Is Glass Ceiling For Women a Myth? Part 3

First appeared on Technorati:http://technorati.com/women/article/is-glass-ceiling-for-women-a3/

In the first part of this post we discussed the Glass Ceiling as being an invisible barrier against promoting women to senior executive roles; the second part discussed the obstacles faced.

Looking at the obstacles women face; it becomes evident that the problems are from both sides: women and organizations and since it takes two to tango- solutions have to originate from both sides:
A. Change organizations cultures
B. Women to learn how to brand themselves properly, project their leadership skills knowing how they are perceived

Easier said than done but here are some ideas to tackle the issues:

A- Organizations: Change the culture of the organization

1- Offer flexibility at the workplace for parents; and elderly care-takers especially women
2- Offer leadership training that is not bias towards male leaders
3- Have proper succession plans, including the proper assessments for female leaders, career development and training
4- Offer proper coaching, mentoring and sponsoring for promising female leaders
5- Research the acceptable work practices that can help women advance to senior positions instead of hindering them
6- Monitor the selection process of people for high visibility projects that can enhance a career
7- Offer incentive education re-imbursement for masters and doctorates programs for women
8- Have zero tolerance for stereotyping and discrimination against women – strong HR policies and departments are a great asset.
9- Have proper progressive performance evaluations and constructive feedback

B- Women Leaders:
1- Project their brands, and skills properly and assertively with confidence
2- Empower each other by forming and joining ERG and affinity groups to make their voices heard and to name the barriers and bias they might experience
3- Engage with the organizations in effective initiatives to change the organizations cultural barriers
4- Get rid of the “Glass Ceiling” excuse or as a fate defining issue, or fall under the self fulfilling prophecy to justify why they are not advancing. Acting as a victim is debilitating, we become what we work for.
5- Strategize a plan for your career: Plan properly for your S.M.A.R.T. goals, know what is needed to advance, get the required qualifications as education or certification or mentoring, 
6- Stand for themselves and speak-up; prevent others from assuming or trying to perceive their styles, competencies and abilities
7- Ask for feedback from managers or superiors, colleagues that they trust; take their comments into consideration as we are what we do – our actions, verbal and non verbal communications and behaviors affect how we are perceived. Never get defensive
8- Study and research what is needed as knowledge, skills and abilities needed to advance. It is fine to ask for help, seek coaching in areas identified as vulnerable
9- Knowing that it will not be easy, or comfortable, they will need to adapt to many changes along the way, get out of their comfort ones but who said life was easy? Look at career as being a adventure along the life journey.

Then, and may be then a path can be created to propel women through the glass ceiling to executive positions.

Diversity starts at home

 

Picture credit for http://www.nurseweek.com

Sahar Andrade

Diversity Consultant – Social Media Strategist
Sahar Consulting, LLC.
http://www.saharconsulting.com 
(818)861 9434

Let’s connect on: 
Contact me:  saharconsulting

 

 

Is Glass Ceiling For Women a Myth? Part 2

First appeared on Technorati:http://technorati.com/women/article/is-glass-ceiling-for-women-a2/

 

In the first part of this article, we discussed the Glass Ceiling as being an invisible barrier against promoting women to senior executive roles; I feel it is better described as a maze since it more accurately conveys the complexity and randomness that typically occurs better than the glass-ceiling metaphor.

Maze and games shouldn’t be there to start with, but women usually are met with stereotyping, and resistance to be promoted.

Some believe that if you fill the companies’ pipelines with exceptional women leaders talents, eventually they’ll make it into the executive suite kind of “build it they will come” or “just give it time” philosophies have been widely accepted for decades. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.

According to the 2010 study “The Impact of Gender on Voluntary and Involuntary Executive Departure”; showed that female executives voluntarily leave their corporate positions twice as often as counter males .

