By Annabelle Reitman
“Mojo” as defined by Wikipedia is ones self-confidence or self-esteem. It is really the level or strength of belief in oneself in a situation.
Do you radiate self-assuredness in the workplace as you interact with your colleagues, staff, and/or supervisor? What about your clients or customers? Without mojo or with a weak one, how can you expect someone else to have confidence in you or your capabilities to do your job?
With a strong mojo, you have a better chance to handle a work situation that maybe difficult or frustrating as well as dealing with any negative results. When you believe strongly in yourself and your abilities, you are able to manage yourself and future actions, change or influence what you can, and accept what is not in your control.
Think about work circumstances – In general, are you satisfied with the results? For example: How did your performance review go? Did you get the promotion or assignment that you wanted? Are you satisfied with your client or customer working relationships? How would you rate your standing with your boss, staff, or colleagues? What is the effect of your self-confidence upon influencing outcomes?
One basic question to ask your self is. “Does my mojo need strengthening or enhancement, and if so, how can I make this happen? Components that contribute to your mojo include:
·Identity: To create a strong, competent, individualized identity, you need to know yourself – your strengths, skills, knowledge, personal characteristics, work styles, communication styles, values, and priorities. Make a list of your perceptions of your self (NOT what other people think of you, but what you think of you). Share this list with family, friends and colleagues and ask them if this list is in sync with the image they have of you. How close is the match? Where differences exist, think of the reasons for them. How can you improve your ways of projecting your “brand” so that your authentic self is the one that people see and accept?
·Risk: Everyone wants to get more out of life that occurs only if you welcome growth and improvement. Changing and striving for self-actualization involves some risk – you may fail, you may not reach the heights you aim for, or you may be disappointed things do not turn out as expected. Willingness to risk is related to self-esteem – in that it is personal and subjective. The way you perceive your self determines level of risk-taking.
·Brag: Do you talk about your achievements? Do you take credit for what you have done? Bragging is a necessity – not a choice if you want to do more than just exist at work, that is, advance up a job ladder & arrive at the top. Bragging is not conceit; it is being forthcoming about who you are, what you have done, and what you are capable of doing. Given constant changes in the workplace – management reorganizations, retirements, mergers, downsizing – you need to keep people up-dated on who you are and what are your achievements.
Being aware of the components: identity, risk, and brag, you can strengthen your mojo leading to more positive reactions to you and your work.
Email comments to: Annabelle Reitman, Ed.D.
Career Management Strategist, Author
anreitman@verizon.net
Showing posts with label professional branding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label professional branding. Show all posts
Monday, January 31, 2011
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Tooting Your Horn In The Workplace
My MSN
By Annabelle Reitman
When is it proper and acceptable to toot your horn in your workplace? What is the difference between “tooting your horn” and bragging? ! Bragging is a form of exaggeration. It can be boasting and/or gloating. Tooting your own horn is letting people know about your actual accomplishments, expertise, experiences, and where and how you want to move along your career pathway.
Opportunities to move up the organizational ladder are opened up to those whose names are known to the decision makers. And sometimes you do not know when that next opportunity is just around the corner. Tooting your horn is all about getting your getting your name out front, becoming truly visible in a way that doesn’t come across boasting, being pushy, or aggressive.
However, you definitely want people with the authority, ability, where forth to influence and make a difference in your career movements, to know about your background, qualifications, and successes. You want to be impressive, memorable, and passionate. It is your name that you want on the tip of their tongues when new positions open up or replacements are needed. You need to pu together a stash of “tooting your horn” info bits.
With this stash, whether it is a planned or unplanned moment, you are prepared 24/7 to pull out the most appropriate success, experience, or idea to mention to the person you need or want to impress. You are ready to self-promote in any work-networking situation. However, you need to know when and how to toot. Are you joining a group or meeting in the middle of a serious conversation or hot debate? Has top management called everyone together because of a reorganization announcement? These are not the right times for talking about yourself. These are situations that call for careful listening and perhaps at a later, calmer time to suggest some ways you can contribute to the solution. If your gut level feeling is that it comfortable and appropriate, then go with it.
If you do not toot your own horn, no one else will, in fact another person may take the credit for something you suggested or developed. In fact, by being proactive about yourself, you project the image of an outstanding team player and a future leader, who can always be counted on to complete projects effectively and efficiently.
When tooting your horn, remember that the “toots” must be relevant to the listener – the person must be able to identify with the info, get the image you are projecting, and clearly see how you will meet his/her present or future needs. If you want to succeed in an organization, understand and accept that self-promoting is not a bad selfish action, but a survival and moving ahead technique. So go ahead and look for an opportunity to toot your horn this very day!
Email comments to: Annabelle Reitman, Ed.D.
Career Management Strategist, Author
anreitman@verizon.net
By Annabelle Reitman
When is it proper and acceptable to toot your horn in your workplace? What is the difference between “tooting your horn” and bragging? ! Bragging is a form of exaggeration. It can be boasting and/or gloating. Tooting your own horn is letting people know about your actual accomplishments, expertise, experiences, and where and how you want to move along your career pathway.
