I often have commented in blogs and guest posts why it is important today to speak to and about your accomplishments.  Fact is companies want to know what you have accomplished not just what jobs you have held. Your past accomplishments are an indicator of how you will perform in the future.  So in this hotly competitive job market, you must “stand out” and be “outstanding.” Yet it is well to be aware that the bar is rising.

The resume is no longer the primary means for getting considered for a job. The race to hire the best is stepping up.  Companies are no longer just relying on what you tell them through your resume and cover letters.  Companies and recruiters are heading straight to Google, Bing, Blekko and other search engines to see what you are truly up to and how large is your web footprint.

So you say, “how do I become visible and what can do insure a visible presence in cyberspace?”  Is the resume a relic of the past.  The short answer is no.  But the resume today is only one of several means of highlighting you as a brand.  Here are some other ideas:

1. Distinguish yourself. As the U.S. Army’s 1986 recruiting slogan said, “Be all you can be.”  If you have a job you love, do it well and exceed expectations.  People love a winner. And if you are a winner at what you do, people will talk!

2. Pay it forward and pay it back. If you have been helped by others, reciprocate.  There are countless non-profit organizations in the world who can benefit from the gray matter between your ears.  And in the process of helping them, you may just receive some recognition that ends up in cyberspace.

3. Create your own content, particularly if you have a point of view, “the gift of gab,” and/or can offer wisdom to the masses or at least those with an interest.

4. Develop and curate a blog that focuses on a topic about which you have a passion and are a thought leader.  People love stories.  So employ the art of storytelling in your blog as a way to make it interesting and compelling.  And keep in mind that the end game with blogging is to educate, enlighten, entertain or enrage.

5. Set up a “Topic-based Twitter” moniker. If your passion is deep sea diving, set up a twitter account like @deepdivedan and focus all of your tweets on everything someone would need to know to be a “deep diver,” including  the who, what, where, when and why of diving.  At some point folks will recognize your passion and expertise and wait for your next 140 characters to learn something new or be enlightened.  Furthermore, your tweets forever become part of the cyber stream and likely show up in a web search.

6. Answer the question. Take advantage of the Q&A platforms on social platforms like Facebook and Linkedin and answer questions in your area of expertise or sphere of influence.   Over time your connections and acquaintances will recognize your knowledge and come to respect your wisdom.  Your reputation is likely to precede you.

7. Take control of your content. There are many websites out there that trawl the internet, gathering, storing and then presenting information about as many people as possible.  No doubt you will have a profile somewhere onwww.zoominfo.com,www.spokeo.com,www.jigsaw.com, etc.  Many of these websites allow you to take control of your ‘contact card’ and choose what is displayed. Delete any errors and create a profile that is accurate and compliments your career.

8. Using social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook or Xing is a key component to establishing your personal brand online. Each or these websites are highly ranked by search engines, so a profile created on these platforms will rise higher in search results than other lesser used information platforms.  It is also a great way to compete with others who may have your same name.  A noted of caution:  Take time to develop your online profiles; you cannot simply replicate your resume. You must concisely portray your key professional and personal accomplishments with an executive summary that immediately draws interest from industry leaders, hiring managers and executive recruiters.

9. Employ the best of Google! Google has a profiles option which is integrated with the rest of Google’s expansive list of programs such as Gmail or Google Reader (a must have RSS reader). Having a Google profile will help you get another link found by search engines, and beat that rival executive with the same name.  Visit www.google.com/profiles to create an online profile much like Linkedin or Facebook – because of the high visibility in Google’s own search engine, I would suggest keeping personal info out and making it a professional extension of your personal brand.

10. Create a portfolio or presentation about you employing the SlideShare Platform (www.slideshare.com.)  SlideShare is an online service used to host presentations online, and share with internet users worldwide. SlideShare is a great way to establish yourself as an industry leader by sharing presentations demonstrating your knowledge and helping readers to learn from your experience and see your content first hand.  Create a personal branding presentation similar to a C.V. or resume. Include links to company websites and other content that is relevant to your personal brand. Outline your professional history, include photos and videos to tell your story, and start with a clear executive summary. Lastly, publish it on your LinkedIn profile by visiting the LinkedIn home screen, scroll to the end of the right column and choose Slideshare presentation from the ‘add application’ button.