There are many challenges that continue to face women who strive to get to the top, but how long are we going to dwell over spilled milk? The fact that there are women in senior leadership positions, some in industries that are stereotypically male dominated indicates that the barriers can be broken. So what are the real reasons behind anyone including women not reaching a certain level of hierarchy, or promotion; so is it competence, supply, Comfort zones, complacency, fear of success or none of these factors?

If we can define the causes of an illness and control its symptoms, we can then find a cure, so if we can define the reasons of the Glass Ceiling and decrease its effects then we can find a solution and a remedy to the problem.

First let us address the most common obstacles: Please note that these are the generally dominant obstacles, they do not necessarily apply in all cases:

1. Gender stereotypes where women are seen as mothers and spouses with family responsibilities that will prevent them from moving upward
2. Perceptions of women inability to network especially after work hours, or mix with the boys for drinks
3. Outdated succession planning or lack of them; and career development systems
4. Frequent traveling, or relocation because of a job
5. Lack of sponsorships of females into leadership positions
6. Lack of mentors and role models for women
7. “All Boys” culture organizations’ cultures
8. Women fear of speaking up
9. Women fear of success

The leadership styles of men and women are different from each other, women are not men in dresses; and shouldn’t be expected to act or lead the same way to fit in. Plus women at the top are damned if they do and damned if they don’t; If they are aggressive and lead with an iron fist they are seen as a threat, if they try the inclusive and participative style of leadership they are seen as too soft.

In the next and final post we will discuss the effect of the obstacles and some suggested solutions.

Diversity starts at home.

Sahar Andrade

Diversity Consultant – Social Media Strategist
Sahar Consulting, LLC.

http://www.saharconsulting.com

(818)861 9434

Let’s connect on: 
Contact me:  saharconsulting

 

FOCUS: A Lesson In Tolerance – Part 2

Article first appeared at http://technorati.com/lifestyle/article/focus-a-lesson-in-tolerance-part2

This is part 2 of a two-part article. Part 1 can be found here.

Examples of discrimination and violence in history:

• African-Americans being forced to ride in the back of the bus, lynched, and whipped in the South as well as not being allowed in places/ schools/ clubs that whites frequented.
• German Jews being required to wear a yellow “Star of David”, and being captured in concentration camps and eventually their genocide.
• Minorities being referred to by derogatory slang names.
• Minorities being the subject of jokes which poke fun at the target’s race, religion, or ethnic origin, and which rely on stereotypes.
• Japanese-Americans being isolated in camps during World War II
• The Salvadorian death squads
• The unfair treatment of the Mexican leader Cesar Chavez and his people; his imprisonment just because he was fighting for the rights of the poor farmers.
• Native Americans having their land confiscated, and being placed on reservations.
• Armenian genocide of the early 20th century
• Millions of Cambodians killed by Pol Pot (Khmer Rouge) – 20th Century
• Many genocides as in Bosnia, Darfur, Rwanda…

Stereotyping and discrimination still exist; we still see it against Jewish people, African Americans, the Native Indians, Latinos, and Middle Easterners.

Understanding the nature of prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination is the first step in combating these practices. All of us have prejudices about members of groups different from ourselves. We should, however, recognize that we are not acting fairly if we treat people differently because of these stereotypes and prejudices. Each one of us deserves to be considered a unique human being.

Civil rights laws have been passed at the local, state, and federal levels to combat racism, persecution and discrimination. The First Amendment to the Constitution protects the rights of everyone to assemble peacefully, freedom of speech and freedom of belief. The international community universally condemns racism and genocide in all shapes, colors or forms.

But the question is: Is this enough? Should we only depend on governments and organizations to make things right? Or should it start with each one of us taking an action towards eliminating discrimination and stereotyping from our lives by being pro-active rather than passive?

All of us face peer pressure when confronted with a joke which puts down a certain minority. It takes courage to raise objections to these jokes and pejorative names and to actively fight the prejudice and bigotry which they foster.