Opportunities to move up the organizational ladder are opened up to those whose names are known to the decision makers. And sometimes you do not know when that next opportunity is just around the corner. Tooting your horn is all about getting your getting your name out front, becoming truly visible in a way that doesn’t come across boasting, being pushy, or aggressive.
However, you definitely want people with the authority, ability, where forth to influence and make a difference in your career movements, to know about your background, qualifications, and successes. You want to be impressive, memorable, and passionate. It is your name that you want on the tip of their tongues when new positions open up or replacements are needed. You need to pu together a stash of “tooting your horn” info bits.
With this stash, whether it is a planned or unplanned moment, you are prepared 24/7 to pull out the most appropriate success, experience, or idea to mention to the person you need or want to impress. You are ready to self-promote in any work-networking situation. However, you need to know when and how to toot. Are you joining a group or meeting in the middle of a serious conversation or hot debate? Has top management called everyone together because of a reorganization announcement? These are not the right times for talking about yourself. These are situations that call for careful listening and perhaps at a later, calmer time to suggest some ways you can contribute to the solution. If your gut level feeling is that it comfortable and appropriate, then go with it.
If you do not toot your own horn, no one else will, in fact another person may take the credit for something you suggested or developed. In fact, by being proactive about yourself, you project the image of an outstanding team player and a future leader, who can always be counted on to complete projects effectively and efficiently.
When tooting your horn, remember that the “toots” must be relevant to the listener – the person must be able to identify with the info, get the image you are projecting, and clearly see how you will meet his/her present or future needs. If you want to succeed in an organization, understand and accept that self-promoting is not a bad selfish action, but a survival and moving ahead technique. So go ahead and look for an opportunity to toot your horn this very day!
Email comments to: Annabelle Reitman, Ed.D.
Career Management Strategist, Author
anreitman@verizon.net
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Communicating Your Professional Branding: What are the considerations?
Whether you are marketing your professional branding verbally, in print, or on the web, you need to take into account a number of considerations as you plan and initiating a branding campaign. That is, if you want to target the right audience with the right message and have a successful outcome. Make no mistake, it does not matter if you are looking for a job, want to move up your organization’s ladder, grow your clientele base, or have other career/professional marketing goals in mind, you are promoting a product – yourself!
Exactly what are you trying to do when developing a professional brand? The goal is to create an individualized professional niche; projecting your ideal image in a highly visible, powerful, and memorable way. Your established brand sets you aside from your competitors and showcases what you bring to the table.
How do you go about establishing a focused targeted brand? What are the considerations you need to think about to achieve your goal?
Communications begin from the moment someone comes into contact with your brand – either when they meet you in person or read a communiqué from you. First impressions are formed almost instantly and thus, are the essence of your professional branding. Once an image is established in a person’s mind, it is quite difficult to change it.
Purpose and audience determines what is highlighted in your profession brand message - which expertise, knowledge, accomplishments, personality characteristics, etc. Way of communicating influences language, style and style. Each communication method has a distinctive impact and span of attention. Be aware of how different generations and cultures react to various communication styles, format, and language.
Length of time you have with the person – 3 minutes (e.g. networking situation), 30 minutes (e.g. 1st round of job interviews), or 1 hour (e.g. marketing your services/products). Decide what is the priority info to present within the time frame allotted to project your ideal image.
Message you want your audience to take away and remember. Think about how someone would describe you and your professional brand and how strong would the recommendation be to develop a working relationship with you.
By taking into considerations the above listing, when creating the message relaying your professional brand, communications will be successful.
Email your comments to: Annabelle Reitman, Ed.D. Career Management Strategist, Author: anreitman@verizon.net
Exactly what are you trying to do when developing a professional brand? The goal is to create an individualized professional niche; projecting your ideal image in a highly visible, powerful, and memorable way. Your established brand sets you aside from your competitors and showcases what you bring to the table.
How do you go about establishing a focused targeted brand? What are the considerations you need to think about to achieve your goal?
Communications begin from the moment someone comes into contact with your brand – either when they meet you in person or read a communiqué from you. First impressions are formed almost instantly and thus, are the essence of your professional branding. Once an image is established in a person’s mind, it is quite difficult to change it.
Purpose and audience determines what is highlighted in your profession brand message - which expertise, knowledge, accomplishments, personality characteristics, etc. Way of communicating influences language, style and style. Each communication method has a distinctive impact and span of attention. Be aware of how different generations and cultures react to various communication styles, format, and language.
Length of time you have with the person – 3 minutes (e.g. networking situation), 30 minutes (e.g. 1st round of job interviews), or 1 hour (e.g. marketing your services/products). Decide what is the priority info to present within the time frame allotted to project your ideal image.
Message you want your audience to take away and remember. Think about how someone would describe you and your professional brand and how strong would the recommendation be to develop a working relationship with you.
By taking into considerations the above listing, when creating the message relaying your professional brand, communications will be successful.
Email your comments to: Annabelle Reitman, Ed.D. Career Management Strategist, Author: anreitman@verizon.net
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