Think outside the resume! The bottom line is that a presence in cyberspace can be a “third party” validation of who you are, what you have done, who you have helped and the value you bring to your environment and those with whom you associate.  And increasingly the footprint or “cyberprint” you leave can be the trail to your next opportunity.

As career professionals, we know that the number one reason an employee leaves a job is because of a bad relationship with their immediate supervisor.  This story comes in many shapes and forms.  Undoubtedly, there are bad bosses out there.  And, some workplaces are structurally dysfunctional.

But each relationship is a two-way street, and most relationships break down due to poor communications which, in itself, is often a symptom of deeply rooted misunderstandings about what truly motivates us.

Old  School

For example, if a particular manager has a directorial management style, they might conflict with an employee who functions best with ‘hands-off’ style management.  The manager prefers to get the work done through the efforts of others–subordinates, assistants, associates– in the manner they, as the boss, determine is correct, appropriate, or effective.  This is often referred to as an “old school” management style, or the familiar “command-and control” management style adopted from the military, from which, of course, many post-WWII managers were sourced.  The employee, on the other hand, operates best under a manager who allows them to exercise independent control over their specific area of responsibility.  They prefer a manager who lays out the goals and objectives for a project, then leaves them to get the desired result in their own way.  The manager’s preferred style clashes directly with the employees preference for being managed!  This is a recipe for workplace conflict.

Unless both manager and employee have a vocabulary for communicating how they best function and what kind of situations motivate them, their attempts to communicate can quickly deteriorate into negative interactions, involving resentments, misunderstandings, petty squabbles, accusations, silent resistance, passive aggressive behavior, harrassment, discrimination, and other common forms of unproductive workplace behaviors.

As professional career guides, we can help our clients navigate the choppy waters of on-the-job relations by helping them focus on how they work best as managers or employees.  The key to doing so is to help them step out of the volatile on-the-job circumstances, and tell stories about enjoyable projects at home or in the community.

How do they manage projects outside of work?

When listening to your client stories, listen to managers describe situations outside of work where they took responsibility for accomplishing a goal or getting something done by actively managing the efforts of others, such as in volunteer projects through a social service club, a sports team, a church or synagogue, or a professional association.  Do they actually step into such situations outside of work?

If they do, they may have a natural managerial talent that they enjoy using. Are they equally “old school” in those situations?   Or, do they adopt a different style of managing, perhaps as a team captain, where they act as an example to a team or put the team into action?  Or, do they take on more of a coordinator role, where their interactions with subordinates is participatory rather than authoratative in nature?  Or, do they tend to act and speak in a forthright manner as a leader causing others to follow them, or their cause, program, or mission?  Or, are they adept at determining what sort of work people are suited for, and encourage them, and how their abilities can best be used in that situation?

Some managers feel obliged to operate in a certain managerial style due to the corporate culture in which they work, but will gravitate to their more natural style during times when they are doing something they truly enjoy outside of work.

How do they prefer to be managed?

Similarly, employees can learn what kind of management sttyle they prefer by paying attention to the way they are managed in activities outside of their 9-5 job.  Some individuals prefer continuous support from someone who touches bases frequently and offers directions and advice as needed.  Others prefer oversight from someone who provides direction and support only at key points of a project, usually when a critical decision needs to be made.  I know that I prefer a manager who provides me with direction and support at the outset of a new assignment or responsibility, then leaves me pretty much alone to carry it out.  Some people are truly independent and thrive without any managerial direction.  Still others function best with a manager who treats them as an equal, who works with them as though they were involved in a “collaborative effort (from co-labor).

Vocabulary for harmony

The next step is to help them build a vocabulary from those positive experiences that will assist them to communicate to their colleagues how they best work, in order to mitigate the often destructive misunderstandings that arise when people do not know how they best operate with their natural talents and motivations.  This kind of informed communication is a key element for resolving many workplace disputes.

Last Friday I asked for some time with one of my region’s (NC, SC, VA) top executive recruiting firm principals. Late on a Friday afternoon it seems that the TGIF mentality starts moving in like a storm front through the highly productive offices across the nation’s different time zones. This hour conversation helped me understand some things about Friday afternoons. It helped me understand a few things that core clients and alumni of Career Pro Inc. emphasize to me as they are in or as they go through career transition. It reminded me that executives in transition need to focus on building relationships quickly and effectively for the long-term return that they want.

What matters most to you in this work life? I don’t know your specific situation but I think what matters most to me now, after 20 years in business, has to be relationships. Unfortunately I think most of us, trained by the well-meaning teachers we have had, focus on Return On Investments.