It is important to stand up against injustice, and fight the discrimination, stereotypes, and scapegoating which have served as the precursors to persecution, violence, and genocide. It starts with each one of us, speaking against unfairness; correct a wrong and stand for fairness and tolerance, then, and only then, maybe we can change the world.

I leave you with this quote from civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

Diversity starts at home,

Sahar Andrade
Diversity Consultant – Social Media Strategist
Sahar Consulting, LLC.
http://www.saharconsulting.com

Let’s connect on: 

FOCUS: A Lesson In Tolerance – Part 1

Article first published as FOCUS: A Lesson In Tolerance: Part 1 on Technorati.

Last night, while flipping through the channels, I came across a movie called Focus starring William H Macy and Laura Dern.

I was drawn to the movie almost immediately. It takes place in a small Brooklyn neighborhood towards the end of World War II, where an ordinary man named Lawrence Newman and his wife live a good and quiet life.

Newman is an ordinary man who does not want to stand out in the crowd. Even when he witnesses violence outside of his Brooklyn window, he remains quiet, unwilling to make waves. Once he gets eyeglasses, however, his neighbors begin to perceive him differently and mistake him and his wife for Jews.

Finding themselves suddenly discriminated against by their anti-Semitic neighbors, they befriend a local Jewish immigrant and struggle for their dignity and survival.

When viciously attacked by an anti-Semitic group, the only person that comes to the rescue is Mr. Feinstein the Jewish Immigrant, and only then Newman knows that he has to do something; he goes to the Police Station to make a report about his attack, just to be met by another bigot police officer that asks so how many of “You people” live down there.

I was so angry, just to think about all the other unfairness and bigotry that some groups had to endure at that time and how some groups still endure them till this modern day. The actions of Newman in the movie reminded me of the famous quote by Martin Niemoeller a protestant leader that lived in Germany during the holocaust time and helped Jews escape the Nazis; he said:

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out–
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out–
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out–
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me–
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Violence can evolve out of prejudice based on ignorance, fear, and misunderstanding about minority groups and other groups who are different from us.

Such behaviors have to be condemned for being inappropriate in a modern, pluralistic society.

1. Stereotyping often results from, and leads to, personal prejudice and bigotry.
2. Unchecked prejudice and bigotry leads to discrimination, violence, and, in extreme cases, genocide.
3. Prejudice can be spread by the use of propaganda and inflamed by certain people or even by the media.
4. Slang, and name calling are often used to dehumanize members of certain groups of people, which is a precursor of discrimination, isolation, and violence

To render the minority groups powerless because of an ignorant fear of who they are, and what they can do if they became stronger; they are dehumanized by being subjected to degrading and humiliating experiences based on prejudice. They have also been/ are subject to violence, minority institutions, such as worship places as Synagogues or Mosques have been the target of vandalism, arson, and desecration; which we have witnessed lately in the news.

Diversity starts at home,

Sahar Andrade
Diversity Consultant – Social Media Strategist
Sahar Consulting, LLC.

http://www.saharconsulting.com

Let’s connect on: 
My Diversity Cafe Technorati blog: FOCUS: A Lesson In Tolerance – Part 1

Diversity And Children Series – Part 4

Article first published as Diversity And Children Series – Part 4 on Technorati.

This is a series of four posts. Part one is a general explanation of diversity in the classroom. Part two is the role of the parents in teaching their children diversity, Part three the role of the school, and Part four the role of the teachers.

Teachers need to be aware of differences within minority groups without generalizing, different ethnic groups and attitudes. They also need to believe that all students can succeed regardless of diversity and they need to show this belief to the students.

Teachers tend to have low expectations for cultural minorities which are related directly to the generally lower socioeconomic status of these minorities. Socioeconomic status (which will be discussed in the future in a separate post) has a significant impact on the learning process.

