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Category: Best Practices

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Best Practices Growth Personal Development

The Art of Following Up

There’s an adage in business that says, “the fortune is in the follow up.” Whether you’re talking about business or personal and social situations, the dynamic holds true. In both cases, honoring and maintaining relationships are what’s important.  A key aspect of that is letting people know you’re thinking of them, wanting to support their success, and expressing that you realize they’re busy by taking the onus of proactively keeping in touch. This builds loyalty and solidifies relationships.

People Are Busy

Life is full of distractions on a daily basis, and we’re all juggling various priorities. The chances of your email getting lost or forgotten under a long trail of other emails is pretty high. It’s not personal, but there may well be times when you’re not top of mind – and your prospective client needs a reminder or nudge to keep you in view. I’ve had situations where I’ve reached out to people I really want to do business with repeatedly over time, and finally they’ve replied apologizing profusely for the delays in responding and expressing their gratitude that I didn’t give up on them.

Don’t Leave Money on the Table

When you give up prematurely and you avoid following up, you all too often lose the business (and possibly a coveted relationship), all because your prospective clients are either too busy or don’t believe you’re sufficiently invested in their success and interested in winning their business. Your competitors who have mastered the art of the follow up are poised and ready to take the business opportunity for themselves. Don’t let this happen to you.

Create a Tracking System

There are all kinds of CRM software tools you can use to manage your contacts, and trigger follow-ups. I’m sure they’re great, but I don’t use any of them. I’m a solo practitioner, so it’s just as easy for me to manage a Google Sheets or Excel spreadsheet that I set up with key parameters, and review on a regular basis to track the prospective clients who I’m most interested in engaging with.

Whatever system you choose to use, select an option that makes life easy for you and that you’ll actually tap into on a regular basis to systematize your follow-ups.

Be Pleasantly Persistent

It’s common knowledge in business that people will often need to hear from you an average of seven times before they finally decide to purchase something. So sending one e-mail and expecting them to reply back isn’t something that happens often. You need to be willing to play the long game. There’s an art to your follow-ups here.

The recipient needs to know that you genuinely care and that you’re seeking to add value for them and to the success of their business. In that context, the content should be varied a little each time, ideally with something timely and relevant, but also that customized and personalized to something you know about the individual or think they might find of interest.

In other words you’ve done your homework on them and their company. And each successive e-mail helps you stand out from the crowd, demonstrates that you’re sincerely interested in doing business with them, and that you genuinely care about their needs. Each one represents you laying a brick in the foundation of a long-term trusted relationship with that person.

Play the Long Game

Don’t be afraid of appearing pushy or annoying your prospects. Most will appreciate your persistence given how busy and distracted they are. If you spread out and pace your follow-ups, with a genuine desire to add value to the people you seek to engage with, you’ve done your homework and are customizing your notes, and are willing to play the long game, you will stand out from the pack and you will have increased the odds not only of doing business with those you seek to work with – but also in terms of forging long-term trusted relationships.

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Best Practices Entrepreneurship Human Resources Management Negotiations Sales Skills Women In Business

“The Truth About How To Increase Your Negotiation Skills” – Negotiation Tip of the Week

“You will increase your negotiation skills when unfulfilled outcomes no longer comfort you.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert (Click to Tweet)   Click here to get the book!

 

“The Truth About How To Increase Your Negotiation Skills”

 

People don’t realize they’re always negotiating.

“I never had good negotiation skills. And I know negotiation skills impact one’s life.” So stated a woman with whom I was speaking. “Then why would you not want to become a better negotiator,” was my response. Her retort was, “well, I am not sure where to start.”

The following are a few negotiation tips that you can use to increase your negotiation skills.

Continue to learn how to increase your negotiation skills, which will lead to better outcomes!    https://bit.ly/3r80BTW 

Remember, you’re always negotiating! 

 

Check out this offer to learn more about negotiating better and reading body language!

 

Listen to Greg’s podcasts at https://megaphone.link/CSN6318246585  Once there, double click on the one you would like to hear.

 

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com

 

To receive weekly free 5-minute sneak peeks into the brilliant techniques offered by Greg, click here

https://www.themasternegotiator.com/negotiation-speaker/   and sign up at the bottom of the page

 

 

Categories
Best Practices Growth Management Skills Women In Business

The Great Reinvention

Last year, the buzz phrase ‘The Great Resignation’ filled our hearts and minds with negativity and doom – women left the workforce in droves in search of more balance and fulfillment.  This trend begs the question: what is so terrible about women reimaging their careers and following their dreams?  There’s a two-fold opportunity here for both employees and companies.  Employees have an opportunity to find a role and/or career they love, and companies have an opportunity to fill roles with the right, qualified candidate motivated for the position.  Sure, the pandemic has placed added constraints and stress on our lives, but what better time to shift from a surviving to thriving mode, especially with your career.  Our careers do not define us, but our level of happiness does.  This year let’s give that negative phrase a 180 degree turn and coin it ‘The Great Reinvention,’ a time for reflection and action.

