Your Brilliant Career
Module 4: Rebrand yourself

1. How you look – your appearance

When you go to work how do you dress? Whether your organisation has a uniform, requires smart dress or allows casual dress does your dress demonstrate that your are serious about your career?

Think of it another way. If you aspire to your boss’s job or even higher than that, do you dress as if you are in the role already?

Dressing the way you aspire to be sends a message that says this person is serious and focussed.

Your appearance also includes your hairstyle, your spectacles, jewellery you wear, even the pen you use. In saying this I don’t mean you should change yourself so much that it makes you uncomfortable or it isn’t the real you but a little care over your appearance makes a huge difference.

Think about the standards you set yourself when you go to a job interview. Well, these shouldn’t slip once you have the job. Everyday at work is a job interview. Your boss may not come in tomorrow and there may an important meeting. Would they ask you if you didn’t look the part?

So pay attention to detail. Look at the successful people around you. Notice what they wear. Notice their pen – it’s probably not chewed at the end. Notice their watch – it’s may be expensive but more importantly it’s smart. They probably have a nice filofax, diary or personal digital organiser. It send the message that they are serious and they care about their careers.

A chap who worked for me was  one of the most disorganised and scruffy people I had known. After a little coaching he bought a suit, got himself a nice diary and notepad, cleaned his desk and took a little more care over his appearance. This change actually brought out his intelligence and skill at the job. Because of his initial appearance nobody took his views or work seriously but a little change transformed him.

You don’t have to spend huge amounts of money – attention to detail goes long way.

2. How you carry yourself

Together with your outward appearance how you carry yourself is important.

The way you talk for example. Are you professional? Do you listen when people are talking and take an interest? Are you confident around senior people? What is your body language like when your are talking to senior people? The words you use, how you say them and when you speak are very important and are what people remember you by – you can never undo something you say so it can have a huge positive or negative effect.

It’s as much about how people talk as what they say.

An friend of mine works as a City analyst and often has to meet Chief Executives of big corporations to discuss the organisations performance and future potential.

When he leaves meetings he says over 50% of his view is based not on the content of the conversation – the company performance, business strategy – but on the impact the Chief Executive had on him. Did he speak with confidence and authority. Did he inspire? Did his manner convey a true leader?

How you carry yourself is also about how your work. Is your desk tidy? Are you organised? Do you show that you are in control? If your manager asks you to do something can they trust you to get it done or do they have to ask you again? Do you reply to emails quickly?

Being organised and in control at work is so important and when you are not, people do notice. If you are not organised its highly unlikely you will be given more responsibility or extra tasks. Its so easy to get right but  many people don’t think of it as important. Yet as a manager myself I notice the people who are in control and they give me far more confidence than the ones with the cluttered desk, the unanswered email and to do lists as long as your arm.

Quite simply – get organised.

3. The actions you take

How you work is so important and the attitude you have will set you apart from the rest. By this I mean doing a little more than is required. If people around you see that you are always doing that little bit extra you will stand out as someone good.

Doing that little bit extra may be coming up with new ideas, changing things that make the workplace or the job better, having a personal agenda for your job and the organisation.

What is a personal agenda?

Well it’s how you will leave a mark in your organisation. What do you want to achieve. Most things you will do will be dictated by your manger. But there should be three to four things that are your ideas that you want to do each year. This shows initiative and again sets you apart.

I have a list in my filofax of the one thing each month that I want to achieve at work that is over and above my day to day responsibilities.

At the end of the year if I can demonstrate 12 things that were over and above what I had to do and which improved the organisation and myself that will get me noticed and is something I can use to demonstrate that I am a candidate for a promotion.

In terms of how you work, do you get out of your comfort zone and do the scary things? Do you for example take the opportunities that scare you or do you always stick to the safe options? You never get noticed or respected by taking the safe option. What earns respect and recognition is when people put themselves out there and have a go. You need to be that kind of person.

What stops you at the moment is fear of failure.