They are also responsible for helping members of cultural minorities to adapt and integrate within the dominant culture (not to assimilate) without causing the minority to lose their cultural identity, and the ability to comfortably function in both cultures. The reason so many teachers don’t know much about diversity is that the diversity training programs are optional and not obligatory, and most of the teachers are mono-lingual almost never been subjected to any other cultures

In the future, there will be more and more diversity in the school system and it is up to the teacher to make sure that high expectations are relayed to all students no matter what ethnicity and culture, so that no matter the general stereotypes, students know that they have the opportunity for success.

Children grow up to be the future of any country; they will become what we taught them in their childhood either at home or at school. It is a great idea to teach our kids our native languages, core beliefs, values and our identity, make them understand, cherish, and be proud of their roots and who they are; but we also need to allow them and show them how to mix with others that are different from them, so they can develop an affinity for diversity. Let them learn how to interact and understand the outside world through their own eyes, their children’s eyes and out of their comfort zone.

Teaching acceptance and tolerance of different cultures is not forcing our ways and views on the children, and is not sending them mixed messages about diversity either; it is simply giving them an opportunity and a choice to grow in a more diverse world where they can choose later on, based on their own personal experiences, how to deal with the world around them.

We will harvest what we sowed; as today’s children are tomorrow’s Presidents, Politicians, Executives, Journalists, Activists, Actors, Managers, Parents, and Teachers.

Diversity starts at home,

Sahar Andrade

Diversity Consultant
Sahar Consulting, LLC.

http://www.saharconsulting.com

Let’s connect on: 

DIVERSITY: Tolerance Through Communication- Part 1

Article first published as Diversity: Tolerance Through Communication, Part 1 on Technorati

There are many controversies currently happening around us, including the Arizona Immigration law, racial profiling, the Cordoba Mosque and the Dove movement, that inspired me to share some peaceful thoughts, and not get into the debate of who is right and who is wrong or even take sides. Hopefully, I’ll be able to start a healthy dialog.

The US is a great country – if not the greatest; the founding fathers built it on the spirit of human rights, tolerance, and acceptance of all differences. The US is built on diversity, on a combination of flavors to strengthen the foundation of this country, one flavor enhances the other.

One doesn’t have to agree or like everyone, but one has to treat everyone and every person with respect and equality.What someone thinks is their business, how they act it out is what is important as it concerns others. Having flexibility to integrate is what will get us all to the safe side of the river.

Prejudice is a natural human reaction, we all have distrust and fear from people that don’t look like us or are different from ourselves. Confronting our belief system and find our biases becomes crucial so we can make smart choices about our behavior. Healthy conflicts bring positive changes, effective communications provide safe environment to discuss conflicts and differences. Effective communications creates tolerance, which creates acceptance and respect; both are key solutions to most of our problems.

When people are asked what they think represents difficult communications with others, the answers include:

• People that get angry for no reason
• People with heavy accents
• People that talk all the time and don’t listen
• People that listen to us – then re-arrange our words the way they want to understand them
• People that always think they are right
• People with egos
• People that are indirect.

People assume that people that are different from them either by color, age, race, religion, gender, political views are difficult to communicate with, and this is where the communications’ barriers start erecting.

Just because we speak the same language doesn’t mean that we understand each other, perhaps because of factors like where or the way we grew up, the kind of work we do, or our ethnicity, religion and language origin.

But we can effectively communicate and bridge the gaps to a diverse world, and better understand and respect each other words, feelings, thoughts and actions. Effective communication has many forms; the most practical forms are dialog and debate.

Dialog is a collection of skills we communicate with to develop understanding and trust. Dialog is conducted between two people, or a group of people. Dialog is a non judgmental, two-way conversation. It is about putting ourselves in the other person’s shoes and trying to feel how they feel. It is about developing sets of shared assumptions to use as a foundation to work together to find a way to agree in a non combative way.

While in a debate, we try to win. We concentrate on the weakness of our opponent, on what is wrong with their argument, to prove why our position is right. In a debate we stand our ground, defend our point of view and criticize other perspectives. The goal is to win, but at the end no one really wins.

It is important to understand the difference between dialog that respects both sides, and debate where the belief is that only one opinion is right, and of course it is ours.

