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Spring 2014
Dear
Colleague,
Spring is finally here! After a long and difficult winter,
seeing the mounds of snow melting away and signs of warmer temperatures, green
grass and blossoming flowers is energizing. Spring is always a reminder of
change and how it impacts our lives in a variety of ways - weather, time,
accessibility, energy, and attitudes just to mention a few of those ways. It is
also an inspiring showcase of transformation when we see the leaves begin to
grow back, bright colored flowers emerging and healthy green grass sprouting.
The four seasons are all explicit illustrations of change and
transformation. Each season brings forth renewal in different forms and
preparing us for the next season.
It is a good practice to apply this type of renewal and
transformation to our own personal and professional development. Managing our
careers is like a journey with many destinations to be traveled encountering
peaks and valleys, along with unexpected forks in the road that can provide new
opportunities. As leaders and managers, we also play an important role in
supporting, coaching and mentoring talent in our organizations as they plan and
manage their careers.
It's up to each individual to 'own' their career - to have a
mission and vision with specific goals. Being flexible to new possibilities,
keeping an open mind, and pushing out of our comfort zone will allow us to
welcome and embrace change. Change is the only constant today requiring
agility and flexibility to allow ourselves to transform in new ways.
Owning our career includes setting personal and professional goals, having a
plan and staying focused yet flexible to unexpected opportunities and
possibilities.
"We delight in the beauty of
the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that
beauty."
~ Maya
Angelou
I am excited to share some exciting
developments at Rita B. Allen Associates in accomplishment of two major goals
for 2014:
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Book Release - Personal Branding
and Marketing Yourself, the 3 Ps Technique as a Guide to Career
Empowerment by Rita Balian Allen - Available June 2014
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A New and Revised Website for Rita B.
Allen Associates (See below)
First
- it is with great pleasure I announce the completion of my first
book which will be published and available this coming June titled,
"Personal Branding and Marketing Yourself". It has been an incredible
experience and as I get ready to launch it, I would like to share an excerpt
with you..
Marketing ourselves allows us to
establish our niche, our differentiators, our value-add, and the worth that we
have to offer. Defining and creating our "personal brand," articulating it and
then enhancing it is part of the marketing process. Marketing ourselves is a
core competency that can become so effortless and second-nature that we do not
even realize we are doing it. |
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Let's begin with a vision exercise to
illustrate the importance of developing the core competency of marketing
ourselves.
Vision Exercise Fast forward: it is
15 years into the future. You have been invited to speak at an industry event
because of your accomplishments and contributions throughout your career. What
does that vision look like for you? What do you want to be known for? Visualize
what you want your "personal brand" to be in 15 years.
Give this some thought and then answer the
following questions:
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Was that difficult or easy?
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Do you know your worth?
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Can you define your personal
brand?
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How easily can you articulate that
brand?
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Do you actively work on enhancing your
brand?
If you are like most people, you may have
found this exercise a little daunting or overwhelming. Many people do not think
that far in advance and try to deal with the current day, the here and now.
However, the best way to arm ourselves for the career challenges we will
inevitably face is to recognize our contributions and continuously work on
enhancing and marketing our brand within our chosen fields. We all need to have
a mission for our career and specific goals we want to accomplish. Without a
plan, we do not have direction or any criteria for accountability. Creating
this vision for ourselves is the beginning of creating a plan.
Now let's rewind back to the current day and
take a moment to reflect on all of the demands that we face: demands that we
have no control over such as the economy, competition, specialization vs.
generalization, changing demographics, generational and cultural differences,
leadership expectations and capabilities, as well as the globalization of our
marketplace. Within the landscape of all these growing demands and challenges,
have you positioned yourself for success? How ready are you to put your best
foot forward if faced with a promotional opportunity, board consideration,
networking event, professional association membership, project leadership, job
interviews, and/or other growth potential?
Contrary to popular opinion, successful
careers do not just happen. They take a lot of planning and due diligence. One
of the key areas that I apply in my coaching model with clients is around goal
setting - personally and professionally. In fact, a study on goal setting
conducted by Gail Matthews, PhD, at Dominican University demonstrated that
writing one's goals down enhances goal achievement. The study provides
empirical evidence for the effectiveness of three coaching tools:
accountability, commitment and writing down one's goals .
