition king, the deal-maker, the turnaround solution? Despite stellar careers, few executives can define who they are when required to package their careers. All who work are defined by the functions they perform, i.e., financial, operational, administrative, technology, and the environments in which they are performed, i.e., manufacturing, financial service, retail, distribution and education. If you have graduated to leadership and you now run the company the definition still applies but now under the identity of senior management. However, the act of promoting a mid-level specialist to an executive generalist tends to cloud his ability to define himself. When asking an executive who he is, he is more than likely to tell you what he's like.
Has hiring really become more complicated than before or have we just configured fancy terminology to define standard rules of engagement? Let there be no doubt about the increased competition to stay afloat in business, government and not-for profit sectors these days, consequently Boards and senior decision- makers are far more selective. No one can afford to gamble with executive staffing decisions. Thus today's hiring is more intense. And so we need to be sensitive to your brand.
Branding - How do you want to be categorized and identified by employers? What do you want to be known as? Are you the acquisition king, the deal-maker, the turnaround solution? Despite stellar careers, few executives can define who they are when required to package their careers. All who work are defined by the functions they perform, i.e., financial, operational, administrative, technology, and the environments in which they are performed, i.e., manufacturing, financial service, retail, distribution and education. If you have graduated to leadership and you now run the company the definition still applies but now under the identity of senior management. However, the act of promoting a mid-level specialist to an executive generalist tends to cloud his ability to define himself. When asking an executive who he is, he is more than likely to tell you what he's like.