In a perfect diverse world, people develop strong opinions. Let their feelings emerge through the process of dialog, but not in a way to cause conflict or in a way to prevent moving forward.

Till we meet on Part 2

 

Sahar Andrade
Executive Director
Sahar Consulting 
http://www.saharconsulting.com

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Diversity: Women leadership

Article first published as Diversity: Women Leadership on Technorati

 

“A chunk of the glass ceiling came tumbling down Monday as veteran national security officer Letitia “Tish” Long became the first woman to head a major intelligence agency” CNN Politics reported on August 9th.  Long, also called the velvet hammer, was sworn as a Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency after spending 32 years in government service.

Women have served as second in command in most of the major intelligence agencies except the CIA.  Government data show that over the past ten years; the number of women serving in the intelligence field hasn’t changed much close to 39%, but the percentage of women being promoted has increased each year.

Women are instinctively effective leaders that practice patience, compassion and determination.

Domination as a leadership style which is mainly the male style of leadership is becoming less and less popular. There is a new growing appreciation of inclusions and belonging; those traits that women use to keep families together, and to organize volunteers to unite and make change in the shared life of communities. These newly admired leadership qualities of shared leadership; nurturance and doing good for others are today not only sought after but also indeed needed to make a difference in the world. A feminine way of leading includes helping the world to understand and value what really matter.

Women leaders can be more assertive and persuasive, have a stronger need to get things done and can be willing to take risks than male leaders.  Women leaders are mostly found to be more empathetic and flexible, as well as stronger in interpersonal skills than their male counterparts.  Women leaders are able to bring others around to their point of view, because they genuinely understand and care about where others are coming from, so that the people they are leading feel more understood, supported and valued.  Women leaders demonstrate an inclusive, team-building leadership style of problem solving and decision making.

Women leaders use a better mix of what we attribute to male leaders styles—direct, authoritative, and lead by example. They also know when to be more nurturing, inclusive, and collaborative.  They coach and develop others to create more committed, collaborative, inclusive, and effective teams, carrying even more accountability than traditional leadership roles, but with far less direct authority.

I say it is about time that more women break through to leadership and bring their skills, range of talent, knowledge and insight and get recognized for them.  Diversity brings broad and more profound solutions to any organization.  So let us all embrace Diversity, not because it is politically correct, but because it is the right thing to do

 

Diversity starts at home,

 

Sahar Andrade
Executive Director
Sahar Consulting 
http://www.saharconsulting.com

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Shirley Sherrod: A lesson in tolerance

Tonight, Shirley Sherrod said that she plans on suing the conservative blogger Andrew Brietbart who falsely accused her of racism.

We have been following the strange turn of events since July 19th,  when the Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack asked Shirley Sherrod a USDA employee to tend her resignation after a video went viral on the internet depicting Shirley making racist comments.

The racial sensitivity clashed with the viral media and in order to be “Politically correct” they let the employee go, in what turned out to be a very prejudice way just because they wanted to react as fast as the speed of the viral video.

The truth behind the video, were the actions of an overzealous right winger; Sherrod, who is black, was pushed to quit after conservative media repeatedly broadcasted a tape that seemed to show her saying she had discriminated against a white farmer because of his race, where in fact she was trying to make a point that race should not matter- The speech was presented at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People civil rights group. Her speech was basically a lesson in diversity that was totally taken out of context.

Government agencies should exercise better online reputation management systems where they should have picked up that video first and had the time to investigate it, especially we live in a media culture that is very quick and that is controlled by consumers.  If I can set my RSS and Google alerts (simplest form) to manage what is said or published about me online, they should.

President Obama said in an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America” that will be broadcast on Friday: “He jumped the gun, partly because we now live in this media culture where something goes up on YouTube or a blog and everybody scrambles,”.  The President also called the employee and apologized for the discrimination and intolerance she received unjustly.