 

The Great Reinvention centers around you, prioritizing what matters most and makes your heart sing with respect to your career.  It’s time to start prioritizing YOUR goals, aspirations, and what makes you truly happy.  If you’re happy with what you are doing for a living, then it’s not considered ‘work.’  Companies all want to be profitable and if their employees enjoy what they are doing and feel appreciated, naturally an increase in productivity occurs.  And if employees are happy and feel valued, their chances of burnout decreases.

 

New year, new you.  Time for a mindset shift and there is no better time than now to take calculated risks in your career to reinvent your professional life.  Why? Because tomorrow is not promised to us.  Therefore, we should embrace the past and use the present as a compass to guide us today in a way that sets us up for our future – and for our legacy.

 

We all seek tangible tools we can place in our toolboxes and apply to our lives as we troubleshoot, learn, and grow.  Here are a few tips to empower you to start blueprinting your career reinvention today:

–        Conduct a mapping exercise with your goals clearly stated to define WHAT you need to accomplish to get there

–        List the HOWs with respect to how you will achieve your dreams.  Will you further your education, get certified, be proactive by calendaring time in the evenings and weekends to research, network, etc.?

–     Create a timeline as to WHEN you will begin to take your calculated risk and forge ahead.

–        Make a list of WHO will be in your trusted circle to get you from point A to point B.  This is a combination of finding a sponsor within your company or desired company to help shepherd you to your dream job, to hiring a business coach, to finding a couple of relevant mentors.

–        Identify the fears, mindsets and beliefs that intimidate you and may be holding you back from following your career aspirations in this next chapter.  Get support to address if you need it!

 

If you are hungry for success that fuels your soul, I encourage you to take my digital course, Theodora Speaks – the online version, on how to take calculated risks to reinvent your professional life.  We touch on many of the aspects referenced above – and more – in support of moving you towards this next phase of your career. Visit https://www.gaylekeller.org for more information and sign up to begin your professional reinvention journey today.

 

For me, taking calculated risks really comes down to one thing – I do not want to wake up one day and wonder what might have been. Cody Johnson sings about this in his latest song “‘Til You Can’t” and emphasizes if you have a chance, take it.  So go for it.  Now is your time!

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Best Practices Culture Growth Health and Wellness

What’s Your Story?

“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

We tend to use this phrase when we talk about how similar a child is to their parents, when we notice repeated behaviors, patterns, and choices that pass across generations. The logic is simple: children mirror their parents’ actions and are wired to follow the examples they set.

Think about it. Our kids learn everything about life from us: how to crawl, walk, eat, sleep, talk—and eventually how to interact with other human beings and make their way through the world.

The pressure to set a good example or be a good role model can weigh heavily on you as a parent. That’s doubly true if you had issues or challenges (and who didn’t?) in your own childhood. Everyone faces roadblocks that stem directly from their childhood experiences. And whether or not we’re willing to admit it, our own upbringing directly affects how we raise our children.

I’ve shared my own story at a TEDxGEM in France: I had a loving but very traditional mother who believed that children should be seen and not heard. Because I was trained to repress my inner voice, I learned to keep my mouth shut—even when people took advantage of me.

We each have a story, and we all have scars. But we must put in the work to avoid perpetuating unhealthy patterns with our own kids. If you’re not careful, the issues your had with your own parents will rear their ugly heads in your relationships with your children.

Are you a new mother or father committed to building a loving, healthy environment for your baby to thrive? Or maybe you’re a seasoned parent whose negative patterns from your upbringing are beginning to show up in your relationship with your teenager?

Here are 3 warning signs that the apple may be a little too close to the tree:

  1. Projection. Did you have a happy childhood? Did you feel supported, understood, and seen by your primary caregivers? Adults who felt abandoned early in life, for example, may unknowingly project their own feelings onto their kids. A parental response could result in extreme behaviors such as distancing or smothering. When you respond to your child, are you acting based on your feelings or theirs?
  2. “Tough love.” Some parents deny their kids so-called benefits or privileges because they didn’t receive that treatment when they were growing up. A father may say, “You’ll work every summer instead of going to camp, because that’s how I grew up and learned to be responsible.” But “tough love” isn’t always the answer. Ask yourself if you really needed that kind of harsh treatment from your parents. What if they had been more supportive and understanding instead?
  3. Parenting out of fear. Parents understandably want to prevent their kids from making the same mistakes they did. But parenting out of fear that your children will rebel may convey the message that you don’t trust them—or, even worse, that they’re bad kids. A healthier alternative to fear-based parenting is to empower self-direction. Listen to your children’s thoughts and opinions. Show them that they can talk to you about anything and that you’ll always love them no matter what.

Facing your childhood issues head-on isn’t easy, but reckoning with your own story is the only way to ensure that the next chapter is better. When we heal past wounds, we release our children (and ourselves!) from generational patterns and lay the foundation for healthier parent-child dynamics. No matter where you are in your parenting journey, you can start to eliminate childhood baggage and create a clean slate for your kids.

Ready to work through your past to improve your relationship with your child? Send me a message and let’s begin your journey together.

Categories
Best Practices Growth Management Personal Development

6 New Steps To New Leadership Success

Leadership Growth And Personal Development For The Future-Proof Leader

It’s been challenging times.

We’ve been through a lot in the past few years. And the world still seems to be re-calibrating on what’s best to do next.