Because I worked on the relationship with this executive recruiter I gained so much, including:

1. New Ways to Search Out Recruiters for Client Introductions (traditional search engines are not the way!)

2. How Recruiters Respond to Emails When They Are Busy (they are always busy or should be)

3. Why Some Candidates Get Hired and Why Some Don’t (most candidates think they know the reason but often don’t)

4. Why It’s Not Worth the Time for Recruiters to Educate and Teach Everyone (they would lose valuable relationships with their key constituents by doing this too much)

5. Several Keys to Helping Clients Move Properly Through the Search Process (from their intensive case studies)

So I “invested” the better part of an hour with this executive recruiter. Was it worth my time? Yes. But why was it worth her time?

Here is why the meeting was productive:

1. It Was Based on Mutual Benefits (I found out five areas I could help them with)

2. I Wrote An Agenda (I showed respect for their time)

3. I Stuck With the Agenda (I let her walk through and interact with me about the details)

4. I Researched and Provided Business Value (I knew my points would resonate and I knew she wanted to improve their business)

5. I Committed to Serving Her Company Without Compensation (I gave without expecting a return)

But what was my real goal? My goal focused on building a relationship better, deeper and adding more trust. How will both of us benefit and how will that relationship go in the future? I don’t know but I can tell you this person and her business trusts me and my company more. I expect that by focusing more on relationship building I sowed seeds that will continue to grow. How these seeds will grow depends on the next conversation, the next referral and the next meetings. But I know we both gain by knowing each other and helping each other.

In a very cold, clean way business is about buying something of value and expecting a return, especially the immediate return ROI often suggests. If you are buying a microwave you expect it to work like a microwave, safely, effectively and immediately when you install it. But when you want long-term value that can pay greater dividends over time focus on the Return On Relationship investments.

Remember that you may work with numbers as an accountant or sell things as a sales representative but what matters most in this business and career life? I contend that you make a bigger impact when two parties agree to focus on building trust, helping each other and try to work on a long-term give and take relationship vs. a transaction. This is especially hard to do when you need “a fix” to your job search, your marriage, your job, your boss or your friend. We want things now. We want finances changed now. We want to be “back on the horse” and earning money now. We want our name badges back now. But finding out the win-win benefit, long-term, in any relationship matters most. It may seem slow. But as I always say – be in a hurry to develop strong, long-term relationships.

If you want to know how ask a career thought leader. Most thought leaders don’t sell microwaves. They sell solutions and build relationships that last a career life.

Let’s not overlook the obvious when analyzing the stories of our clients. I am always amazed by the depth of information available through stories that, on face value, are often presented as simple or trivial activities enjoyed by our clients.

For example, sometimes a client will mention how much they enjoy driving on a car trip.  This simple activity might reveal a knack for operating machinery or equipment, or coordinating gears and pedals.  Perhaps, they enjoy driving other vehicles, such as boats, snowmobiles, ATVs, forklifts, trucks, even airplanes. A  knack for operating equipment or coordinating gears correlates with core job duties in many occupations.

If they enjoy driving very fast, does that mean they are  a ‘speed freak’ who loves to live dangerously? Perhaps, but it may also indicate a talent for making a fast, responsible decision, the same talent that correlates with certain requirements related to being decisive with a physical response as in paramedic, athletic, referee, military, and other applications.

In other cases, what the client claims to enjoy is the opportunity to observe the cityscapes and landscapes they pass through on their car trip. They notice small things that others often miss, such as billboards, crops in fields, new flashing on homes in neighborhoods, or stickers on long haul transports. Police forces teach their recruits techniques of observation, but some individuals have a natural observing talent that correlates with core job duties involving investigations, or inspections, or monitoring.

Just because a client has one kind of observing talent, it doesn’t mean they have more. For example, the talent for observing details in your physical environment isn’t the same as a talent for observing details in legal documents, technical manuals, and so forth. Some individuals are natural proofreaders, who can acquire a manuscript-editing ability, or paralegal skills.

Others cannot stop their eyes from noticing details in blueprints or maps, and can acquire skills related to architects or general contractors, or military strategists or cartographer.  If you question them further, you might learn that your client has a natural observing talent for seeing a 3-dimensional object or building from a 2-dimensional drawing. Reading mechanical drawings, or aerial photographs, comes easily to them because of this spatial perception talent, which is a core job duty for a mechanical engineer who needs to see a completed turbine from a drawing, or a fashion designer who can look at a pattern and see the finished dress.