In a time where many ethnicities in the US are working to integrate, respect, understand, accept and celebrate each other; we see people trying to divide them either on purpose or not; trying to fuel hatred between the two parties, resulting in collateral damage as in the case of Shirley.

We are still a long way from total acceptance, inclusion and tolerance, organizations are so jazzed up to show that they have “0” tolerance for racism and discrimination that they don’t take the time to properly check the facts just to silence the public, meanwhile creating injustice and chaos as a result.

The morale of the story is that it is not important how fast we try to reverse discrimination if we suspect it occurred, but it is more important to make sure that we audit the situation and check the facts properly to avoid losing good employees avoid discrimination and probably avoid a huge lawsuit.

Be tolerant and accepting everyone, remember Diversity starts at home

Cheers,

www.saharconsulting.com

Sahar Andrade
Executive Director
Sahar Consulting
http://www.saharconsulting.com

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Success tip#1: Leadership Styles

Last weekend I facilitated a workshop for the City of West Hollywood, CA at their Women leadership Conference about leadership skills and Team building which gave me the idea for the Leadership blog series, this being the 1^st one.

A leader is someone whom others trust and consistently look to for guidance. Age or status within a group may create assumptions about who will lead, but a true leader inspires loyalty, earning the trust of others. Leadership is a responsibility but also an honor.  Leaders can be managers, but managers cannot necessarily be leaders.  A manager does things right, while a leader do the right things.  A leader inspires, and a manager coordinates.  Leaders come in all shapes and forms

A team is a group of people working for the same purpose or to achieve a common goal, they share the same principles and ideas.

Leadership principles

1. Creating Positive Influence, positive change, having the Right Positive Attitude.
2. Setting the Right Priorities.
3. Modeling Integrity.
4. Problem Solving.
5. Developing people and Staff.
6. Charting the Vision.
7. Practicing Self-Discipline.

Leadership Styles 

The most prevalent of these theories are briefly described below:

1- The X/Y Theory: Developed by Frederick Herzberg, an influential psychologist who became well known for his work in the 1970′s. The X/Y theory states that:

X:

• People inherently dislike work and incapable of accepting responsibility
• They must be coerced or controlled to do work to achieve goals
• They require authoritarian management s they are lazy

Y:

• People view work as being natural as play and rest
• They will exercise self-direction and control towards achieving goals they are committed too
• They learn to accept and seek responsibility, require less management

2- Empowerment Theory: Developed by Elizabeth Moss Kanter, an education expert who sees that authority should be decentralized and made up of independent  groups, their combined efforts empowers them.  She also saw that selecting leaders from women and minorities will empower them and will inspire workers from those groups to excel.

3- Action Centered Leadership Theory. John Adair, who wrote a book Effective Leadership, developed the idea that leaders inspire by communicating their own enthusiasm and commitment to their employees.  He believes in three approaches to leadership, namely: Task, Group and Individual.

4- Contingency Theory: It states that effective leadership varies according to the way it is applied and to whom it is applied.  The type of leadership style one chooses is “contingent” upon the environment in which one leads.

5- Informal Leadership Theory: Is against management and appointed leaders.  It stresses that all members of a group share responsibility and take turns by assuming leadership roles when they are able to or as they are asked to do so by their peers. Rotating responsibility wherein leaders are voted into positions for a six month or yearly term until the next election when another group takes over responsibility for certain leadership tasks.

There are three main styles from which all others are built, they are:

1. Authoritarian
2. Participative
3. Delegative

A combination of all three of these basic styles will yield the best results. Here are the basic elements of the three leadership styles.

1. The Authoritarian (or autocratic) Where the leader makes decisions by himself with no input from his team.  It should be used as infrequently as possible and only in situations where there is a strict deadline. It is not meant to encourage managers to dictate and demand or to berate their employees.  The sole responsibility for vital decisions is placed upon the leader when the situation warrants quick action and results.
2. The Participative (or democratic) Leaders tend to seek the input and opinions of their staff on matters that are not of immediate urgency, based on the information they have received.  The final decision ultimately lies with the leader.
3. The Delegative (or free reign) allows qualified employees to make decisions on their day to day work without the help of the leader or manager. This style lets the manager focus on more important problems or issues. This style requires the leader to have trust in his staff and their ability to make smart and wise decisions. However, if an employee makes a bad decision, a good leader will take responsibility for the action rather than placing blame on his or her staff member.