Indeed the future asks for careful considerations. That’s why recovery, renewal and reorientation are the key drivers on top of mind for leaders today.

Yet they have a lot on their plate.

  • Daily business asks for immediate decisions.
  • Personnel still needs to get used to new modes of working.
  • And the rapid changes in relation to new technologies and global developments ask for constant attention.

This can make it hard to take some time to properly reflect. Because fast data-driven decision-making seems to become the ultimate skill for the future, it can also lead to burnout or flat-out bad decisions. And so it sometimes looks like leadership has turned into constant crisis management.

Some call this ‘the new normal’ though.

But no one is really clear on what that ‘new’ or ‘normal’ then actually is. And so, many say, that the new leadership shouldn’t only be about managing crises – instead it should provide vision, purpose, service and direction towards a brighter future again.

That’s why in the first quarter of 2021 I already wrote an article series on >>Leadership 6.0 ~How To Navigate The New Normal<<

In that series I philosophically explored some themes and topics that could help navigating these uncertain times, by an attempt and proposal to make wise use of certain principles that could stand the tests of time.

By no means are those principles final or instantly saving us from the complexity we’re living amidst of. But since then we can say that we indeed have entered some kind of the anticipated new normal that tries to overcome mere crisis management. What’s normal now thus isn’t new anymore. So…

Something else is needed now.

What’s needed now is recovery, renewal and reorientation.

These key drivers of leadership growth and personal development have gained different meaning though, especially in the light of insight that has come forth from the global reset, or rather, the global recalibration.

Therefore, before we dive into the six new steps let’s first take a quick look at last year’s steps:

  1. Transcend The Current State Of Affairs <<click on text to read the article<<
  2. Tap And Tune Into Infinite Inspiration <<click on text to read the article<<
  3. Allow Visionary Awareness To Arise <<click on text to read the article<<
  4. Create A Compelling Vision With Purpose <<click on text to read the article<<
  5. Sense The Secret Of ‘Mission Accomplished’ <<click on text to read the article<<
  6. Energise The Excellence <<click on text to read the article<<

As you can see, these six steps have universal value – they can be applied in every situation and in all times. We can indeed say that they appeal to eternal leadership growth and personal development principles.

Now, because of that, they of course also still apply to today’s situation. But something else is needed…

From my numerous conversations with peers and clients, the study of hundreds of articles, and reading dozens of books on the topics of leadership growth and personal development, we can distil the following six new steps that can lead to new leadership success.

As you read on these six new steps…

  • Be aware of the variety in which they can appear and play out in your own life.
  • They come in various shapes and forms, both internally as externally, both in matters of mere personal affairs as in matters of global concern.
  • They partly go back to recovery and renewal of what already was entered upon, while also allowing now for reorientation into a new leadership growth and personal development paradigm.

Six New Steps To New Leadership Success.

These six new steps are presented here in relation to leadership growth and personal development by asking a few questions and giving some examples and resources, so you can immediately benefit from merely reading already.

Of course there’s more to it when it comes to further implementation, but as an overview framework it might help you now dialing in on where to concentrate next for new leadership success.

Here are the six steps…

  1. Heart-Brain Coherence – How to have love and reason strengthen each other

  • Personal Development: How do you take care of your own heart-brain coherence? Are you balancing love and reason in a greater understanding of wisdom?
  • Leadership Growth: How do you allow the heart-brain coherence of your team, staff, business and organization as a whole to be balanced? Do you lead with wisdom?
  • Resource: >>https://www.heartmath.com/<<

  1. Mindset Multiverse – How to have clarity of thought and understand each other better

  • Personal Development: What are the mindsets you’re using or do you need to adopt new ones now? Is there an encompassing mindset or paradigm? And how does this all cohere in the oneness of your life?
  • Leadership Growth: What are the mindsets of the people in the organization you’re leading? Is there an encompassing paradigm that allows for individual initiatives? And how does this all relate to yours, each other’s, and the world’s mindset multiverse at large?
  • Resource: >>https://www.amazon.com/Omniverse-Inside-You-Above-Beyond-ebook/dp/B09PFT51M8<<

  1. Skillset Skyrocketed – How to have enhanced capacity without burnout

  1. Toolsets Transformed – How to have more productivity without waste

  • Personal Development: Are there sets of thinking tools, doing tools, usage tools that you need to install, update or refresh in order to help yourself developing?
    • g. what mindsets, beliefs, thoughts, ideas and convictions do you work with?
    • g. what kind of skillsets do you have in place to get the things done that you want to get done for yourself?
    • g. what technologies do you use; are they up-to-date; do they align and smoothly interact (e.g. cloud-based smartwatch, smartphone, laptop, desktop etc.)
  • Leadership Growth: Are there sets of thinking tools, doing tools, usage tools that need to be installed, upgraded, improved upon or replaced for your team and/or within the organization?
  • Resource: >>https://www.performancemanagementcompany.com/<<

  1. Comprehensive Conscious Capitalism – How to have more capital without exploitation

  • Personal Development: Do you have a comprehensive capital vision of your own five categories of capital? And are you making wise use of them?
  • Leadership Growth: Is there a way to let the five categories of capital enhance and advance each other within your organization and in relation to the world at large?
  • Resource: >>https://app.mastermind.com/masterminds/2979<<

