Many of my clients are clear that they are leaders. Their job titles, in fact, begin with a "C," and they have a great deal of vision and responsibility. Plain and simple.
For other clients, however, they're still feeling it out, or they're laying their leadership groundwork, or they're sensitive about calling themselves a leader. Still others say they're a leader, but have little to prove it.
Read MoreFor starters, remember to always think of LinkedIn as a tool for business, not an online résumé. Even though LinkedIn fancies itself as just that—an online résumé (and then wonders why more people don't engage)—executives should not treat LinkedIn as an online résumé.
Read MoreRetained executive search consultants are looking for people who are happy in their current positions, and for whom something new might be of interest. In fact, those happy potential candidates are often so happy where they are, that they're not expecting the call, and the art of recruiting becomes essential in engaging them in the first place.
Read MoreEver fallen in love with a word or phrase, only to discover that everyone else is loving it, too? A word we all seem to be loving a bit too much right now is "amplify," so it's only a matter of time before it ranks on one of the interweb's "most overused business phrases" lists.
Read MoreImagine that Miss USA had a LinkedIn profile. Now imagine that somewhere in that profile she included the phrase, "I’m beautiful." Why? Because she believed it was a keyword or phrase by which others would find a beauty queen.
Now imagine that the late Steve Jobs had a LinkedIn profile, and somewhere in his profile he said, "I'm an innovator." Why? Because he had a hunch that someone might enter “innovator” into LinkedIn’s Advanced Search tool to find someone like him.
Do either of the above scenarios sound right?
Read MoreAs infants, we learn that star-shaped pegs fit only in the star-shaped holes. So why do we backslide as adults and start thinking our star-shaped pegs should suddenly fit into square holes?
Read MoreIf you haven't discovered the wonders of the minus symbol when querying LinkedIn search, or the benefits of incrementally refining search parameters using other query features, take a moment to tinker and see if LinkedIn doesn't finally become the business tool you can't live without.
Read MoreStaking and explaining a position so others will join your vision ... be convinced ... believe in you ... is hard work, and seeing words come back wrong is often the very exercise needed to make corrections so you can get the message right.
Read MoreParagraph one references a Fast Company report, paragraph two references a PayScale survey, and paragraph three references a Dice survey of 1,600 technology professionals in the U.S.
I love the collective insight, but when you think about the sources, they're kind of apples to oranges, so you can't look at the findings as a single harmonious conclusion.
Read MoreSometime things are so obvious we miss them entirely.
That's what happened this year when a client's new job was mentioned on Fortune.com. His LinkedIn profile had worked like a charm, and his executive résumé and other materials were there to support his candidacy for the right company.
Read MoreI've come to learn that [a big part is] the amount of risk and [how the ideal candidate's] expertise mitigates that risk. It's a big reason why recruiters usually stick to a sure thing when recruiting a high profile role, and why it's important for someone who's a ways into their career—but not at a level they'd like to be—to have an advocate on the inside. In other words, someone who's willing to stick their neck out and vouch for them.
Read MoreBut the P&L hiccup held lessons for both. Three lessons, in fact. One, P&L management matters. Two, not all search firms are built equally (the firm should have done better). Three, the CEO in question might have been short-sighted by not exploring a bit further. The important lessons are still there for all to see.
Read MoreAs a branding strategist and executive coach, Chritton opens with a challenge for readers: "If you could be known for one thing, what would it be?" She closes with, "You must be able to live up to your word."
Read MoreThe Job Description Analysis was born out of frustration, honestly. In 2009, a client gave me a spate of job descriptions for which he felt qualified, but they didn't hold a cogent through-line when I considered the entirety of his career. In fact, feelings rarely tell the whole story, nor lead to coherent decisions.
Read MoreIf you're considering the development of your own brand, or merely thinking about how to become a better leader, I urge you to invest the 18 minutes and 4 seconds it takes to learn the science behind Simon Sinek's quintessential TedX Talk.
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