I will be discussing Leadership skills and Team building management cross-culturally, as well as the Maslowian triangle in my next posts.

Cheers,

Sahar Andrade

www.saharconsulting.com

www.linkedin.com/in/saharandrade

www.twitter,com/saharconsulting

www.facebook,com/saharconsulting

Brand Yourself

The idea of  “BRAND” yourself posts came to me after giving a presentation/ workshop last Saturday named ” Empower Women Seminar” that was sponsored by “NOW: National Organization of Women, the Hollywood chapter”.  My part of the seminar covered the Marketing part discussing the power of  “Brand Yourself” for landing a job or getting a better one.

 A brand is not limited to big companies like BMW, Coca-Cola or to artists like Paris Hilton,  Brad Pitt & Angelina, we all have our own brands either we are aware of it or not.  A brand is how people around us perceive us, what do we transmit as a message to others about us, without even talking.

So let me start by deciphering what is “Brand Yourself” or “Personal Branding”.  Personal/ Self branding is simply positively grabbing someone’s attention by creating a unique unforgettable image.  Personal branding, by definition, is the process by which we market ourselves to others.

Imagine if you go to a store looking for a certain product, one is packaged in fancy colors and the other packaged in a simple white blend box, they both have the same functions and usage, the first one is a bit higher in price than the 2^nd which one would you get? I personally will pick the one that catches my eye i.e. the colorful fancy package, even if I have to pay a bit more.  So Brand Yourself is about “Self packaging” It’s identifying the unique qualities, marketable skills, and organizational knowledge that someone possesses and building a reputation that captures the attention of others (clients, managers, prospects or future employers)

No matter how old we are, what titles we hold, what business we are in, we all need to understand the importance of self-branding, we all are the CEOs, and CMOs of  “Me, LLC.” need to be unique in who we are and how we stand out from the crowd.

                                    

 Each one of us needs to develop their own USP “Unique Selling Proposition” to communicate our brand, and develop “Brand Equity” & “Brand Image” exactly as the big corporations do.  Now the question that presents itself is: “How do I brand myself, or how do I find my brand?”

The “My brand” exercise starts by thinking about 3 things you are very passionate about (loving chocolate is not one of them) and 3 things other people think you excel at.

It is a process that has 4 steps: DCCM

• Discover: What is your brand (As described above)
• Create: your USP
• Communicate: Promote your USP
• Maintain: keep adding new content and manage your brand reputation

Your USP should be one concise sentence that best describes you, who you are, how unique are you, your biggest strength and how you can benefit anyone that hires you or your services (Clients or employers).  

For example a USP for a Marketing expert would be:

“I am an experienced Marketing expert strong in creating marketing campaigns and developing new business that have resulted in additional revenues of over $ 2.5M for my last company during the last 2 years.”

This sentence demonstrated who you are, your biggest strength and how you benefited your company.

Branding Yourself is all about leveraging marketing and its famous MIX: The 4 Ps

1-     Product: YOU

2-     Promotion: what to use, which social media networks, which associations etc…

3-     Price: How much are you services worth or how should your salary be

4-     Place: Where to expand

Social Media tools have leveled the playing ground and have enabled us to reach amazing altitudes, at the cost of our time, but the ROI is way worthed.

I will be sharing in my next posts, the personal branding process, so you can think about what face you want to show to the world and how to brand position yourself to achieve your goals, and land your dream job, and how to become the hunted instead of the hunter

Cheers,

Sahar Andrade

www.saharconsulting.com

www.linkedin.com/in/saharandrade