The Personal Branding Blog by Rob Cuesta

Are today's executives more like the free agents we associate with sports teams than the 'company man' of days (and years) gone by?

Some time ago, I saw a question on LinkedIn about  how the  behaviour of executives is changing. The questioner (Bradley Foster) asked:

"Are today's executives more like the free agents we associate with sports teams than the 'company man' of days (and years) gone by?

A lot of the executives I coach are more like lone wolves than what we have come to think of executives as team players who are loyal to the company they serve. Are executives more like the free agents we associate with sports teams than the 'company man' of days (and years) gone by? "

You don't have to please all of the people all of the time...

There's a principle in pricing a product or service that if you're not turning off a third of your prospects by charging more than they want to pay, you're not charging enough. I happen to believe that the same principle applies right across the spectrum.

What would you do...

... if you only had 6 months left in your job? That is the question facing one of my clients right now. But as I was working with him the other day it struck me that it is something that everyone should be asking themselves, even if they've only just started a new job or business.

How much am I worth?

Are you considering a job move? Negotiating a pay raise? Looking at a career change? Just plain curious how your pay compares to your peers? It can be difficult to get comparatives, particularly if you are moving between regions.

How (not) to do reputation management

I found a great blog post highlighting the dangers of old ways of thinking in a Web 2.0 world. If your gut reaction to someone 'dissing' your personal brand or your corporate brand online is to reach for your lawyer's phone number then you may want to read this post and think carefully about what you're doing, and the effect it may have on your reputation.

Living the connected life

For as long as I can remember, we have been promised "mobile working" or the "virtual office" - the ability to work anywhere, any time -, but somehow it never quite took shape. At last, though, technology seems to be catching up with the promises.

Reach for your personal brand

I've just been watching an old John Wayne film, "The Sons of Katie Elder". I hadn't seen it for a few years and, as I watched, the thing that struck me was that THE FILM IS ALL ABOUT PERSONAL BRANDING.

10 things you should do if you make a big mistake

We all make mistakes. On one occasion early in my online career I became an accidental spammer when someone offered me a marketing list of 10,000 names in a specific industry. In my enthusiasm at receiving such a windfall, and with a high profile joint venture to promote, I emailed all 10,000 contacts directly (horror of horrors), promoted my upcoming big-name teleclass (even though they had never heard of me), and invited them to unsubscribe from my list (which they had never signed up to) if they didn't want any more contact from me (which they hadn't wanted in the first place).

An uncomfortable 24 hours followed, as email after email of some of the nastiest, most vitriolic personal attacks I've ever seen poured into my inbox. However, as soon as I realised my mistake I put into action a recovery plan which earned me a lot more emails of thanks and understanding.

Personal Branding Magazine

While I was preparing for my recent trip to Toronto I completely missed the fact that the second edition of the new Personal Branding Magazine has gone live over at personalbrandingmag.com.

Beware the dangers of email time bombs

When I was young, there was a series on British television called ‘Danger     UXB’. Week by week it followed an army bomb disposal squad as they rushed     from one assignment to the next, averting disaster and saving the day. It     had danger, suspense, strong characters, tight deadlines – all the elements     of good TV.

 

In the work environment, however, these same characteristics are somewhat     less desirable. How often do we find ourselves going from one close call to     the next, defusing time bombs and booby traps left for us by others – or     worse still ourselves?