In our global marketplace there is and always
will be demand for accomplished, results-driven professionals with a proven
track record who can add value. Only you can manage your career. Having a solid
plan for yourself with specific goals and objectives is the best way to start
the process, which involves defining, identifying, creating, building,
articulating and enhancing your personal brand!
The Three P's Marketing Technique:
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Preparation - Define and Identify
Brand
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Packaging - Create and Build
Brand
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Presentation - Articulate and
Enhance Brand
Many people feel overwhelmed by the activities
and requirements of this process, or worse, end up avoiding it completely. It
is challenging, but in the end, it truly is exhilarating! Once we achieve the
discipline to create routines for ourselves, we will also establish ongoing
behaviors that we are committed to maintaining, especially when we reap the
rewards. It's also important to note that this process is not something to do
without some formal or informal support and guidance from others. Think about
it: has anything that has yielded tremendous results ever been easy? I believe
the answer is no. The most challenging experiences that are most memorable and
satisfying are the ones that require us to, stretch our thinking and tap into
talents we might not have known we had. Managing our career is one of those
experiences that is a journey with many peaks and valleys, and will require us
to navigate crossroads, forks, dead ends, and new, exciting, untraveled roads.
It requires us to stop along the way, reevaluate, take leaps of faith, and
remind ourselves that the journey has no end. In order to know our personal
brand and market ourselves, we need to walk through this process continuously
and regularly.
Developing this core competency can be a rich
and enlightening process. Because I know how difficult it can be, I set out to
provide resources and support in this book: tips, tools, techniques and
strategies for using my Three Ps Technique as a guide to career empowerment. I
encourage you to use this book as a guide, manual, and workbook that you will
review and revisit throughout your whole career. It is not a book that will be
read from cover to cover in one sitting and then filed away. You will need time
to think, reflect, and process in between sections. You will need time to
complete activities, exercises and worksheets. I envision that you will end up
with lots of notes, highlights, bookmarks, and Post-Its on these pages
and that you will keep it close by as a quick and handy reference. Remember,
not only will you be asking yourself questions that force you to look deep
within - you will also have to answer them. It may seem at times to be a trying
journey, but it is also a fulfilling one that will leave you empowered to take
charge of your career. Enjoy the journey!
STAY TUNED FOR
MORE
COMING JUNE 2014
Second - I'm very excited
to unveil my updated website and invite you to visit us at
www.ritaballenassociates.com.
Please take a moment to review all of the pages
including the SERVICES page covering executive coaching, career
coaching, team coaching, leadership development, management training and career
development. You may also like to see some of my recently published
blogs, articles and upcoming presentations including the following:
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My monthly blog and column,
"Rita's Career Corner", in the Global Business Hub section of
boston.com, with a new topic each month and an opportunity to post questions to
"Ask Rita
" All of these blogs can also be found on my website.
This month's topic is "Manage Your Time Before It Manages
You".
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Other published articles including,
"Successfully Navigating Corporate Culture" and "Developing Your Human
Resources Career and Brand" in NEHRA's eNewsletters.
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FX Conference Webinar, Enhancing
Communication Skills, May 7, 2014
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Personal Branding Panel
Discussion with a distinguished panel of senior executives which I will
be moderating for
MBA Women International Association, at Sherin &
Lodgen, Boston, MA May 22, 2014 5:30 - 8:30 PM
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FX Conference Webinar, Improving Your
Presentations, June 4, 2014
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ASTD Forum Webcast, Emotional
Intelligence as a Predictor of Leadership Success June 14, 2014,
www.astd.org/forum
As I progress into the ninth year of my business, I feel
very grateful and blessed to have worked with incredible clients, enhanced long
lasting relationships as well as established new ones and to be fortunate
enough to do work that I love and brings me much satisfaction and
fulfillment.
Many thanks for your continued support, your business and
your referrals! I am appreciative for another active year and welcome the
opportunity to be of assistance and continue to provide a variety of talent
management consulting and coaching services. Please reach out and share some of
your updates, accomplishments and challenges with me! I look forward to hearing
from you!
Best Regards,
Rita B. Allen
Rita B. Allen Associates
| 460 Totten Pond Road, Suite 110
| Waltham, MA 02451 781-890-6803
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rita@ritaballenassociates.com
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www.ritaballenassociates.com
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