  1. Omnibenevolence – How to have goodness abound

  • Personal Development: What is The Highest Good for you? Is there congruence in your understanding of living the good life or is there something to be improved upon in terms of work-life balance?
  • Leadership Growth: How does workforce happiness play out in your organization? Is there inspiration, motivation, creativity and ownership of positions in your team? Are people satisfied and balanced in their working endeavours? What about friendships, friendliness, philanthropy? And how does it translate into customer service, customer experience, corporate social responsibility?
  • Resource: >>https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09DTV3752<<

As you can see, this six step framework for new leadership success is wide in scope and deep in its practice. And together with last year’s steps it can quickly become overwhelming. Therefore I searched for the one thing that could bring it all together…

The ONE thing that brings it all together…

In a special new year’s article I already announced it. (You can read that article >>here<<)

The one thing that brings it all together now is a peer-to-peer mentoring group, a Mastermind Council. And in order to have more clarity, coherence and congruence in that council, I created a non-rigid curriculum for new leadership growth and advanced personal development, all in the light of and with the hope for a brighter future for humankind.

Thus, what I shared here above are just a few of the things that we’ll discuss in this new Mastermind Council. That council is called The Omnibenevolence Council™ and it’s specifically meant for Philanthropy Directors, CSR-Executives and C-Suite Business Leaders. So, if you’re also an open-minded and warm-hearted leader who values real leadership growth and advanced personal development then you’re invited!

There are only a limited number of seats available though, for obvious quality reasons. Thus, if you now want to learn more on what it’s all about and apply for a seat then connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maurits-van-sambeek/ Or send an email with your inquiry to philanthropyleaderblueprint@gmail.com

Looking forward to welcome you into The Omnibenevolence Council™!

Sincerely,

Maurits van Sambeek, MA

C-Suite Network Advisor™

Author of >>Omnibenevolence<<

And >>The Omniverse Inside You<<

Categories
Best Practices Growth Personal Development

What is a Personal Brand – and How Can You Take Charge of Yours?

What is a Personal Brand?

And How Can You Take Charge of Yours?

 

What is a personal brand?

Your personal brand is what people know you for – it is your reputation. Jeff Bezos suggests: “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” Your personal brand is what makes you memorable; your personal brand differentiates you from others. Others attribute your personal brand to you based on their experience with you by evaluating how you look, how you act, and what you say.

Taking charge of your personal

If other people are attributing your brand to you, do you have any control over how you are known? YES, you absolutely can proactively control your personal brand to make sure you get recognized for who you are and what you are good at. Having a strong personal brand will help you advance in the world of work. The keys to building your strong personal brand are: assessment, authenticity, communication, congruence, credibility.

Assessment

Take stock of yourself. Give yourself the gift of time and space for serious introspection. What is it people come to you for? What are your skills and experiences? What do you really enjoy doing? What are your personal values and principles? What differentiates you from others? Figuring out who you are and what you want to communicate about yourself is the essential starting point for “packaging” your personal brand message.

Authenticity

Intentionally creating a personal brand is not about adopting a new persona; it is about representing yourself as you are authentically. I like the maxim often attributed to Oscar Wilde: “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” So, strive to be the best possible version of yourself, but don’t try to be someone you’re not. If you adopt a false brand, you won’t attract the right opportunities.

Communication

Putting your personal brand into words concisely is a challenge worth tackling. Think about who you serve, the problems you help them solve, and the results of your work. Draft multiple defining statements and say each aloud. When you find one you really like, practice it repeatedly so that it trips off your tongue easily.

When you can easily articulate your personal brand, you’ll find it much easier to introduce yourself at a networking session, write a compelling LinkedIn headline and About section, share with your customer how you may be helpful, make a compelling impression at a job interview, and more.

Craft your LinkedIn profile with care. LinkedIn is one of the primary ways people find out about you.

Congruence

An intentionally created personal brand is like a contract with yourself and others. Michael Hyatt says: “Literally, every point of contact is an opportunity to create a positive brand impression—if you are intentional.” But if how you look, how you act, and what you say are not aligned, the brand you intend to convey will not be the brand others perceive. For example, if part of your stated personal brand is that you are “customer-focused,” but you consistently show up to meetings late, fail to listen, and don’t complete projects according to the agreed-to deadline, then something is definitely not congruent – and your brand is damaged.

Credibility

Have you heard the admonition “show, don’t tell?” Instead of telling us of your greatness, you can use your LinkedIn profile to increase your credibility by including your education, honors, and awards; by quantifying your results using key performance indicators; by including the names and logos of companies you’ve worked for; by endorsements and recommendations. These credibility indicators are easy to include on your LinkedIn profile, as well as on your resume and other personal marketing materials.

Building an intentional, strong personal brand is the key to career advancement – and of course, sharing your brand online via LinkedIn is an essential career strategy.