Gathering and interpreting this data as career professionals is how we can add value to the lives of our clients. However, we need to exercise discretion and wisdom when advising clients on career matches. We can mine our client’s stories for clues to their right work but we must be careful not to extrapolate an entire career from one or two obvious talents.

What matters in determining a client’s right work is their motivational pattern as a whole, not their individual variables.  A client may have a natural talent for observing details in their physical environment but we should not leap to the conclusion that policing is an obvious career choice. It is enough to point out that their talent correlates with a core job duty of police officers to demonstrate the value such a talent has in the world of work.

Other factors come into play when determining whether or not your client is suitable for police work. More information about their ambitions, personality, values, priorities, health condition, education, strengths, thoughts and feelings need to be taken into account for career decision-making.

Engaging your clients with what they do easily—telling their stories!–moves away from narrow assessments and towards a more holistic methodology that employs narrative counseling to help clients translate their natural talents and motivations into specific jobs or careers.

As career professionals, we often work with individuals who are seeking work but not motivated to take actions due, in some cases, to job misfit; that is, they hate their current job or are de-motivated to seek a similar job.

They want a different kind of job but have no idea what else they can do.  As career professionals, we can help them get started on finding a different path, by taking the following three actions.

First, we need to remind them that none of their current work experience is wasted.  We can clearly see that they have put the cart in front of the horse (the horse being that part of ourselves that represents our natural strengths, vitality, drive, energy).

We can help them re-connect with that authentic part of themselves and show them how to harness it to their tool cart, that part of their job experience that represents all the knowledge and skills they have acquired in their careers. Motivation is the natural result of putting the horse in front of the cart.

In fact, the clues to our right work are often found in our childhood preoccupations. For example, in one study conducted by British behavioral scientists, on the relationship between our desires in youth and adult success, 50 individuals were tracked over a period of 28 years, from the age of seven to 35.

The result? Nearly all of the subjects wound up engaged in a professional pursuit related to their interests during the ages 7 through 14. While most strayed from these interests after childhood, the successful adults were those who found their way back to their childhood dreams by the age of 35, even if only as a hobby or avocation. Don’t you find that amazing? I do!

If you’ve read my book, JobJoy , then you know that I put a lot of emphasis on understanding what we did and how we did it during ages 7-14.

What I have found over the years is that individuals who find jobjoy success early in life are often people who were lucky enough to have parents and other significant adults who recognized their natural talents and inclinations early in life, then helped nurture those talents into a specific vocation.

For most of us, this does not happen. We tend to drift away from our natural inclinations and focus on learned or acquired values and behaviors that have more to do with the agendas of others, or economic trends.

Most individuals settle for this kind of career and that’s fine. However, if they reach an impasse, we have a choice to help them through it. Many of us fall victim to what the poet E.E. Cummings eloquently described: “To be nobody but yourself in a world that is doing its best day and night into making you like everybody else is to fight the hardest battle there is and never stop fighting.”

I have found that many people lost this battle early in life and, by doing so, lost their memory of what they enjoyed most and did best as a child. The clues to our right work are always there in the details of our personal stories, our life history.

Second, ask your client to sit with you in a quiet office, no interruptions.  Ask them to close their eyes, and quiet their minds.  Ask them to let their thoughts drift back to childhood.

Ask the following kinds of questions: What did you enjoy doing at age six or seven? What were the activities that gave you pleasure? How did the world open up to you?  Over the next five years or so, what kinds of subjects did you gravitate towards in school and outside of school? How did you get the attention you wanted? What teachers influenced you the most? Whom were your heros?

This might be difficult for some clients.  Ask them to go home and take the time to go through family photos, watch home movies, talk to parents and relatives. Invite them to bring a list of impressions and memories to your next meeting.

One way to find jobjoy in life is to move back with conscious intention to what we drifted away from early in life.  Third, remind your clients that it’s not as difficult as they might think! The world rewards excellence. And our best chance for excellence is to develop our natural talents and motivations into a specific job or career—that’s the route to personal and professional success!

People who excel in their jobs often make it look easy and effortless. Like Robert Redford in the movie ‘The Natural,” they seem to have a knack, a flair, a talent for the core job duty; the same way Redford’s character had a natural talent for throwing and hitting a baseball.  This work is child’s play!

