Nina Burokas on Better Living Through Brand

The Passion Principle

“Making success last takes a level of tenacity and passion only love can sustain.”
- Jerry Porras, Stewart Emery & Mark Thompson, Success Built to Last

Passion is the new differentiator. To excerpt from Success Built to Last: “if you don’t love what you’re doing, you’ll lose to someone who does.” Larry Bossidy, author (et.al.) of Execution and Confronting Reality, calls love “a competitive imperative”. According to (retired) Brigadier General Clara Adams-Ender, “you can survive without loving it, but you will be second-rate…not knowing why you’re there will take your power away.”

Get your (or give a) dose of passion and perspective at a 35% discount: WITI/Wharton School Publishing joint initiative.

Related links:
Knowledge@Wharton: SBTL Co-Authors Mark Thompson & Stewart Emery on How Successful People Remain Successful (4/06); Excerpts from Lasting Leadership: Lessons from the 25 Most Influential Business People of Our Times (10/04).

800-CEO-Read Interview with Larry Bossidy (10/04)

Art credits: Big Headed Girl, by Tom DePue, Nancy Dick, Mark Kregal and Artist in Residence Wendy Minor; Passion Works Studio. PBS Documentary on PassionWorks: A Story of Flying available on DVD or check your local listings.

It's Showtime!

There's something about the energy of a standing room only crowd that gets you on your game. A good thing, that! There's a significant difference between a 5 minute Toastmasters speech to an audience of 25 and an hour presentation at a conference of hundreds (ok, our pull was probably only 100). In addition to the group dynamics at the recent Women and Technology Summit, it was a recent article in The Toastmaster that helped me manage that transition. Ed Brodow's article Acting Techniques for Speakers provides 10 acting tips that are highly relevant to not only speakers, but communicators in general. Key takeaways:

• Improvise - Know your material well enough to let go and be spontaneous.
• Make it personal - The key to storytelling isn't the words, but the experience; capture and convey the emotional impact.
• Passion - Be a passionate advocate for your point of view.
• Develop Your Style - "You need to be yourself but slightly 'larger than life.'" - Patricia Fripp
• Manage First Impressions - "Match the audience's energy and come out a little higher." - Marianna Nunes

Any seasoned speakers willing to provide input/expertise?

Personal Branding Do's & Dont's

It's a case of best laid plans. I had submitted my "Personal Branding Do's & Don'ts" as an article for publication in the Fall issue of WITI's (Women In Technology International) Savvy magazine. The idea was to compliment my presentation with Brandego's Kirsten Dixson on Digital Branding, but it was my prior submission on podcasting (.pdf download at the end of post) that went to print.

An excerpt - just the "Do's & Don'ts - was posted to Branding Personal as Using Personal Branding to Control Your Destiny. Here, with/for context, is the full text. I welcome your input/comments - either here or at Branding Personal. /nb

The technology industry has always been volatile. At a bon voyage party marking Marconi’s exit from the North American market (our layoff en masse), one of the engineers wore a tiered headdress of 7 baseball caps representing his prior employers. Given the hyper-competitive nature of a global economy, no sector or position is sacred. The only way to control your destiny is to create it.

In order to assume responsibility for your future, you have to have a vision and a plan to achieve that vision. It sounds obvious, but the fact is that a number of women are simply going with the flow. For example, in the Summer Issue of Professional Woman’s Magazine, veteran newscaster Connie Chung’s response to a question regarding her future goals was “I really don’t know what my future goals are.” And she’s not alone. At WITI’s Las Vegas conference in July, Cummins VP and CIO Gail Farnsley admitted to having no plan for her career. However, she cautioned that was no longer a realistic approach. Relying on the kindness of strangers or the luck of the draw is not a viable business model. If your goal is to maximize your impact and achieve your potential, you must take individual responsibility. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a solopreneur or a corporate professional or executive, building a brand should be the foundation of your business or career plan. For perspective on personal branding, consider the following Do’s and Don’ts.

Do’s

• Build a solid foundation for your brand that incorporates your vision, values and passions.
• Validate your brand attributes by obtaining anonymous feedback from clients, partners, colleagues, friends and family. Update on an annual basis.
• Articulate your unique promise of value in terms that are relevant and compelling to your target audience.
• Compile a composite profile of your target audience.
• Build a communications plan that incorporates all of the above elements.
• Live your brand.

Don’ts

• Try to be everything to everyone.
• Assume social networking sites are anonymous or that any digital communication will remain private.
• Assume impromptu remarks or off the record comments will remain off the record.
• Assume your work speaks for itself or that management will deliver on future commitments.
• Undermine your brand with poor execution or conflicting or inconsistent messaging.
• Loose control of your brand.

Download podcasting_make_mine_to_go.pdf