 

 

If you are a C-suite executive or senior leader who would like to improve your online personal brand, LinkedIn profile, and presence, I can make it easy for you. I have a track record of working effectively with C-suite executives and senior leaders to create LinkedIn profiles and other executive-branded materials that help them show up as authentically and powerfully online as they do in person. This way, they can attract the talent they want to hire, increase their visibility and influence, and control their career. I also mentor clients on LinkedIn etiquette and effective posting strategies to ensure their success. Let me help you use this essential business tool effectively. Contact me through my website: www.carolkaemmerer.com or profile: www.linkedin.com/in/carolkaemmerer. 

Carol KaemmererOther resources:

Book me to speak either virtually or in person on the topic of personal branding via LinkedIn. I am a member of the National Speakers Association, a Certified Virtual Presenter, and an Advisor to the C-Suite Network.

to order click: https://carolk.yourfeaturedauthor.com/LinkedIn for the Savvy Executive - Second Edition
Promote Your Brand with Authenticity, Tact and Power

My NEW book Second Edition: LinkedIn for the Savvy Executive: Promote Your Brand with Authenticity, Tact and Power is available through online booksellers. For your author-inscribed and signed book or quantity discounts, order at: https://carolkaemmerer.com/books

 

For DIY instruction on improving your LinkedIn profile, register for my self-paced, online course: How to be Found on LinkedIn: Key Strategies for Attracting Ideal-for-You Opportunities, https://carolkaemmerer.com/onlinecourse

 

To receive my monthly articles in your email inbox, sign up for my monthly emailing here.

 

Other Articles by Carol Kaemmerer

Twelve Changes You Can Make in About an Hour to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile

Why Is My LinkedIn Profile Getting So Few Views?

How Can LinkedIn Be Part of Your Company’s Strategy for Responding to the Great Resignation?

Is Your LinkedIn Profile Missing the Mark?

Comfortable in Your Job? Uncomfortable Life Lessons to Safeguard Your Career

How to Be Found on LinkedIn: Ten Top Strategies to Rank Well on a LinkedIn Keyword Search

Why Are You Playing Small on LinkedIn?

If You’re Not “Writing to the Margins” on LinkedIn, You’re Missing Out

Don’t Be Hooked Through a Big Phish: Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams on LinkedIn:

A Small Omission That Undermines Your Credibility on LinkedIn

“Tell Me More…” — On LinkedIn

What is Your Poor LinkedIn Profile Costing You?

C-Suite Executives: Stop Hiding Online

 

 

 

Categories
Best Practices Culture Growth Health and Wellness

5 tips to handle school-from-home

If you’re a parent or caregiver to a school-aged kid, chances are you’ve found yourself learning grammar or long division again — only this time, the teacher is on Zoom. And you’re fighting with the technology of uploading your child’s digital work. And trying to run a household. And maybe attempting to work yourself.

For many families around the world, school from home will be around for at least a few more months. While it’s not easy to juggle all those priorities (and all that tech!), it’s possible to make the experience a little better for both you and your kids.

The expectations around school and the pressure parents put on their kids can create a lot of stress. Whether your child is co-working with you at the living room table or back in the classroom, these 5 tips will help you both ace the semester:

  1. Discover your child’s learning style. Some kids find it easy to work independently while others need activity and collaboration. Find out which learning styles your child responds to best and help shape their experiences accordingly. Independent thinker? Give them time and space to study and work on their own. Collaborative mind? Encourage them to schedule more Zoom sessions with their classmates. Catering to their unique style will help your kid have a more positive experience.
  2. Encourage their hobbies. Who says education has to be by the book? Let your kids explore and expand their non-academic skills, like cooking, baking, drawing, or dancing. These skills are just as important as geometry or social studies. What matters is that they find ways to become engaged with something they care about. Their hobbies may change over time, but the ability to dig into an area of interest has lifelong benefits.
  3. Use the resources available. Look around you: you have a wealth of educational resources online and in your neighborhood. Coordinate a book swap with a classmate or neighbor. Hold biology class outside to look for real-life examples of the concepts your child is learning. Sign up for online guitar lessons (Youtube can teach you to do just about anything these days). Let your own creativity expand the options beyond the school’s lesson plan and the oh-so-many online worksheets.
  4. Design a schedule for learning. Children thrive with some structure in place — adults, too! It’s important that children have a dedicated time and place for school activities. Work with your child to develop their own little study nook in the house, and help them identify the best time for activities like homework and studying. While they may not be able to dictate their entire schedule, your child should definitely have input in this process.
  5. Don’t focus on the grades. Try not to be overly preoccupied with your child’s grades, especially during this wild and crazy year. Becoming too grade-obsessed can give a kid the impression that their confidence or self-worth should be tied to competency. We have to constantly remind our children that love is not something they have to earn or acquire by doing well in school or being a “perfect” human. We are worthy of love and belonging simply because we’re alive and breathing. Work to be more forgiving if your child scores lower than expected on a test. And forgive yourself if you feel like a less-than-perfect teacher. Our children’s achievements are not a reflection of us!
  6. One thing is certain: the school-from-home era has been a learning experience for all of us. Learning always means growth, which gives you and your child the opportunity to deepen your relationship and come together as a team. Besides, not everyone gets a chance to relive their school days. 🙂

If you and your child struggle to talk about school, my free eBook may help. I wrote 7 Strategies to Keep Your Relationship With Your Kids from Hitting the Boiling Point to give every parent the tools they need to improve their communication with their child, especially around hot-button issues like homework and grades. Grab your copy today.