Do your clients think about changing jobs?  The power to do so is right under their noses…well, behind their noses actually!  Stored in their brains are memories about events and activities they truly enjoyed in life since childhood.

Here are some tips for analyzing their life histories for key success factors that reveal work that is personally and financially rewarding.

Get them to do a quick inventory from childhood years (ages 6-12), then teen years (ages 13-19), then young adult years (ages 20-29), then their thirties, forties, and so on.  In each period, there are specific examples.  Ask them to create a shortlist of their top 10 most enjoyable events.

The power of those stories is in the facts, people, and events of their lives.  These stories are like veins of gold that run through each life.  Mining gold, however, involves moving a lot of ore with tools and equipment to get at that precious metal.

Similarly, mining the veins of gold in life stories is easier when you use the tool of writing.  Emphasize that it is important to write about what is important to them, not what they did to please others.  Help them identify those activities that gave them an intrinsic sense of pleasure and satisfaction.

Above all, encourage them to be brutally honest about what is they truly enjoyed, as opposed to what they are simply proud of.  They may be proud of certain accomplishments but there is often no real innate pleasure from the activity itself.

For example, many people get high grades in school in order to please their parents, not because they truly love math, or history, or truly enjoy studying and doing homework.

It actually makes it easier for them to tell the story if they stick to a proven  format. You may want to analyze or evaluate their stories for an accurate and reliable picture of their unique motivational pattern.  Or, you may want to turn the exercise over to a personal story analyst to really nail down the essence of who and what they are in terms of work when they are doing what you enjoy most and doing it well.

For example, their  stories can be analyzed to identify and define Key Success Factors. Please understand that the factors critical to success are very different than personality traits, or the results you get from Myers-Briggs and other personality assessments.

A personal story assessment can answer in very clear, concise and meanginful terms the questions: What are their natural talents that consistently bring satisfaction to them when they are doing what they enjoy most and doing it well? What is the subject matter that they gravitate to without even trying? What circumstances or conditions have to exist in the job environment to bring out the best in them?  How do they naturally build relationships with others? How do these success factors combine to create an essential motivation; that is, the thing they are best at and best suited for in terms of work?

This accurate and reliable picture of their right work can be developed into an Ideal Job Description and matched to specific opportunities in the world of work.  This opens up a new level of coaching and service for you as their career coach.

On a flight from Salt Lake City to Minneapolis a few months ago, I struck up a conversation with the man sitting next to me. Always curious as to where someone is from and what they do for work, I discovered that Gary has been a registered nurse for a number of years. It turns out that after high school, he enrolled in a pre-dentistry program. Thinking it would be a crap shoot getting into dental school; he shifted gears and graduated with a degree in business administration. After trying his hand at a variety of careers, including seasonal park ranger in the Porcupine Mountains of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and machine operator/machinist, Gary decided to pursue his long-held dream of working in the medical field. A lay-off allowed him to re-train for a different career which facilitated his move into nursing.

Gary felt that nursing seemed natural for him and knew he would be good at it. Nursing allows him to live in a small community in a somewhat remote area that he loves while helping his neighbors and friends recover from an illness, injury, or surgery and take care of the family and survivors of dying loved ones. Gary says, “I’m able to let them know that I care and allow them to feel more at ease with a familiar person helping them through difficult times. I know that makes a difference to them.”

According to Gary, “Whether it’s me as a male nurse, or it’s a female nurse, I think we all know our limits, our strengths, and our weak points, and are able to do our jobs, based on them. It all pulls together for the best possible outcome for the patients.” 

“Nursing is not for everyone, but there are a multitude of options or areas in which to work,” says Gary. He goes on to say, “I would encourage any male to consider nursing if they are at all interested in the medical field. They can always continue on and expand their interests with the options that are available, whether it is as a nurse practitioner or physician assistant.”

I recently read that the need for registered nurses will grow by 580,000 over the coming decade due to the 80 million baby boomers reaching retirement. Nursing will continue to be a high-demand career for years to come.

“I hate my job!” If you’re a coach or counselor who, like me, has worked with thousands of individuals, then you’ve heard this phrase hundreds of times, at least!

If you’re client expresses this sentiment with genuine emotion, remind them that the power to change their career is right under their nose…well, behind the nose actually! Stored in our brains are memories about events and activities we truly enjoyed in life since childhood.

