Workplace Challenges
A winning image
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Sun Media |
But before printing up any personal flyers, consider who your target audience is and how you'd like to be perceived by them. Then find out how you are actually perceived - for example, ask work colleagues for some feedback about how you might be perceived by others.
Once you've determined what aspect(s) of yourself you want to brand, Usheroff recommends the following:
Project a winning image - the image you project defines you from the moment you walk into a room. Become 'the authority' in a specialized area - begin to offer advice to those who can benefit from your expertise.
Get comfortable with self-promotion - make your boss aware of your activities, accomplishments and how you are helping others.
Become a master networker - contacts are critical. Some will become customers; others can guide you, learn from you, or serve as role models.
Develop outstanding interpersonal skills - conversational skills project your personality, show your sincerity, and make people feel comfortable with you.
"Everything is a strategy in life. Our power is in defining who we are and being consistent with who that is," says Usheroff.
Getting ahead in business, whether it's the organization, or the individual, is greatly influenced by how well you build relationships with the people that are important to that business. That's why developing the necessary soft-skills is really something quite hardcore.
And it's also about projecting confidence. People prefer doing business with people they feel comfortable with.
Style for Success, an image consulting organization, says it best on their website: "All things being equal - people would rather do business with those they know, like and trust. All things being not so equal - people would still rather do business with those they know, like and trust."
Do you have you a bad boss?