Categories
Best Practices Growth Personal Development

Twelve Changes You Can Make in About an Hour to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile

Twelve Changes You Can Make in About an Hour to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile

Generally, I write and speak about the importance of putting your essence – your purpose, principles, and business passions – into your LinkedIn profile, so people will discover the authentic YOU when they encounter your profile. That change requires heavy lifting: introspection by the individual and high quality writing (either by that person or someone like me who specializes in writing superlative customized LinkedIn profiles). But here, as my holiday gift to you, I offer 12 simple changes you can make to improve your profile from a mechanical standpoint. Each of these is easy to make and the references I provide can help. You may be able to make all these changes in about a hour, or if you are so inclined, you could do one a day during each of the 12 days of Christmas!

 

  1. Customize your profile’s URL
    Why? Because the URL assigned to you by LinkedIn ends with a long string of random numbers and letters that make it hard for you (and others) to memorize or type. Your default URL doesn’t fit nicely on a business card or your signature block on your email and it is cumbersome when you have to look it up to post it in the Zoom chat with the customized URLs of others. Also, using the default URL signals that you are not in the know. To the right of your profile, you’ll find Edit Public Profile and URL.
  2. Check to see that your photo and all your sections are visible to the public
    The longer you have been on LinkedIn, the more likely you are to have this kind of settings problems because we were all so skittish about showing our photo online years ago. Now, having your photo not show on your profile is equivalent to having no photo of a house listed for sale. I see the “no photo showing” problem quite often among senior-level leaders. Of course they are generally unaware that people who are not connected see their profile without their photo. There are other sections of your profile that may not be visible. To make them visible, you’ll find those in the in the Edit Public Profile and URL noted in #1.
  3. Change the setting “Viewers of This Profile Also Viewed” to NO
    Why? This default setting allows 10 people to appear to the right of your profile (or 20 in the phone app) who were viewed by someone who viewed your profile also. Recruiters sometimes refer to these people as your competition; recruiters are delighted to use this feature to help them source candidates for positions they are trying to fill. Giving others a free ride on your LinkedIn profile is not to your advantage. Change this setting to No. You’ll find this setting in a drop-down menu under your avatar (the small photo of you on your toolbar) in the Site Preferences section.
  4. Add your email address
    Actually, add it in two places: under the Contact info button and at the end of your About section. Why? Your connections expect to be able to access your email in your Contact info section, but people who are not connected with you cannot see your email under your Contact section.
  5. Check out the other info under the Contact info button
    For example, add your current company’s website if it is not already there and make sure that websites from former positions are not still linked with your account. Also, take a look at anything else you might want to add or subtract. For example, if you dislike having prospective vendors and people you don’t know well wish you a happy birthday, take your birth date off. If on your special day you crave attention, make sure your birthday is listed.
  6. Attempt to correct the issue of any missing logos in your Experience section and Education section
    Logos are an important credibility builder. For my instructions on how to get logos that exist within the LinkedIn database to show up, and how to get logos for a company you control to be entered in the LinkedIn database, see my article, A Small Omission That Undermines Your Credibility on LinkedIn.
  7. Add the Name pronouncer widget
    Is yours is a name that people find challenging to pronounce? If so, rejoice! Help is on the way. On the LinkedIn mobile app (only), you can now record your name so that people will know how to pronounce it. You’ll find instructions here. Once recorded via the mobile app, people can listen to your recording from any device.
  8. Add a Featured section
    Populate it with posts you’ve made about your team, articles you’ve written, logos of professional associations to which you belong, etc. Read more about the Featured section in my article Are You Missing Out On LinkedIn’s New Brand-Building Features?
  9. Make sure your education listings are in the order you prefer
    To make a change, go to your education section and you’ll see to the right of the word Education caret symbols (up and down) and a plus sign. Click on the carets which takes you to a “Reorder” window from which you can change the order of your schools using the slider icons.
  10. Check out the Optional sections such as licenses and certifications, honors and awards, volunteer experience. Add any that apply.
  11. Make sure that the top three skills that show on your profile are really your most important skills
    If they are not, demote the skills currently listed in the top three slots by clicking the pushpin icons and add the pushpin icons to your three most important skills.
  12. Customize your LinkedIn headline
    LinkedIn auto-fills your headline with your current job title and company, but you have 220 characters to customize it. Think of your headline as your marketing tagline and add some additional text. For example, you could add the value your clients or customers receive from your services.

 

If you are a C-suite executive or senior leader who would like to improve your LinkedIn profile and presence, I can make it easy for you. I have a track record of working effectively with C-suite executives and senior leaders to create LinkedIn profiles and other executive-branded materials that help them show up as authentically and powerfully online as they do in person. This way, they can attract the talent they want to hire, increase their visibility and influence, and control their career. I also mentor clients on LinkedIn etiquette and effective posting strategies to ensure their success. Let me help you use this essential business tool effectively. Contact me through my website: www.carolkaemmerer.com or profile: www.linkedin.com/in/carolkaemmerer. 