Ask them to do a quick inventory from childhood years (ages6-12), then teen years (ages 13-19), then young adult years (ages 20-29), then thirties, forties, and so on. In each period, there are specific examples. Help them create a shortlist of their top 10 most enjoyable events.

The Power of Story

The power of our stories is in the facts, people, and events of our lives. These stories are like veins of gold that run through our life. Mining gold, however, involves moving a lot of ore with tools and equipment to get at that precious metal.

Similarly, mining the veins of gold in our life is easier when we use the tool of writing. Help them write about what is important to them, not what they did to please others. Identify those activities that gave them an intrinsic sense of pleasure and satisfaction, where the rewards were more internal than external.

Brutal Honesty

Above all, encourage them to be brutally honest about what is they truly enjoyed, as opposed to what they are simply proud of accomplishing. We may be proud of a certain accomplishment but there is no real innate pleasure from the activity itself. For example, many people get high grades in school in order to please their parents, not because they truly love math, or history, or truly enjoy studying and doing homework.

Pick a Format

It actually makes it easier to tell the story if we stick to a proven format. You may want to analyze or evaluate their stories for an accurate and reliable picture of their motivational pattern. Or, you may want to turn the exercise over to a personal story analyst to really nail down the essence of who and what they are in terms of work when they are doing what they enjoy most and doing it well.

For example, our stories can be analyzed to identify and define our Key Success Factors. Please understand that the factors critical to success are very different than personality traits, or the results you get from Myers-Briggs and other personality assessments they may have done.
Career match result

A personal story assessment can answer in very clear, concise and meanginful terms the questions: What are the natural talents they use and consistently bring satisfaction to them when they are doing what they enjoy most and doing it well? What is the subject matter that they gravitate to without even trying? What circumstances or conditions have to exist in the job environment to bring out the best in them? How do they naturally build relationships with others? How do these success factors combine to create an essential motivation; that is, the thing they are best at and best suited for in terms of work?

The Right Picture

This accurate and reliable picture of their right work can be developed into an Ideal Job Description and matched to specific opportunities in the world of work.

Turn the negative “I hate my job!’ into a positive that reinforces your value as a coach and counselor. Give them real hope that is grounded in who and what they are, and show them how that correlates to real jobs in the world of work!

— Determine Your Top 5, rank order them, focus on the top three, and be sure you know your #1 Core Value.

Discovering how to make positive life and work choices needs to begin with a person’s value foundation. Many people begin with skills, your natural gifts, or capabilities. This is recommended by many and is also important. My suggestion however is to begin with values. Determine your top 5 values, and rank order them. Be sure your purposeful work includes your #1 value. When people attend to all the other components of working their purpose and things still don’t feel like a fit, it is usually that values are not in alignment with important relationships, co-workers, management or the organization.

In the book, “What to Do Between Birth and Death”, Charles Spezzano speaks to the value of time. He says that people don’t pay for things with money; they pay for them with time. If you say to yourself, “In five years, I’ll have enough money to take the trip of a lifetime, then what you are really saying is that the trip will cost you five years — one-twelfth of your adult life. “The phrase spending your time is not a metaphor, “said Spezzano. “It’s how life works.”

Get energy back on your side by visiting and revisiting your values and core principles often. An easy to complete online Values Card Sort is provided compliments of the University of Minnesota, College of Continuing Education as an outreach to the community. Available for personal use, non-profit and pro bono activities you will find it at: http://oca.cce.umn.edu/prototypes/cardsort/values/

Leadership guru, John Maxwell, in his book, “The Maxwell Daily Reader”, encourages us to ask ourselves, “Are the tasks on today’s agenda worthy of your life?” What we spend our time on is what we value. After you complete the Values Card Sort you will want to check your top 5 values against where you have spent your time today, the last week, month, and year. What you spend your time on becomes your life.

In their book, “Be Your Own Brand, A Breakthrough Formula for Standing Out from the Crowd,” my friend, David McNally and his co-author Karl Speak say, “acting in concert with your values not only effects your relationships with others, it also has a highly positive effect on your relationship with yourself.”

Your clear values are your core relationship with yourself. Taking your core values to life and work develops your distinctive, relevant, clear and consistent vision creating authentic confidence. Once you respect yourself in this way others will respect you also.

What are your top 5 values? Is the time you are spending on activities in alignment with your values, particularly your top #1 core value? Knowing your values can be especially helpful and important in personal branding and career change.