I wanted a challenge, so I'm going to mash-up my first band, Zen Buddhism, and business re-branding. Here I go! I recently found a trove of promotional material from my early music days. One of the pieces was a flier for the first show of my first band, The Armadillo Society. We had no idea what we were doing and the flier was really just a bunch of written out information that we photocopied at the library. I had a lot to learn about music and marketing, but it was a start. In Zen, there's an idea called "Beginner's Mind". It's the concept of approaching each moment as a beginner, without the baggage that we bring from our past or … [Read more...]
5 Ways to Add Some Swagger to Your Personal Brand
As far as personal brands go, "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business" is a pretty good one. Everyone knew who James Brown was and why he was so good at what he did. And it helped that he had his own personal hype man, Bobby Byrd, who would tell everyone James's many titles and sterling attributes before, during, and after his songs. Unfortunately for you, though, there's no hype man following you around who will brag about your professional track record. And we don't hype ourselves, either. We don't let our network know about our strengths, experiences, and the successes that we've had. This comes back to haunt us when we reach out … [Read more...]
Leadership Lessons from The Commitments
When people ask me about my favorite movies, they're usually unprepared for one of my top choices, The Commitments, the tale of a scrappy Dublin soul band struggling to break away from the travails of working class life. Even though many people haven't seen (or have even heard) of it, the exploits of Jimmy Rabbitte and his band have deeply influenced my approaches to music, business, and life. The fact that it's also full of witty Irish repartee and has a solid soul soundtrack helps a little bit. There are some powerful lessons on leadership that can be pulled from the story. Are you putting together a soul band or a new … [Read more...]
3 Ways to Use LinkedIn in 3 Minutes Daily
I often get asked "So what am I supposed to actually do on LinkedIn?" Usually this is asked with a mix of confusion, annoyance, and desperation. Online social networking represents a fundamental evolution in how we communicate - and it can be overwhelming. So how can you start using it in a way that helps you accomplish your work goals? One of the best ways to get acclimated to LinkedIn is to use it consistently - you want to make your social media use a habit. You might be afraid that this takes a lot of time - never fear, once you do make it a habit LinkedIn requires just a few minutes a day to use effectively. Social media moves … [Read more...]
2 Keys to Building Your Personal Brand on LinkedIn
When we worked for the same company our entire careers, the idea of a personal brand wasn't important. These days, with shorter job stints and a "free agent" economy where it's common for professionals to bounce from project to project, having a strong brand is more critical than ever. But how do you manage your personal brand and get everything done on your to-do list? Here comes social media to the rescue - and on a professional level, LinkedIn. Your brand is based on how you are viewed by your network, the people that you know and the people that know you, i.e, your LinkedIn connections. There are two main pieces that make up … [Read more...]