 

Carol KaemmererOther resources:

Book me to speak either virtually or in-person on the topic of personal branding via LinkedIn. I am a member of the National Speakers Association, a Certified Virtual Presenter, and an Advisor to the C-Suite Network.

Cover of LinkedIn for the Savvy Executive: Second Edition by Carol Kaemmerer

 

My NEW book Second Edition: LinkedIn for the Savvy Executive: Promote Your Brand with Authenticity, Tact and Power is available through online booksellers. For your author-inscribed and signed book or quantity discounts, order: https://carolkaemmerer.com/books

 

For DIY instruction on improving your LinkedIn profile, register for my self-paced, online course: How to be Found on LinkedIn: Key Strategies for Attracting Ideal-for-You Opportunities, https://carolkaemmerer.com/onlinecourse

 

To receive my monthly articles in your email inbox, sign up for my monthly emailing here.

 

Articles by Carol Kaemmerer

Why Is My LinkedIn Profile Getting So Few Views?

How Can LinkedIn Be Part of Your Company’s Strategy for Responding to the Great Resignation?

Is Your LinkedIn Profile Missing the Mark?

Comfortable in Your Job? Uncomfortable Life Lessons to Safeguard Your Career

How to Be Found on LinkedIn: Ten Top Strategies to Rank Well on a LinkedIn Keyword Search

Why Are You Playing Small on LinkedIn?

If You’re Not “Writing to the Margins” on LinkedIn, You’re Missing Out

Don’t Be Hooked Through a Big Phish: Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams on LinkedIn

A Small Omission That Undermines Your Credibility on LinkedIn

“Tell Me More…” — On LinkedIn

What is Your Poor LinkedIn Profile Costing You?

C-Suite Executives: Stop Hiding Online

 

Categories
Best Practices Body Language Culture Health and Wellness Human Resources Management Skills Women In Business

Important and Urgent

Right before the pandemic hit, I was speaking to a highly-regarded CEO about how I help business leaders up-level their game as it pertains to stress management. She was intrigued, but ultimately said, “You know, what you do is important, but not urgent (referring to the Eisenhower Matrix, a simple decision-making tool that helps you prioritize tasks).”

Almost two years to the day, managing stress and the consequences of not managing it well, have finally captured our attention. Mental health, wellness, work-life balance, burnout, depression, anxiety, and sadly suicide have become all too common in our everyday lives. Here in the US, we’ve plummeted down the world rankings for happiness.

But what does that mean for employers in the coming year? If you haven’t heard the term “The Great Resignation,” it’s important you do.

According to the Harvard Business Review, more than 9 million global employees quit their jobs in July 2021. And of them, the largest share went to the 30-to-45-year-old bracket. Unsurprising as this average age of new managers, carrying a large amount of stress and usually the least equipped to deal with it.

There are many complicating reasons for this exodus, but according to the study: “many of these workers may have simply reached a breaking point after months and months of high workloads, hiring freezes, and other pressures, causing them to rethink their work and life goals(https://hbr.org/2021/09/who-is-driving-the-great-resignation).”

In my 38 years as a mental health professional, my most engaged clients have been those between the ages of 30 and 45. They’ve lived past their 20’s when they thought they knew everything. And haven’t yet reached their 50’s where again, they will think they know everything.

It’s a time of growth when the existential meaning of life is most compelling. This generation, in particular, is hungry to learn, purpose-driven, and doesn’t want to wait until retirement to start enjoying what the world has to offer.

Given that we are living in unprecedented times, we must all pay attention to the underlying forces at play and the real costs of ignoring them. These issues are complicated and not easy to solve. Yet, if we don’t address them, our continued spiral towards an unhappy society will rage on.

To be very specific, when stress hormones flood the body and the brain, a person’s executive functioning goes “offline.” The desire may be there, but the capacity is not. Much has been said and written about focusing on the “whole person.” But what does that look like from an employer’s perspective?

1. Good mental health is not intuitive – it’s learned. Stress relief apps, office yoga, massage gift cards, etc. They are helpful, but not sufficient in building the kind of internal resiliency needed to cope with our current stressors. Picture bringing a plastic fork to a gunfight. Management teams need real skills and proven methods for managing staff happiness.

2. Peak Performance is predictable and repeatable. Again, one needs to understand how both the body and mind work to achieve these highly productive states. To achieve a sustainable workflow while operating in high-stress environments, one needs to be properly equipped.

3. Mind, Body, Spirit, and Emotion. These four pillars comprise a whole system and thus, a whole person. Pay attention to them and your team will notice. I can’t guarantee these methods will make you their favorite boss, but I can guarantee that you will be setting them up for success both inside your organization and for life.

The last few years have provided us with great challenges and even greater opportunities. It would be a shame to let this time of introspection pass by without making genuine change for the better. When the calendar rolls around to 2022, do you want to find yourself repeating negative thought patterns? Neither does your team.

Categories
Best Practices Marketing Personal Development Sales

Trusted Advisors or Structured Sales: Pick One

Two B2B sales models have emerged over the last decade or so, without most of us knowing it.  In 2022, that divergence will become clearer. Both have their place, and each can be mis-applied.

One is “Divide and Optimize”, ably described in best-selling Predictable Revenue. Here, your selling process — emphasis on “selling”– is divided into subprocesses/components, and specialized job roles are optimized for efficiency and effectiveness.