You probably think that doing things that scare of may result in failure which could harm your career. Accept that failure is one of the best ways to learn and so long as you manage your risks – have your managers support when taking on something scary – then you will move faster in your career than if you take the small safe steps. You will grow as a person as well as gaining respect from those around you for having a go. Managers love that – people wanting to improve by taking risks is what we all want.

Give your opinion and your view. Many people I come across are just doers – they just perform tasks and then wonder why they don’t get on as fast. The people that get on usually have an opinion on everything. They challenge what they are doing and they ask questions of  others. They form a point of view on most things – this shows you have a mind and are more than just a performer of tasks. It also shows you are strong as you have a view and it may not be the one that everybody agrees with.

You probably have a lot of views and opinions outside of work – make sure you have them inside also.

Be a “to-do animal”. Actions speak louder than words so just get through a lot of stuff. Achieve a lot at work. Complete a lot of tasks so that you can say these are all the things I achieved. Try and do more than you did last week.

Do this but don’t overload yourself. If you do this you could end up  getting out of control and not achieving anything which would be worst case.

4. What you can offer others at work

What makes you unique at work? Is there a skill you have, a particular expertise or role in  the organisation that makes you different? It may be a committee you are part of. It may be some training that you have received that only you have.

If there is something that you and only you in the organisation are known for then you automatically stand out and it gives you a point of difference. Having a point of difference is so important as it’s what people remember you by and what makes you different. It also gives you an edge, a competitive advantage over others where you are.

5. Values

There are certain values and principles that are admired in any organisation and when you demonstrate these day in and day out you can reach the top.

A study was conducted by Investors Business Daily in 2000 in the USA of top executives, leaders  and successful people from all walks of life to understand what set them apart and the principles they applied.

Most had 10 traits and values  that when combined can turn dreams into reality.

• How you think is everything
  Always think success and not failure – always have a positive mind
• Decide upon your true dreams and goals
  Write them down and read them everyday.
• Take action
  Don’t be afraid to get started – take action. Just do it. Initiate things. Be proactive instead of reactive.
• Never stop learning
  Get training. Acquire new skills. Read books. Keep learning.
• Be persistent and work hard
  Never give up. Success does not come overnight. Keep at and be resilient. Hard work does get rewarded.
• Learn to analyze details
  Get all the facts and details. Pay attention to detail. Learn from your mistakes.
• Focus your time
  Don’t let other people or things distract you. Be efficient with your time and get things done
• Don’t be afraid to Innovate. Be different
  Following the herd will just keep you mediocre.
• Communicate with people effectively
  
• Be honest and dependable.
  Take responsibility. Have integrity and discipline. Otherwise numbers 1-9 won’t make a difference.

I read these first thing in the morning everyday and constantly refer to them to keep me on track. Try it.

6. Your personality

Points 1-5 highlight the areas where you may need to change in order to create the new, unique, successful you.

However, the most unique asset you have is your personality.

When we begin work we tend to lose our unique personality as we try and blend into our workplace and conform to those around us. We actually lose the thing that makes us different and probably got us to where we currently are.

There are aspects to your personality which will be a great asset to you and help you on the way to a tremendous career. They are probably buried under years of conformance and trying to fit in. You just need to dig deep and find out what the great things about your personality are and exploit them to the fullest. We don’t want to totally change your personality – we want to enhance it and bring out the most attractive elements of it.

These six steps require you to make some changes which if you are serious about your career you will appreciate. The new you will be someone that is trusted and respected in the workplace, that is identified as someone the organisation does not want to lose, that is rewarded for their effort and is valued for their opinion and is given the opportunities that someone with potential, drive and ambition deserves.

This is exciting stuff. To be such a person is not only rewarding, it also makes your career enjoyable and something you look forward to because you are around great people, you are doing great things and you are making a difference.

Actions of the Week

1. Think of one thing you can do over and above your day to day responsibilities

Do it in the next week

2. For one week read the 10 principles every morning

Make a commitment to apply them throughout the day.

3. Review your appearance.

Do you look the part. If not go out and make the changes straightaway.

4. Identify one thing that makes you nervous at work.

For example it may be giving a presentation. Make a pact to do something about it and put an action plan together with your manager and commit to action.