  • Sales development & business development reps secure appointments for demo specialists/account executives, who close, relaying to customer success or account manager/farmers.
  • This model increasingly has a seller-centric feel, and various manipulations, especially discounting, get used – often in vain — to shorten sales cycles.

Second is a “Trusted Expert” model, emphasizing “buying process”. Goal: deeply understand each customer’s world & situation, then co-create desirable outcomes.  Specialist roles are used extensively, but in service of enhancing the customer journey, not selling process efficiency.

  • Business acumen is key. Sellers must follow up compelling datapoints with insightful business discussions.
  • Content is customer focused, and outcome-heavy. “Discovery” and “mutual fit” are emphasized over “qualification”. Demonstrations are shorter, focused on areas of customer-confirmed interest.

Buyer Research Points to Which Model Fits…and When

Research shows that buyers are increasingly willing to engage salespeople earlier  — sometimes much earlier — in their buying journey when the decision is:

  • New to me or my organization, particularly when the solution is innovative,
  • Risky to me or my organization. For instance: implementation, vendor, change management, executive visibility, strategic and other risks.

The vertical axis in the diagram represents increasing “willingness to engage” as you go up. “Willing to” is key.  Sellers still need to rise to the occasion. Customers don’t suffer fools or time wasters.

When to Choose the Divide and Optimize Model –and When Not To.

Lower down, customers feel self-sufficient.  They may have recently bought this type of product or service, and have well-developed buying criteria.  SDRs and BDRs are well-suited to uncover a customer’s known pain & gain points, and quickly move the sale to demos & evaluating [repetitive/consistent] decision criteria.  Conversely, few SDR/BDR organizations are able to cause a “trigger event” – that is, create dissatisfaction with the status quo.  Fewer still can conduct meaningful business conversations.

The obvious conclusion: the more confident a customer is in their decision-making, the better Divide and Optimize fits the situation.

Contacting high-willingness buyers with low-acumen SDRs?  You risk allowing a more trusted  competitor to guide those prospects through their journey.  Do you really want to re-engage near the end and compete based on the other guy’s features and your price?

When to Implement the Trusted Advisor Model

When the customer is under-experienced, and/or risk averse, the trusted expert model becomes the best fit.  Sellers with business acumen, who build value — who are the value — earn “valued consultant” status. Ideally, buyers and sellers co-create a shared future; they act like they’re already doing business together.

Success in the trusted expert model requires that sellers establish credibility from the first contact (today’s typical SDR or BDR can’t deliver the expertise a customer would welcome).  With credibility established, they are given liberty to help expand customer’s perception of outcomes or modify buying criteria.

Important: sometimes, an “low-willingness” prospect can change perceptions when a credible, collaborative, trusted expert opens their eyes to new possibilities. This textbook application of “challenging/perspective/insight selling” thrives with seller credibility; but without credibility, it backfires into “the annoying know-it-all sale”.  There’s an art to building enough credibility with these prospects that you have “permission to enlighten”.

Choose the Best Match For Your Customer, Not on “Availability of Automation Tools”.

The Divide and Optimize model is about selling process efficiency, and a majority of current Martech solutions (8000+ and counting) serve well here.  Many tools optimize your sellers quantity of:

  • Questions asked,
  • Seconds of listening vs. seconds of talking,
  • ..and streamline quantity of calls, texts, tweets, posts, video messages, emails spewed…

However, little current sales automation measures quality of:

  • Business insights offered (although big data is starting to be applied here)
  • Credibility built,
  • Questions to expand the customer’s concept of their problems or future
  • Number of additional “natural ally” buying influencers are added to the decision team
  • Business outcomes identified and quantified
  • Personal outcomes identified.

We’re Starting to Automate the Trusted Advisor Model:  a Huge Step Forward.

 Some big data tools now quickly synthesize data for trusted advisors, enabling genuine consultants to add value with clients…It’s becoming possible to know more about key parts of your customer’s business than they do.

There are also great value quantification tools, which help solidify value in a customer’s mind, minimizing price objections.

Business acumen (hired or developed) is a priority with trusted advisor organizations. Options used to be full-on MBA educations for sellers (at least one major enterprise software company opts for this) or dissatisfying “how to interpret financial statements”, or “SWOT analysis” tools. Training and tools in between those are becoming available.

 

Let Your Customer’s Situation Choose Your Selling Model.

 

Follow the research: asses at your customer’s typical buying situation. Figure out if buying from you is novel and/or risky for your customer.  Or, make it easy: ask me for my customer willingness assessment tool.

In 2022, if your company sells to high-willingness buyers…or want to…and you currently use a Divide and Optimize approach, you might want to switch models.  Heck, if every competitor in a Trusted Advisor market uses Divide and Optimize, there is a market opportunity for the first mover.  Be aware, though: execution requires investing in your people, their business acumen, and the types of content you generate, not your tech stack.

When you do, you’ll find that improves your pricing integrity – and profits, informs better marketing, and sharpens your product strategy.  I’m happy to help you figure out how to do it in your world, using your language.  You can get started by reading my book. ..or contact me.

To your Success!